The Entrepreneurial Process
Course syllabus in PDF format here. Lectures TR 9:30 in Cornell Hall 12. Contact the instructor at bylundp[at]missouri.edu.
More about this course: homeworks, midterm and final, work groups and paper plus presentations, guest lecturers, lecture notes, other resources, and grading scales/philosophy.
Students – if you wish to get your papers back with comments (both term papers and extra credit papers), please come see me after the holidays.
Take this test: http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp, then read about your results at http://www.personalitypage.com/html/portraits.html . Also read about other interesting types. Bring a printout of your type to class on 8/23, with your name and university e-mail address printed at the top.
Homework #2
Reach consensus on interest in topics for presenting and discussant duties. E-mail the instructor a list of top-three chapters/topics for presenting as well as top-three chapters/topics for discussant duties (see list below). Note that the topics are first come first serve. This homework is due on 8/28, after which there will be penalties (50% of points lost for each day of delay).
Homework #3
In your groups, decide on what to do for your project/paper (see syllabus for details on your project). Discuss and summarize your plans in writing (1-2 pages), submit to the instructor by 8/31 and schedule a time with him the following week to discuss your plans.
As stated in the syllabus, this course does not have formal testing through exams. Your grade for the course is awarded based on the project/paper, presentations, and other work in your respective groups. In order to assess your individual contribution, we utilize peer assessments twice in the semester. Your contribution is based on your peers’ assessment and worth up to 150 points, and your assessment is worth 50 (2×25) points.
Peer assessment is done in class on the following dates:
10/18: midterm assessment
12/6: final assessment, course evaluation, and deadline for full-length paper
Were announced via e-mail on 8/23. University privacy policy prohibits posting your names/student ID numbers online. (If you did not receive the e-mail, please notify the instructor immediately.) Groups are responsible for presenting/being discussant on the following book chapters (from Bygrave & Zacharakis, 2nd edition):
Sep 18: ch. 5. Entrepreneurial Marketing; Group J/Group D
Sep 25: ch. 6. Building the Founding team; Group H/Group B
Oct 2: ch. 7. The Business Planning Process; Group E/Group H
Oct 9: ch. 8. Building your Pro-Forma Financial Statements; Group A/Group C
Oct 16: ch. 9. Financing Entrepreneurial Ventures Worldwide; Group G/Group A
Oct 23: ch. 10. Raising Money for Starting and Growing Businesses; Group D/Group F
Oct 30: ch. 11. Debt and Other Forms of Financing; Group C/Group G
Nov 6: ch. 13. Intellectual Property; Group B/Group E
Nov 13: ch. 14. Entrepreneurial Growth; Group F/Group J
Your papers (see syllabus for details) are due in hardcopy and must be turned in to the instructor in class during the last scheduled week of classes.
11/29 Group G
Guest Lectures (all students/faculty welcome)
8/30 Kelsey Meyer, Senior Vice President of Digital Talent Agents. More on Kelsey here.
9/4 Brent Beshore, Founder/CEO of AdVentures, a CoMo-based firm that placed #28 on the INC500 list 2011. More on Brent here.
9/11 Peter Hofherr, CEO of St. James Winery, the largest winery in Missouri.
8/23, entrepreneurship theories. PPT
9/13, business model. PPT
10/11, business plan. PPT
10/25, startup “advice”? PPT
11/01, social entrepreneurship PPT
11/8, Grameen Bank PPT
Resources for Your Projects and/or Further Study
Free resources for those of you interested in entrepreneurship or planning on starting your own business:
Entrepreneurship Alliance at Mizzou
Stanford University’s Entrepreneurship Corner
Startup Weekend, Columbia, Mo., 9/28-30 at Museao (3500 Buttonwood Dr.)
Missouri Small Business & Technology Development Center
Assignments during the semester are graded on a pass-fail basis, which means all students turning in assignments on time get their full point value. This means all students are rewarded for proactively meeting deadlines and working throughout the semester. It also means that the important deliverables are graded on a different scale than the usual A-F scale with 90+ % being an A, 80+ % a B, and so on. The latter are graded as follows:
Class Presentation:
125-150: A
100-124: B
75-99: C
50-74: D
0-49: F
Discussants:
80-100: A
60-79: B
40-59: C
20-39: D
0-19: F
Term papers:
175-250: A
100-174: B
50-99: C
1-49: D
0: F
Extra-credit papers:
The extra credit earned is for the achievement made in producing the paper as compared to the expected effort-based achievement of any point earned toward a grade in the class. The whole course is graded on a 1,000-point scale, which means an extra-credit paper needs to be an achievement of quality approximately equal to achieving 10% of the full course to achieve 100 points. Additionally, all extra-credit papers are awarded 10 points plus the aforementioned achievement contribution.