GRADUATE COURSES IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Graduate Courses in Entrepreneurship: ORIENTATION
The threshold question for many students is simply one of curiosity: what’s it like to be an entrepreneur? What does it take to develop a venture idea into a viable business? How can you choose which ideas are worth pursuing? These “orientation” courses are designed to help students answer those questions.
Graduate Courses in Entrepreneurship: EXPLORATION
Once you have decided to look further into an entrepreneurial path, we offer many flavors of courses and other activities through which you can pursue and develop your particular interests or skills. Building on the orientation courses, they are geared around fundamental questions prospective entrepreneurs must address: How do I identify and evaluate an entrepreneurial opportunity? How can I find an idea or a technology worth converting into a business? What kind of business model works best for my idea?
Graduate Courses in Entrepreneurship: REPERTOIRE
Every venture faces common challenges:
- How to raise money to get started
- How to develop a product/service prototype or “proof of concept that validates key assumptions
- What business model will work best?
- How to assemble an effective team
- Where to focus marketing and sales efforts
The courses described below address these and other related questions directly, with case examples from multiple markets as well as practical frameworks and tools to expand your repertoire of entrepreneurial skills and improve your odds of success.
FINANCE
INNOVATION
LAW
MARKETING
Graduate Courses in Entrepreneurship:
CONTEXT COURSES
We offer a changing series of additional courses focusing on how entrepreneurship manifests itself in different market sectors. These “context courses” are designed to let you delve more deeply into arenas of particular interest to you, and complement the course curriculum described earlier.
Graduate Courses in Entrepreneurship:
SOCIAL CHALLENGES COURSES
Entrepreneurship is not just about doing well. It can also be about doing good, as shown by successful innovators like Muhamed Yunus, the father of the modern microfinance revolution for poor people, and several of our alumni who have launched or are leading successful social ventures in many fields. Whether the challenge is global warming or global poverty, entrepreneurs are exploring new, business-oriented, ventures that deliver promising solutions to this complex and urgent agenda. We offer a portfolio of courses and other activities for students interested in understanding this emerging domain of “social entrepreneurship” and perhaps considering making their own history in it.
Graduate Courses in Entrepreneurship: PRE-LAUNCH
If you have decided you are serious about starting a venture, you have several resources to help you refine your strategy and improve your chances for a successful launch, from courses and business plan competitions to best
practices events.
For Aspiring Undergraduate Entrepreneurs
As the primary locus at UC Berkeley for the study and promotion of entrepreneurship in management and new enterprise development, we serve everyone in the campus community with entrepreneurial interests. Our undergraduate courses not only reflect our location in the Haas School of Business, which allows us to connect business leaders with undergraduate and graduate students, but relects our cross-campus Entrepreneurship Initiative with the College of Letters and Science. The Center’s courses and activities allow students from different disciplines to network and collaborate.
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
Format:
Number. Title (units) [semester]
|
L&S5/UGBA 96. Introduction to Entrepreneurship (2) [Fall & Spring] |
| This class will explore the structure and framework of entrepreneurial endeavors – both inside and outside the business world. The course will answer questions such as: What is entrepreneurship? What is opportunity recognition and selection? How can you create and define competitive advantage? This course is designed for freshmen and sophomores who want to learn about entrepreneurship, its importance to our society, and its role in bringing new ideas to market. Students will understand the entrepreneurial business process and how they might become involved in those processes in their future careers – in whatever direction those careers might lead. Course web page - video available. |
[top of page]
|
|
195T.
New Venture Creation (3) [Spring] |
| Do you have an idea for a new business, but want to learn how to more fully develop this idea? Would you like to receive funding for your business idea, but lack a framework to ask for capital? This course takes students through the new venture process using a business plan as the main deliverable. A well-written business plan sets key milestones and indicates the resources needed to achieve them, in an increasingly complex business environment. Through the planning process that tightly links market and financial planning a business plan creates a set of standards to which investors and teammates can evaluate actual performance, laying the foundation for an “operating plan” once the business is launched. |
[top of page]
|
|
195P.
