SYLLABUS

MGMT 3015 Introduction to Entrepreneurship, Fall 2024

Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota

4 credits, Mondays/Wednesdays

Instructor: Sunasir Dutta, PhD

Assistant Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship

sdutta@umn.edu | 612-624-4590 | 3-422 Carlson School of Management

When emailing me for any reason please mention “MGMT 3015” and your section # in the email subject.

Instructor Office Hours: By Appointment

Sections and TAs:

Section 002 MW 9:55 AM - 11:35 AM Hanson 1-107. TA: Caiwei Zhang zhan8917@umn.edu, Caiwei’s appointment calendar https://calendar.app.google/zR5fq9sA3eoDiYfy8

Section 003: MW 12:00 PM - 1:40 PM Hanson 1-103. TA: Jiaqi (Vikki) Yuan yuan0390@umn.edu , Jiaqi’s appointment calendar: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/appointments/schedules/AcZssZ2LqXDafB3M-8Z_g0DER7DxtxmeDy-UKrCNfTvAGD33heEAA5ABC-StQm4t5Pno-Qrh4gSYeZgJ

Summary

This introductory course is designed to help you build a foundation of knowledge, tools and techniques used by today’s entrepreneur. The goals of the course include:

·  To develop your capacity to generate business ideas, filter them, and recognize the most feasible and potentially profitable opportunities amongst all of the noise present in today’s marketplace.

·  To help you determine the most effective business model and strategies for moving your ideas from concept to reality, in an iterative process.

·  To learn other key toolkits for founders: market and consumer research, iterative business model design, financial planning, and organization.

·  To improve your ability to champion your best ideas in writing and in face-to-face interactions with customers, investors, and team members

Required Textbook and Reading Materials

The textbooks for this course are:

1. The Harvard Business Review Entrepreneur's Handbook

2. Business Model Generation (Osterwalder and Pigneur)

The first text needs to be rented or purchased. The second text has been made available at no charge in PDF format at UMN Libraries. The assigned books are not very expensive as far as textbooks go, so please make sure you have the texts within the first week of class. Additionally these texts are helpful to have as you proceed through your careers--entrepreneurial or otherwise—because they present basic principles of converting ideas into viable businesses.  There are also extra readings and cases which will be posted on Canvas in PDF format.

Please read the relevant reading material (as listed in the schedule later) before each class, so that you can get the most out of class discussions in each session.

Below is the schedule for the course, including the day/date, the Session Contents, and associated Readings. (Textbooks: EH = "HBR Entrepreneurs Handbook"; BMG = "Business Model Generation” by Osterwalder and Pigneur)

Schedule of sessions

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

See Fall 2024 final exam schedule at https://onestop.umn.edu/calendar/final-exam-times The exact time and date based on the university finals calendar is mentioned in the posted pdf syllabus on canvas

Grading Components

Individual Work:

1.     Presenting ‘startups of the day’ (ongoing)     5 points

2.     Idea Journal Due Fri. 9/20                              5 pts

3.     1st Mid Term (online) ON Wed 10/2                 15 pts

4.     Customer Interviews due Fri. 10/11               5 pts

5.     Market research report due Fri 10/18             5 pts

6.     2nd Mid Term (online), ON Mon 11/18             15 pts

7.     Crowdfunding case analysis due Fri 11/29      5 pts

8.     Social innovation case analysis due Fri. 12/6  5 pts

9.     Cumulative final (online) ON Tue. 12/17  20 pts

Group Work:

1.     Costs/revenues sheet due Fri. 11/1                 5 pts

2.     SharkTank pitch/presentation 11/4-11/6         10 pts

3.     Group updated BMC due Fri. 11/15               5 pts

Late Submissions

The exams and the presentation, are expected to be completed on the assigned day barring a legitimate absence (https://policy.umn.edu/education/makeupwork)

For other deliverables, delayed submissions without legitimate absences lead to a 5% penalty for that submission per day of lateness.

Final Grade Calculations

University Policy

The University of Minnesota’s definition of grades are as follows (from https://policy.umn.edu/education/gradingtranscripts):

A: significantly exceeds expectations in the course.

B: above the minimum expectations in the course.

C: meets the minimum expectations in the course.

D: partially meets the minimum expectations in the course. Credit is earned but it may not fulfill major or program requirements.

