Course Syllabus

ESHIP 106 - Venture Launch

Google Docs version of this Syllabus

 

Course Description

Apply the entrepreneurial decision-making process and the lean launch/customer discovery process to the real-world development and assessment of new opportunities, business models, and ventures.

 

Student Learning Outcomes

1. Identify, develop, and assess the viability of new opportunities, business models, and ventures.
2. Identify the skills and resources needed to capitalize on and execute a business model.
3. Assess the potential for the successful launch and growth of a new venture.

 

Objectives

Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:

1. Identify the type of business to be launched.
2. Define the business model for the launch.
3. Conduct a feasibility assessment of the venture concept and business model.
4. Complete an initial financial assessment of a venture.
5. Develop practical/realistic strategies for funding a venture.
6. Learn how to make effective presentations.
7. Assess the demands and rewards of entrepreneurship as a potential career path.

 

Class Meetings

All material and activities be offered asynchronously, meaning students can access them anytime. That being said, the bulk of this course is a group project, and in-person, live meetings with your project team will likely be required to make meaningful progress on your project.

 

Instructor Contact

Email: dweinzveg@gmail.com

Office Hours: Available in-person and via video upon request

I respond to emails with 24 hours.

 

Textbook

Crushing It by Gary Vaynerchuk

Start-Up Owner’s Manual by Steve Blank

Business Model Generation,  Osterwalder and Pigneur ISBN 978-0470876411

You can locate and order textbooks online via the SRJC Bookstore. Note that if you want to pick your books up in Petaluma, you need to order them from the Petaluma Bookstore website.

 

Required Software

You will need the following software for this course:

• Adobe Reader
• Open Office
• Ability to upload images, audio and video to Canvas

 

Important Dates

Day Class Begins: [Find these dates in your Faculty Portal when you View Roster > Display Roster.]

Day Class Ends: [You can also find a table of the dates in the online schedule by clicking on the Date Begin/End link when viewing a course.]

Last Day to Add without instructor's approval: xx

Last Day to Add with instructor's approval: xx

Last Day to Drop without a 'W' symbol: xx

Last Day to Opt for Pass/No Pass: xx

Last Day to Drop with a 'W' symbol: xx

 

Dropping the Class

If you decide to discontinue this course, it is your responsibility to officially drop it to avoid getting no refund (after 10% of course length), a W symbol (after 20%), or a grade (after 60%). Also, for several consecutive, unexplained absences, the instructor may drop a student.

 

Pass‐NoPass (P/NP)

You may take this class P/NP. You must decide before the deadline, and add the option online with TLC or file the P/NP form with Admissions and Records. With a grade of C or better, you will get P.

You must file for the P/NP option by [date]. Once you decide to go for P/NP, you cannot change back to a letter grade. If you are taking this course as part of a certificate program, you can probably still take the class P/NP. Check with a counselor to be sure.

 

Instructor Announcements and Q&A Forum

The instructor will post announcements on the “Instructor Announcements” page in Canvas throughout the semester. Canvas notifies students according to their preferred Notification Preferences as soon as the instructor creates an Announcement. A “Q&A Forum” is also on Canvas to ask for the assistance of your classmates or of instructor.

 

Late Policy

All assignments are due at midnight PST on the due date. A late submission will receive a 20% penalty. Submissions more than one week late are not accepted without prior arrangement. Late work will not be graded unless the student sends the instructor an email with a request for submitting late work.

 

Grading Policy

Visit the “Grades” in Canvas to keep track of your grades. I grade once a week and post grades and comments on the online Canvas grade book.

 

Item	Weight
Writing: Assessment tools that demonstrate writing skills and/or require students to select, organize and explain ideas in writing.	40%
Problem-solving: Assessment tools, other than exams, that demonstrate competence in computational or non-computational problem-solving skills.	30%
Skill Demonstrations: All skill-based and physical demonstrations used for assessment purposes including skill performance exams.	20%
Class Participation: Attendance, in class discussions and activities.	10%

 

• All assignments are due at midnight PST on the due date.
• A late submission will receive a 20% penalty.
• Submissions more than one week late are not accepted without prior arrangement. Late work will not be graded unless the student sends the instructor an email with a request for submitting late work.

 

Rubric for Assessing Student Participation

	Exemplary (90-100%)	Proficient (80-89%)	Developing (70-79%)	Unacceptable (<70%)
Frequency	The student initiates contributions more than once in each class.	The student initiates contribution once in each class.	The student initiates contribution at least in half of the classes.	The student does not initiate contribution & needs the instructor to solicit input.
Quality of Comments	Comments insightful & constructive. Comments balanced between general impressions, opinions & specificity..	Comments mostly insightful & constructive. Occasionally comments are too general or not relevant to the discussion.	Comments are sometimes constructive, and not always relevant to the discussion.	Comments are uninformative, with heavy reliance on the opinion (e.g., “I love it”)

If taking Pass/No Pass you need at least 70% of the total class points and complete the midterm exam and the final exam to pass the class.

