New Venture Finance Sp2026

Contents

Schedule, Topics, and Graded Assignments - a "G" means graded assignment for the week

(tentative, I have a busy travel schedule this semester)

Since we're talking schedules, here's a link to the UA academic calendar page.

This section last updated: August 21, 2025

Week 1

1. Aug 21 - Review syllabus - Possible ice breaker..Some thoughts on entrepreneurship education.Here are the slides I used for the introduction

Week 2

2. Aug 26: Course opener - Proof Eyewear on Shark Tank - Skills: Simple income statement, backing into numbers, working capital. The first in a series of Shark Tank cases.

3. Aug 28: Follow-up skills on thinking like a Shark Tank Shark - First, a review of last lecture's lessons - Then See "Shark Tank II" for group activity. Speaking of trade shows, what can we learn about the "trade show industry" that informs our assessment of selling at trade shows? See this google doc for some answers.

Week 3 G1

4. Sep 2 - Financial statements and analysis, here is a link to a write-up overview of financial analysis methods to help you reinforce learnings associated with vertical, horizontal, and ratio analyses (google doc), 

5. Sep 5 - In-class non-graded activity for applying financial analysis to business models and companies activities. Use this google doc to answer questions about Proof Eyewear's pro forma financials. When you are done, please turn in your docs to profcraigarmstrong@gmail.com.  I will send out a GRADED QUIZ to you later on Sep 5. (10 points)

Week 4

NOTE: Please do not use my @ua.edu email address for class communications! See above. 

6. Sep 9 - Lecture First: Ratio analysis for restaurants you (might) love. You can tell a lot about the business model a business uses to deliver a value proposition based on its revenue and costs structure; 

New Venture Finance Financial Analysis Vignettes - Practical situations for startup founders.

Happy Go Fun Time: You will work in student teams and use A.I. assistance to create (1) a unique type of shoe that meets a customer group's specific unmet needs to sell in a "crowdfuncing campaign;" (2) create a prototype image using A.I.; (3) get estimates to build out a prototype of your shoe.Here is the link to the Netflix design documentary on Nike shoe designer Tinker Hatfield 

Want an overview of financial analysis methods? (SUPPLEMENTAL: here is a link to a write-up overview of financial analysis methods (google doc).

7. Sep 11 - Iterate from Problem to Solution toward Product-Market Fit with a Kickstarter campaign. Open this script to use for your AI session. 

(Bonus Material: navigate to Ridge and watch the video, read the transcript, live the dream) 

I am thinking about how some individuals navigate the "influencer" path as a way to magnify public exposure and promote products or services for a living. Here are Closing Prompt: Steps to Become an Influencer and Closing: How to Start Becoming an Influencer. Both documents are step by step instructions you can follow to experiment with becoming an influencer. 

Optional reading: The college-to-corporate pipeline is facing extinction. Here's why. (Fast Company, 7/10/2024)

No QUIZ THIS WEEK!

Week 5 G2

8. Sep 16,  begin Pro Forma Financials topic with Krabby Patties build up method and Beatbox Beverages example,  

9. Sep 18 In-class pro formas activity using AI tools. We will watch the Autoshop business plan presentation, you will complete the AI prompt deck session, and share the URL for your AI session including all of your queries and responses with me at MGT481BAMA@gmail.com. I will follow up with a quiz later today that includes questions related to this AI activity. (followed by graded weekend quiz, 10 points) Update: I sent the quiz out at 8:20 PM today

Week 6 G3

10. Sep 23; Intro to working capital management

11. Sep 25, More working capital management; Here is the AI PROMPT DECK we will use in class to simulate teaching a case on the startup StreamFit. You will find that thinking about cash flows in working capital management is much harder than it appears! Like everything worth knowing, only constant practice can lead to growth and mastery. Working Capital Management Quiz, sent out Thursday, Sep 25, due midnight, Sep 28, (10 points). You might find it helpful to refer to the AI PROMPT DECK some of you ran in class; the quiz is similar to that activity.

Week 7 G4

12. Sep 30 Overview of Sources of Financing, Read the assigned readings posted on the Overview of Sources of Financing page

One of you asked in class yesterday about the tax structure of LLCs, which are a flexible, less costly way to create a legal entity than C Corporations. The net incomes of LLCs 'pass through' to the 'members' of the LLC. If you have multiple members then there are special IRS forms you can use to report income from your LLC in your own personal taxes. I queried ChatGPT with a lot of questions and now have this document to share for those who are interested. 

And, one of you asked what keeps VC firms from using their serial fund structure from engaging in pyramid schemes (an intriguing question!). Venture capital (VC) firms raise multiple funds over time, often referred to as "serial funds" or "vintage funds." While, in theory, this structure might resemble aspects of a pyramid scheme—raising new funds while older ones are still active—several structural, legal, and market-based factors prevent VC firms from operating as pyramid schemes. A rather detailed examination of this question and the multiple safeguards that prevent this behavior is provided in this doc. Thank you both for your questions! 

13. Oct 2: No in-class lecture; Here is our in-class activity on Sources of Financing for Autoshop. On 3pm-ish look for Quiz in your email on Sources of Financing, Out of class (10 points), due midnight Sunday, Oct 5. Listed on Bb as Sources of Financing (or close to that). 

Week 8 G5

14. Oct 7: Cap Tables: who invested how much at what stage of financing at what share price? Navigate to Cap Tables (short deck of lecture slides), and explore a generic cap table here; Here is a text explanation of how to calculate new number of shares and share price. Other topis for discussion: The importance of "breaking out" so you don't follow value-enhancing investment rounds with dilutive ones.

15. Oct 9: Read Understanding Capitalization Tables. Cap Tables In-class non-graded activity to immerse you in cap table logic (team activity); On Thursday afternoon I'll send out an Out-of-class quiz, 10 points, listed on Bb as "Cap Tables," complete by Sunday, midnight.

Week 9 G6

16. Oct 14 No in-class lecture; How to talk to investors; Founders

17. Oct 16: How entrepreneurs finance their ventures in earliest stages (google slides); and read Antler's framework to creat a successful ESOP plan for your early-stage startup (Antler.co).

Resourceful entrepreneur: Just launched Jamie Siminoff (2:27);  Shark Tank appearance in 2013 (9:42)(Read comments below YouTube video); 3 years later From Garage to 150+ employees "Look at that...now there is a like whole f***ing building..." (5:42). Amazon purchased Ring on April 12, 2018 for approximately $839 million.  Armstrong estimated Cap Table

Read: Jamie Siminoff '99 and the Power of Entrepreneurial Thinking (Babson.edu, 4/19/21); Working on Cap Tables with ChatGPT (Armstrong, 3/6/2025)

END of WEEK 9 - Quiz on Founders and Earliest Stage Financing (sent to you Oct 16, due midnight Oct 19)

Also this lecture: New skills for new problems.  (presentation)

BONUS: Biggest mistakes first time founders make (7:10). Tentative: How startup fundraising works (29:00) How to build an MVP (16:52; related Bar Tap MVP) POSSIBLE in-class activity (not graded), Bonus reading: Crunchbase Explainer: How To Sell Your Stock Options On A Secondary Market (Crunchbase, 2/6/23)

Suggested Readings: 16 Startup Metrics from A16Z.com; 

Optional viewing: 21 Books that will change your mind (and maybe your life), Daniel Pink, Substack.com, Jun 11, 2025

Week 10 G7

18. Oct 21: Friends and Family, Read the assigned readings on the Friends and Family page before class.

19. Oct 23: No lecture this day. Otherwise, Early stage valuation: Early Stage Valuation

You'll take a quiz on Friends and Family that I will send out on Thursday, October 23 (due October 26) 

Optional reading: Silicon Valley's Elite Pour Money into Blotting out the Sun, Get ready for solar radiation management (SRM) Bloomberg.com or here, 10/25/24. Topics: Permissions, SRM credits sales, climate change, monetization - a unique business model

Week 11

20. Oct 28:  Early-stage valuation

21. Oct 30: Fall Break

Week 12 G8

22. Nov 4:More Early Stage Valuation - 

23. Nov 6: In-class AI assignment, Here is the link to your assignment to load into your favorite AI agent. 10 points (Listed on Bb grade center as "Early Stage Val") No quiz this week. 

Week 13 G9

24. Nov 11 More methods of early-stage startup valuation; In-class activity: Early stage valuation methods in class  Angel Investors (main slide deck here) and Raising Angel Capital in the Modern Era, READ: How to get to Product Market Fit: what it is, step by step guide and success cases like Notion, Canva and Stripe: Debunking the myth of PMF.  Variations in Angel Ownership Percentage

25. Nov 13:  In-class GRADED AI assignment. 10 points (Listed on Bb grade center as "Angel")

Week 14 G10

26. Nov 18 Venture Capital; How Venture Capital Works 101 (slides we covered in class on Nov 18); and How Venture Capital Works (similar but also important slides on VC term sheet mechanisms you need to know). Read also: How Notion Grows: What we can learn about product-led and community-led growth strategies from a $10bn SaaS startup. Series A Term Sheet Template (Y Combinator)

27. Nov 20: More venture capital  Read this set of instructions before you start the assignment. In-class GRADED AI assignment <-- Now posted. 10 points (Listed on Bb grade center as "Venture Capital"). 

Week 15

Nov 22 - 30: Thanksgiving Break (I will update all remaining quiz and simulation scores in Blackboard; you'll be able to see where you stand before we start Week 16)🦃🍗

Week 16

28. Dec 2: Special Topics week; Prompt writing and getting AI to help you be better entrepreneurs. 

🎲 AI-Partnered Game Design Challenge - Build a Game to Teach a New Venture Finance Topic

Mode: Human-centered design + AI-augmented creativity
Outcome: Students design a playable game (card, board, simulation, or role-play) that teaches a real finance mechanism with conceptual integrity. Students learn the concepts of human centered design, game design, teaching a new venture finance course, and working collaboratively with an AI bot to create something useful. 

Here is the file for prompting AI (Preview all three tabs of this document)

Seraf is committed to professionalizing early stage startup investing

Angel investing by the numbers (series) links to a series of 16 articles on understanding startup economics and capitalization, valuing early stage companies, and building a successful portfolio.

Approximations, Assumptions and Aspirations: Methods For Valuing Startups [Part I]. Part of a series on valuation and capitalization. Links to free ebooks on angel investing, portfolio construction, startup economics. 

7 Key Risks in Early Stage Investing [Infographic] Technical, Market adoption, Team, Financial, Regulatory, Competition, and Intellectual Property Risk. 

Stones Unturned: An investor's guide to due diligence in early stage companies