Specific grading parameters for this class

At the conclusion of the semester, points earned for each grade component will be added to obtain your total score for the course.  Below is the rubric I will use to convert total end of class scores (out of 100) to letter grades:

·      93 and above = A

·      90 and above, but less than 93   = A-

·      86 and above, but less than 90   = B+

·      82 and above, but less than 86   = B

·      80 and above, but less than 82   = B-

·      76 and above but less than 80    = C+

·      72 and above but less than 76    = C

·      70 and above but less than 72    = C-

·      Less than 70 = D

·      Less than 50 = F

Class Norms and Expectations

Arrival and Etiquette

Please arrive on time so that you have proper context to ongoing class discussions. Please turn off your phones and other devices, or place them in silent mode before class. I will pause at several designated times in each session to take questions/discussions.

Attendance

On some days (at random) I will take a roll-call (attendance) 5 mins after the start of class, to record attendance. There are no explicit points for attendance, but it helps to keep track of your involvement in the class.

Class Participation

It is important that you participate in class. Often it takes discussion and free-flowing feedback to truly understand a topic, especially in a content-heavy course as this. Participation is not scored explicitly, but in my experience, students who participate tend to leave with a better understanding of the concepts since they have typically been more alert and actively learning applications of concepts during class. 

In-Class Group Work

On some days, we will have in-class group work to apply the concepts discussed in class. Your learning from these exercises depends on being engaged with the group and subsequently sharing your thoughts about the exercise during the debriefing session.

Participation in Overall Group Work (incl. outside of class hours)

All students are expected to fully participate in their groups. For groups with major coordination and free-riding problems, a written assessment may be completed by each group member near the end of the term. Upon reviewing peer feedback, individual grades may be increased or reduced based on contribution. If a serious problem exists regarding student participation in various group activities, please contact me or the TA as early as possible.

Keep in touch

Please keep me (or the TA) posted about any issues you are facing, either with the coursework or with group work, so we can try addressing those issues head on. For example, if you are finding it hard to manage group work, I am happy to provide coordination tools for group tasks, as well as seek ongoing feedback about fairness in members’ work allocations. Similarly, if you are wondering how you are doing relative to the class, you can see your total % in the course in Canvas, but also feel free to email me or the TA and ask.

EXAMS (2 mid-terms and a final)

Since this is an introductory course, the key goals of the course include equipping you with the various toolkits for entrepreneurs. Many of these toolkits include concepts that need to be learned and understood before they can be applied to a new venture. As a result, a large part of the course involves understanding these concepts. Towards that end, we have three exams—two midterms and a final.

Please make sure you are able to attend the final and other exams. In particular, please do not schedule social/travel commitments in a way that you have to miss an exam. If you miss an exam due to a documented illness, please share the document (doctor’s note) with me to reschedule. 

Format

The two midterms and final exam will be held online as per the announced schedule. The duration of the exams will be one hour and 15 mins each. Questions will be a mix of multiple choice and short-answer type. The midterms are not cumulative but the final is cumulative.

Preparation

The best preparation for these exams is attending class, actively participating in class (there’s no other way to keep your mind alert and receptive) and doing the in-class group and individual exercises. The content and format of all the exams will be based on the textbook and examples discussed in class.

Apart from attending classes and reading the materials, to help prepare for the exam:

·      Pay attention to discussion questions interspersed with concepts throughout the course

·      There will be a study guide released a week before each midterm and final

·      We will have a review and Q&A session before each midterm and final

Answering questions

Multiple Choice:

·   MCQs will have only one best answer.

·   Some MCQs might be tricky when the options include similar sounding concepts, but there will be only one correct answer for the MCQs.

·   In case of any debates about terminology and concept meanings, we will refer to the assigned texts for direction (not un-curated online blogs)

·   The MCQs often require making nuanced choices based on the available information, so please read the question carefully before answering

Short Answer:

·   Short answer type questions require reading the question carefully, and choosing the appropriate framework for analyzing the situation, or describing the application of a concept, or showing that you understand differences between concepts.

·   Answers are expected to be precise and not vague. For example, in management and entrepreneurship much of what we study involves enhancing performance and growing, so writing that as an answer to everything would not be helpful. Instead, answers have to be more specific to the particular aspect that is asked. 

·   Showing you know which part of the course material (framework, concept) is relevant for answering the question is often a key part of writing a good answer.

·   Questions will often ask you to ‘explain.’ In those cases, provide a clear, logical explanation (based on course materials), instead of a single word/phrase

·   Avoid listing various concepts from the course without applying them correctly to the question - you can lose points, especially if different answers contradict each other and some of them are wrong.

·   When you refer to a concept or framework learned in class, please go ahead and call it by name. This is not a vocabulary test, but it is easier for us to know that you understand the material and that we are talking about the same ideas if you use the same language that we used in the course.

After the exam

Please be present in the session discussing the answers in detail. This session is not just for seeing why you got some answers wrong, but also to learn from any gaps in understanding the concepts. Additionally being present in the exams answers discussion session also provides an opportunity to ask questions and discuss why alternative answers don’t quite work for a particular question.

If you still have questions about your grade on specific questions, or didn’t get a chance to ask during the exam review session, please get in touch with me or the TA by email, with a max 500 word explanation of why you believe you should get more points on a particular question.

SHARKTANK: Mid-Semester Business Idea Pitch

We will be having pitch days (during class hours, as noted on the schedule) During those days you will pitch your ideas in class, and gather valuable feedback (and also get some shark-tank like evaluations, minus the financing!). The pitches are mid-semester instead of end-semester, so you can actually use the feedback, and potentially carry it forward into a business venture or as part of one of the new venture incubating programs at the University. Pitching your idea somewhat early might feel like being thrown in the deep end, but it is especially valuable as a source of realism and feedback early in the process.

Presentations will be scored on the following 5 dimensions:

1. Novelty of the product or novelty in delivering a known product/service: 1 pt

2. Demonstrated knowledge of prospective customer segment: 3 pts

a. This can include focus group insights, surveys, secondary data, examples of 'use cases', demographic or lifestyle-based segmentation

3. Demonstrated knowledge of what’s been done in this space in the past: 3 pts

a. This includes data and research to substantiate potential for growth, growth, existence of possible market, differentiation, data on competitors, close substitutes

4. Enthusiasm and passion displayed in the pitch: 1 pt

5. Clarity of the presentation: 2 pts

While increasingly founders pivot away from their original plans based on changes in the environment and emerging constraints and opportunities, having a formal business plan can be valuable for raising funding, recruiting early employees, and generally having a formal milestone for the entrepreneurial journey. We will use a presentation deck-based format with extensive additional data as attachments.

Students must not pitch or market:

1.     Food/beverage concepts. There are numerous perishability, health and contractual restrictions on the marketing/sale of these products – especially on campus. The limited upside of the typical food-based venture just wouldn’t be worth the trouble.

2.     Products or services that would violate any trademarks, copyrights or patents. Teams must secure written approvals directly from the intellectual property rights holder (or the holder’s agent) prior to using any protected IP.

3.     Products or services that would compromise the professional reputation of our school. We assume that all students will exercise some caution & common sense.

With this in mind, web or smartphone-based ventures will also be discouraged unless you are able to use a well-established platform for your product or service, and you personally possess the skills of a developer (e.g. in app development, social media API usage, software development), or you have free/cheap access to such a developer. The litmus test for web or smartphone-based venture plans will be the ability to demonstrate access to the above skills through a prototype during the presentation.

Peer evaluation of group work

It’s only fair that those who go above-and-beyond to contribute to your venture team should be rewarded for their efforts, while those that refuse to do their fair share should be penalized. With this in mind, each student is encouraged to submit a retrospective, private and credible evaluation of teammate performance at the conclusion of the group presentation. A form/template will be provided for this purpose.

The factors that I will consider as I read your submission – and weigh any grading adjustments include:

1.     Are your observations consistent with the feedback that I’ve received from the rest of your team?

2.     Does negative feedback detail missed meetings, lack of preparation, low levels of engagement, and/or missed deadlines?

3.     Have you been proactive in dealing with team problems as they arise? E.g. Perhaps you’ve stopped by to discuss options for dealing with a team problem. You’ve flagged it as a potential issue, and have taken appropriate action, but after some serious attempts at fixing things, the issue remains. Or is this the first time that I’m hearing about any team discord?

OTHER DELIVERABLES

Presenting ‘startups of the day’ (ongoing, once per student)

At the start of almost every class we will have assigned students discussing a particular startup assigned to them, as a way to learn how to look for and analyze startups on your own, as well as a point of discussion for concepts in class. When you are assigned your startup and day of presentation, and expected contents (watch out for the email), please be ready to discuss (1 point each): (a) their target customer segment, (b) value proposition, (c) why the gap they fill is commercially valuable, (d) your predictions for the venture in the future, and (e) any threats to their survival or growth.

Idea Journal Due Fri. 9/20

Entrepreneurs are not just problem solvers but problem finders. Early in the course you will be expected to work on coming up with potential ideas. For the submission you are expected to list 5 ideas of your own you came up with, and for each describe (a) what it is, (b) who will buy or use it, (c) what will it take to make it real.

Customer Interviews due Fri. 10/11

In pursuit of your ideas, getting feedback from potential customers and reflecting on them is a key part of becoming an entrepreneur. For this submission you will be expected to interview 3 customers in depth around one of your ideas, following a rubric we will discuss in class, to understand if your guesses about the value of your idea and need for it is substantiated. Goals[1]:

·       Asking the right open-ended questions that lead to insights about customers.

·       Interpreting what you're told and ask follow-up questions to better understand the true needs of customers.

·       Put together what you learned during interviews and create detailed insights and identify potential opportunities.

·       Wait to jump into business ideas before first finding out if customers even want your potential idea.

Market research report due Fri 10/18

In this assignment you will be expected to find out comparable companies that do something similar to each of the 5 ideas you proposed in the Idea Journal, and describe how you would something different compared to what they did.

Costs/revenues sheet due Fri. 11/1

Shows Breakdown of revenues/costs and resource needs, at start and over time. The goal is to show you understand the various components of costs and revenues for your venture, and how they might change over time

Business Model Canvas (first individual activity then group sub due 11/15)

We will be using the Business Model Canvas as a framework in this course. The goals of the business model canvas are

(1)  summarize various components of the plan in a single sheet

(2)  discover alignments and misalignments between different parts of the plan

(3)  share and rapidly iterate over multiple versions to arrive at a plan that has the potential for high growth.

While the plan is a group effort, such group efforts are sometimes liable to have groupthink and freeriding. More importantly, some teams have natural leaders who might take charge of the agenda to the detriment of hearing all voices. To avoid that everyone will be required to submit an individual business model canvas early on. The individual business model canvas is a way (a) for you to develop your individual ideas before going into team brainstorming sessions, and (b) show that you understand the BMC framework and its nuances. You will make a second Business Model Canvas as a group after the shark tank presentations to incorporate feedback and additional implications of your value proposition, customers, and strategic positioning.

Crowdfunding case analysis due Fri 11/29

This submission will involve answering questions related to the crowdfunding case

Social innovation case analysis due Fri. 12/6

This submission will involve answering questions related to the social innovation case

Supplementary notes from University Policy

Avoiding Plagiarism

Exams and quizzes are to be completed individually with no outside help. If you have doubts about the type or amount of collaboration allowed on an assignment, it is always your responsibility to consult with the professor. Plagiarism, which includes (a) copying any part of another student’s work (e.g., homework assignments and finals) with or without their approval, or (b) copying portions of text from the textbook, or (c) copying text or examples from sources on the internet, are all violations of course expectations and the university’s policy on plagiarism. Any such action will result in a zero points on the plagiarized work, both for the individual whose assignment/exam is plagiarized and the individual who did the plagiarizing. There is no foolproof way of accurately establishing direction of plagiarism, and hence both the above parties will be penalized equally. A second instance of such plagiarism will be reported to the appropriate disciplinary authority at the University of Minnesota, and may result in severe penalties as determined by the School and University.

AI tools usage and uploading

The Board of Regents Student Conduct Code states the following in Section IV, Subd.1: Scholastic Dishonesty: "Scholastic dishonesty means plagiarism; cheating on assignments or examinations, including the unauthorized use of online learning support and testing platforms; engaging in unauthorized collaboration on academic work, including the posting of student-generated coursework on online learning support and testing platforms not approved for the specific course in question; taking, acquiring, or using course materials without faculty permission, including the posting of faculty-provided course materials on online learning and testing platforms; ..."

Artificial intelligence (AI) language models, such as ChatGPT, and online assignment help tools, such as Chegg®, are examples of online learning support platforms: they can not be used for course assignments except as explicitly authorized by the instructor. The following actions are prohibited in this course:

·       Submitting all or any part of an assignment statement to an online learning support platform;

·       Incorporating any part of an AI generated response in an assignment;

·       Using AI to brainstorm, formulate arguments, or template ideas for assignments;

·       Using AI to summarize or contextualize source materials;

·       Submitting your own work for this class to an online learning support platform for iteration or improvement.

If you are in doubt as to whether you are using an online learning support platform appropriately in this course, I encourage you to discuss your situation with me.

[1] Adapted from a quote by Dr. Heidi Neck