Perspectives on Entrepreneurship (3) [Fall] |
| In this course, the goal is to have students identify their entrepreneurial interests through a combination of exploration, readings, and close interaction with successful entrepreneurs. Key projects include taking students through a systematic search to identify how their past achievements can best align with their career pursuits. Students will also take ownership of their entrepreneurial ideas through a trend analysis and elevator pitch. Students will receive coaching as they seek a summer internship or job. Whether students plan to join a start-up upon graduation, or seek positions in more established firms, there is a role for entrepreneurship. |
[top of page]
|
195S.
Entrepreneurship to Address Global Poverty (3) [Spring] |
| This campuswide undergraduate course, developed with The Blum Center for Developing Economies, offers students insights into whether and how entrepreneurial ventures can make a difference in tackling one of the world’s most urgent and daunting challenges: persistent and pervasive poverty. It integrates guest lectures by distinguished faculty in other departments with expertise in issues such as water, housing, transportation and energy with case studies and conversations with a variety of social entrepreneurs around the world. |
[top of page]
|
195T.
Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Information Technology (2) [Fall] |
| This course is an intensive and in-depth study of the rapidly evolving global information technology (IT) industry viewed through the perspective of an entrepreneur/innovator attempting to introduce a new product or
service into the market. The course will study companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Nintendo, and numerous start-ups to understand the opportunities and challenges in creating viable businesses in the 21st century IT industry. |
[top of page]
|
196.
Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Wireless Services (3) [Spring] |
| No other technology in the history of this planet has proliferated as quickly to as many people as the mobile phone. There are significant and unique challenges in creating a commercially successful wireless service as many innovators and entrepreneurs have discovered in recent years. The strategic choices made regarding how an innovation is introduced into the market and the nature of the innovator’s role in relation to the rest of the ecosystem matter. In this course, students will examine both successful and unsuccessful case studies of new wireless services to understand the key ingredients to creating successful businesses in the wireless industry. |
[top of page]
|
277. Managing the Legal Environment of
Business (2) [Spring] |
This is a business-oriented course about the of legal and regulatory issues and problems most commonly confronting business managers. Intended to broaden business students’ knowledge of the American legal system and the legal process, so they can understand and respond to laws and regulations affecting the business community, analyze and deal with legal issues affecting their own company, and work effectively and efficiently with legal counsel. Major topics are: choice of business entity; corporate governance issues; understanding the litigation process, arbitration and alternative methods of dispute resolution; intellectual property and financial and legal issues confronting public companies today.
|
|
290B.1. Biotech Industry Perspectives
and Business Development (2) [Fall] |
| The focus of this course will be on business development in biotechnology, and in particular on the strategic and other issues inherent in partnering the research, development and commercialization of human healthcare products. Experience has shown that biotechnology companies almost inevitably enter into joint ventures, partnerships and other collaborations in order to develop one or more of their products or technologies. We will explore the strategic rationale for such partnerships, both from the perspective of smaller development stage biotechnology companies, and from the perspective of larger biotech or pharmaceutical companies. We will also explore in depth the complex management, financial and other issues which must be considered both when entering into such a partnership, and in managing such a relationship over the relatively long period associated with the development and commercialization of healthcare products. We will begin with a brief discussion of the biotechnology industry and the process by which products move from research through clinical development and the FDA approval process to commercialization. With this background, we will then explore biotech partnering in detail. Topics will include the role of patents and other intellectual property; determining the scope of a collaboration; the significance of manufacturing rights; co-promotion, co-marketing and other commercial arrangements; key financial terms (including upfront fees, milestone payments, royalties, profit sharing, transfer pricing, loans and equity investments); and management of a collaboration, including in particular how decisions are made when the partners cannot agree. Following our consideration of biotech partnering, we will move on to a discussion of mergers and acquisitions. Smaller biotech companies often articulate a business development plan which aims at becoming a successfully integrated pharmaceutical company through mergers and acquisitions. We will explore product acquisitions (the purchase of a single product line or group of related products being divested by another company) as well as corporate mergers and acquisitions (the purchase of an entire company). The focus will be on issues specific to biotech M&A, and in particular on the valuation, timing and other issues associated with consideration by the board of directors of a potential purchase (growth strategy) - or sale (exit strategy) - of a product or company. |
[top of page]
|
290E. Marketing for High Tech Entrepreneurs (3) [Fall] |
| Every successful entrepreneurial high tech venture has at its core individuals with two skill sets: marketing and management expertise, and technological ability. This course is intended to provide the marketing skills needed for the management of an entrepreneurial high technology venture, regardless of whether the individual’s “home” skill set is technical or managerial. The course will examine successful marketing approaches for entrepreneurial companies as a function of markets and technologies. Emphasis is placed on the special requirements for creating and executing marketing programs in a setting of rapid technological change and limited resources. The course is particularly suited for those who anticipate founding or operating technology companies. |
[top of page]
|
290I.
Managing Innovation and Change (3) [Spring] |
| Most innovations fail. Yet companies that
do not innovate die. Managing innovation constitutes one of the most difficult and
critical tasks facing a manager. Nor is this solely the concern of high tech companies –
companies in more traditional businesses also find that innovation leads directly to growth. The course adopts a capabilities-based view of the firm, drawing from economic, organizational, and engineering perspectives. The goal is to identify the sources of innovative success and failure inside corporations, and how companies can develop and sustain a capability to innovate. Considerable attention will be paid to the management of intellectual property. |
[top of page]
|
290N. Managing the New Product
Development Process (3) [Fall] |
| This course develops the interdisciplinary skills required for successful product development in today’s competitive marketplace. Engineering, iSchool and Business students from Berkeley and Industrial Design students from California College of the Arts join forces on small product development teams to step through the new product development process in detail, learning about the available tools and techniques to execute each step along the way. Each student brings his or her own disciplinary perspective to the team effort, and must learn to synthesize that perspective with those of the other students in the group to develop a sound, marketable product. Students depart the semester understanding new product development processes as well as useful tools, techniques and organizational structures that support new product development practice. Although the course focuses on the application of these principles to new product development, they are more broadly applicable to innovation in general – of products, services, organizations, business strategies and governmental policies. |
[top of page]
|
290T*. Innovation, Creativity & The Entrepreneur (2) [Fall] |
This is a course for students seeking to learn ways in which some of the world’s greatest entrepreneurial teams have used creativity and innovation to get ahead. The course will delve into ways in which some of the world’s most creative entrepreneurs have developed, launched, grown and built their firms. Throughout the course, students will look at examples of creativity in many functional areas of the start-up: R&D/product, production, marketing, sales, financial and fundraising. The course will also explore creative and innovative approaches to business models, company leadership and global management. Each student will keep track of the learnings applied to their own individual career tracks, and the final project will involve a “personal innovation plan” or life assessment of how the student might inject a creative/ innovative approach to their own career development.
*These courses are divided into two 2-unit 7 week courses which are designed to be taken in sequence
|
[top of page]
|
290T*. Strategy for the Information Technology Firm (4) [Fall or Spring] |
This course is an intensive and in-depth study of the rapidly evolving global information technology industry. Students will analyze the role of regulatory, technological, economic, and market forces in shaping information technology industry structure, business models, and competitive dynamics. Special emphasis is placed on identifying opportunities and understanding the challenges for start-ups and other new entrants. The impact of the changing industry landscape on established business models and industry practices for innovation, intellectual property creation and utilization, risk management, product/service development, supply chain management, and market/distribution channel
development is also explored in detail.
*These courses are divided into two 2-unit 7 week courses which are designed to be taken in sequence
|
[top of page]
|
290T*. Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Wireless Services (4) [Fall or Spring] |
No other technology in history has proliferated as quickly to as many people as the mobile phone. Yet despite this explosive growth, there are significant and unique challenges in creating a commercially successful wireless service – as many innovators and entrepreneurs (whether in start-ups or established companies) have discovered. In this course, students will examine both successful and unsuccessful case studies of new wireless services to understand the key ingredients to creating successful wireless businesses. Although fundamentally about strategy and general management, this course draws from a variety of disciplines including public policy, law, marketing, economics, finance, and engineering to identify key issues, analyze potential options and understand the consequences of the decisions made by management.
*These courses are divided into two 2-unit 7 week courses which are designed to be taken in sequence |
[top of page]
|
290T*. Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Telecommunications and Media (3) [Fall or Spring] |
Technology, competition, and user expectations are transforming the global telecommunications and media industries. New technologies are enabling novel means of delivering services, threatening traditional business models and shifting the balance of power in the industry. It is now easier and cheaper than ever for an entrepreneurial team (whether in a start-up or an established company) to develop and mass distribute innovative new products and services. Yet it is also more difficult than ever to build a large-scale sustainable business around these innovations. The strategic choices made regarding how an innovation is introduced into the market and the nature of the innovator’s role in relation to the rest of the ecosystem matter. Students will examine both successful and not so successful situations to understand the opportunities and challenges in creating viable businesses in the 21st century telecommunications and media industries.
*These courses are divided into two 2-unit 7 week courses which are designed to be taken in sequence
|
[top of page]
|
292N. Social Entrepreneurship (2) [Spring] |
This course explores how to utilize social entrepreneurship to generate social impact efficiently, effectively, and sustainably through two primary means: 1) organizational level growth and innovation and 2) catalyzing networks, requiring the mobilization of a vast array of actors and resources across organization and sector boundaries, and having the potential to generate rapid and sustained social impact. Case topics include social entrepreneurship in climate change/energy, microfinance, health, and international development. |
[top of page]
|
292T. Social Investing: Recent Findings in Management and Finance (2) [Fall] |
Once considered a sideshow in the investment world, social investing has begun to attract significant attention from academics. Some of the issues raised by social investors bring fresh light to controversies in investment and management theory. Moreover, concerns over globalization and climate change have challenged the widely-held view that social and environmental concerns must be subordinated to financial ones in capital allocation decisions. This course will review eight strong recent studies of issues in social investing from different academic fields including management, finance, and economics. |
[top of page]
|
294. Life
as an Entrepreneur (MBA Speaker Series) (1) [Fall] |
| Life as an Entrepreneur is a speaker series for first year, first semester MBAs and other students who are aspiring entrepreneurs or simply wish to know more about the entrepreneurial world. Speakers come from a wide variety of companies and stages of growth and include experienced successful entrepreneurs as well as current student venture teams. Students hear from inventors, scientists, engineers, lawyers and venture capitalists; gain inspiration from recent graduates and their companies; and receive real market data that help them pursue their entrepreneurial ideas. The course is a collaboration among the Lester Center, the Haas Entrepreneurs Association (EA) and the Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology at the College of Engineering. Recent speakers included Shai Agassi, Founder and CEO of Better Place, Bambi Francisco, Founder and CEO of vator.tv., and Marissa Mayer, Vice President of Google. |
[top of page]
|
294. Microfinance
Speakers Series (1) [Fall] |
This course explores why and how microfinance operations have grown to provide financial services to poor and low-income people on a sustainable basis. The course brings together advice and best practices from successful practitioners and institutions around the world as well as new technology start-ups targeting the industry. It provides an introduction to microfinance as an important development effort, as well as an excellent forum to learn about current challenges and debates in the world of microfinance. |
[top of page]
|
294. Private Equity (Speaker Series)
(1) [Fall] |
The objective of the Private Equity Speaker Series, a one-unit seminar class, is to provide students with an overview of private equity investing through weekly interactions with a diverse group of accomplished industry professionals from institutions such as buyout funds, mezzanine capital funds, equity fund limited partners, and third-party service providers. In addition to reviewing the roles of each party involved, the course will also focus on various steps in the deal process, demonstrate the varying investment strategies of select industry players, highlight current market trends, and provide both financial and strategic insight into this dynamic asset class. The course aims to provide an introduction to multiple facets of a private equity investing for all students, ranging from those preparing for a career in private equity to those simply interested in learning about the industry. |
[top of page]
|
294. Social Impact (Speaker Series)
(1) [Fall] |
The Social Impact Speaker Series will introduce students to a number of leaders within the social impact space. Speakers will hail from the public, private, philanthropic and nonprofit sectors across domestic, international and global organizations and will include some of the most forward thinking leaders in the sector, including guest lecturers from Ashoka, Education Pioneers, FSG Social Impact Advisors, Kickstart, REDF and SV2. The class will consist of twelve two-hour meetings covering three main sections: Business Models, Industries and Future Trends. Each class will have two to three guest lecturers and will be conducted in a panel style where faculty and/or 2nd year MBA students will lead the conversation on each specific topic. |
[top of page]
|
295A.