Letter grades are assigned as follows:

• Excellent / “A” Level – Creative insights and conclusions. Thoughts are presented in a very thoughtful and engaging manner. The writing style and organization of material reflects professional writing practices, and the adherence to grammar rules is close to flawless. The submission is comprehensive and demonstrates an excellent grasp and synthesis of course concepts. The analysis is outstanding and the insights developed are exceptional.
• Good / “B” Level – Creative insights and conclusions. Thoughts are presented in an organized manner. Presents a good analysis and synthesis of course concepts. The writing style and organization of material reflects an understanding of professional writing practices, and the submission does not contain major grammatical or formatting errors.
• Satisfactory / “C” Level – The submission lacks originality, depth of analysis, or synthesis of course concepts, and/or there is little support provided for conclusions. While generally coherent, the submission does not sufficiently reflect an understanding of professional business writing practices and contains multiple errors in organization and/or grammar.
• Poor / “D” Level – The submission lacks original insights and/or demonstrates poor analysis and synthesis of course concepts. The submission does not reflect an understanding of adequate writing practices and contains multiple errors in organization and/or grammar.
• Fail / “F” Level – Incoherent, illogical, factually inaccurate, and inconsistent.

*You must bring up any questions or concerns about scores or feedback on assignments within one week of receipt. Please note that asking for an incomplete is not an option for students with an overall failing grade in the course.

**The work you submit must be your own. Plagiarism (including cutting and pasting text from any source) is unacceptable and will be grounds for academic discipline. If you use a source, cite your source using the MLA format.

 

The Project

The objective of the project is to help students learn the fundamentals of the venture development processes by applying the business model canvas framework in Business Model Generation and the customer discovery process to the assessment of an opportunity of their choice. The end goal and final deliverable of the project is a detailed and well-supported assessment of the viability of the opportunity and the business model developed to exploit the opportunity.

The focus of the project is to test/assess the various assumptions you make (also referred to as “hypotheses”) about the opportunity and each of the elements of your business model. As noted by Blank and Dorf in The Startup Owner’s Manual, in order to effectively assess the viability of an

opportunity / business model / venture you must “get out of the building” and actively engage key stakeholders. Examples of this type of research include (but is not limited to) directly engaging with and observing potential customers to clarify your assumptions about customer segments and value propositions, talking to prospective distributors and partners, and contacting suppliers about costs.

To assist you in this process, there are multiple project segments scheduled over the semester, each covering key elements of a business model. For each segment, you will prepare and submit a written/graphic document and make a 5-10 minute in-class presentation in order to receive developmental feedback from the instructor and classmates. The project and course conclude with your preparation and submission of a final assessment of the viability of the opportunity and your business model. 

Students may complete the project individually but are encouraged to form a team of up to three (3) people due to the project demands and to reflect a more realistic process of new venture development. If you choose to work as a team, all assignments are to be submitted as a team (one document/file per team), and each team member will receive the same score for each project segment.

Students are encouraged to forward one of their own ideas, and if they are unsure of what to do, can seek counsel from other students or the professor. Projects with environmental sustainability as an operating value are eligible to compete in the Sonoma Clean Power Pitch Competition. Only students in ESHIP 106 are eligible for this competition and prize money can be as much as $10,000.

Due to time limitations, the total number of projects in the class will be limited to fifteen.

 

Calendar

The following schedule, topics, and assignment/deliverable due dates are subject to change. 

	Subject
Unit 1	Self Assessment
LegalGPS	Recognizing Risk Intro to IP
Unit  2	Network Assessment Risk Assessment Stakeholder Engagement
Unit 3	Constraints & Obstacles Industries of interest
Unit 4	Discovering Opportunities Developing Opportunities Decision Making Tools
Unit 5	Business Models
Unit 6	Launching A Lean Venture Identifying pain points Testing solutions
Unit 7	Customer Segments Value Proposition Product Market Fit
Mid Term	Presentations
Unit 8	Communication Channels Customer Relationships (Get, keep & grow) Revenue Streams
LegalGPS	Customers Partners, Employees & Vendors
Unit 9	Key Activities Key Resources Key Partners
LegalGPS	Taxes Working With Lawyers
Unit 10	Funding Options Exist Strategies
Final	The Business Plan Pitch Competition

 

Standards of Conduct

Students who register in SRJC classes are required to abide by the SRJC Student Conduct Standards. Violation of the Standards is basis for referral to the Vice President of Student Services or dismissal from class or from the College. See the Student Code of Conduct page.

Collaborating on or copying of tests or homework in whole or in part will be considered an act of academic dishonesty and result in a grade of 0 for that test or assignment. I encourage students to share information and ideas, but not their work. See these links on Plagiarism:
SRJC Writing Center Lessons on avoiding plagiarism
SRJC's policy on Academic Integrity

Other Important Policies and Practices

Avoid Plagiarism Like the, er, Plague

Although most students have likely heard about plagiarism during their years of schooling, it still is prevalent-even in higher education.

The video below reviews what plagiarism is and how not to do it.

Plagiarism: How to avoid it

This activity tests your knowledge of plagiarism (not graded): Self-check: Plagiarism

Netiquette, or Why Is It Harder to Be Polite Online?

Netiquette refers to using common courtesy in online communication. All members of the class are expected to follow netiquette in all course communications. Use these guidelines:

• Use capital letters sparingly. THEY LOOK LIKE SHOUTING.
• Forward emails only with a writer's permission.
• Be considerate of others' feelings and use language carefully.
• Cite all quotations, references, and sources (otherwise, it is plagiarism).
• Use humor carefully. It is hard to "read" tone; sometimes humor can be misread as criticism or personal attack. Feel free to use emoticons like :) for a smiley face to let others know you are being humorous.
• Use complete sentences and standard English grammar to compose posts. Write in proper paragraphs. Review work before submitting it.
• Text speak, such as "ur" for "your" or "ru" for "are you" etc., is only acceptable when texting.

 

Special Needs

Students with disabilities who believe they need accommodations in this class are encouraged to contact Disability Resources (527-4278), as soon as possible to better ensure such accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion.