EW/XMBA295T: Entrepreneurial Strategy (Haas)
TA for Abhishek Nagaraj (Fall 2024)
Recipient of the Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award (2024)
This course provides an integrated strategy framework for innovation-based entrepreneurs. Some first-time founders believe that entrepreneurs need to “just do it” and that there is little role for strategy. Over time, however, most founders realize what experienced entrepreneurs and investors already know: two equally capable companies with very similar ideas and founded at the same time can have dramatically different outcomes. One creates millions of dollars in value, while the other fails completely. The difference? Strikingly different strategy. In the first module, the class covers four key strategic choices that shape when and how startups deliver real value to their stakeholders. The second module explains how such choices can be organized into 4 different strategic “playbooks” to systematically evaluate alternate strategies for a startup. The third module consists of the application of this framework to a real startup and a debrief with the founder. This class has the goal of transforming each student from someone with a vague understanding of the role of strategy in entrepreneurship to a master of strategic thinking in a startup environment. The syllabus is available upon request.