Entrepreneurship & Innovation (3) [Fall & Spring] |
This course covers the basics of how to create an entrepreneurial business. It focuses on businesses that are not small by design, but rather on those that, with vision, hard work and luck can be built into substantial enterprises. The class addresses the entrepreneurial process and the key elements of business plans that develop venture ideas appropriate for sophisticated angel investors and venture capitalists. The main requirement for the course is the development of a business plan for a venture of the student’s choosing. Student teams work together to develop an idea for a new venture, research its potential, perform analysis to identify what resources are needed and when, and then write and present a formal business plan. Over the years, this course and its alumni have spawned many successful businesses in a wide variety of markets, including the teams that created MyPoints and Google Earth, among others.
|
[top of page]
|
295B. Venture Capital and Private
Equity (3) [Fall] |
Venture capital is core to our Silicon Valley high-tech economy and our country’s strong growth over the past two decades. UC Berkeley is located in the “mother lode” of this very special and unique investment category. This course provides an advanced offering for those who intend to seek, or manage, venture capital funding. It is appropriate for students who aspire to become CEOs of entrepreneurial ventures or general partners of venture capital firms.
|
[top of page]
|
295C. Opportunity Recognition:
Technology and Entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley (3)
[Spring] |
| This course is intended to provide the core skills needed for identifying opportunities that can lead to successful, entrepreneurial high technology ventures, regardless of the individual’s “home” skill set, whether technical or managerial. It takes an in-depth look at the approaches most likely to succeed for entrepreneurial companies as a function of markets and technologies. Emphasis is placed on the special requirements for creating and executing strategy in a setting of rapid technological change and limited resources. This course is particularly suited for those who anticipate founding or operating technology companies. |
[top of page]
|
295D/T. New Venture Finance (MBA:2, EWMBA:3)
[Spring] |
This is a course for current/future entrepreneurs on how to finance and fund a start-up or high-growth business. The course centers on a model that includes strategic planning, financial analysis, business model creation, cash management, funding alternatives, investor pitching, alternative financing, and exit strategies. We examine the various options that a company has for financing at all stages of its life-cycle – from seed stage to later stage – using a blend of lectures, cases, readings and speakers (venture capitalists, CEO/founders, industry experts and service providers) to address the full range of financing options including angel, venture capital, debt financing, corporate/strategic investment and public markets. A unique feature of the EWMBA version of this class is the “real-time” company – throughout the course, a CEO from a company that is currently grappling with the new venture finance process will join us for class. Members of the class will have the opportunity to apply what they learn to this company throughout the semester, including assisting the company in setting its internal financial plan, external fundraising process and
culminating with a live pitch to investors.
|
[top of page]
|
295E.
Case Studies in Entrepreneurship (2) [Fall] |
This course brings into the classroom student experiences with entrepreneurship management of new ventures drawn from summer internships. This provides a rich learning environment with current topics in entrepreneurial markets and with clinical aspects of managing companies in those markets. The materials for the course are derived from the internship experiences of the Mayfield Fellows and other students who have had internships during the summer or have had significant entrepreneurial management experiences. The course allows you to step back from the fury and frenzy of the entrepreneurial environment and, in an academic setting, understand what you and your fellow students really learned. By the end of the semester each student will better understand what it takes to navigate the managerial challenges of an entrepreneurial enterprise. |
[top of page]
|
295F. Customer Development
in High Tech Enterprise (2) [Spring] |
This course is about how to build a “Lean Start-up” using the “Customer Development” methodology to successfully organize sales, marketing and business development, with particular emphasis on high technology companies. Its premise is that startups are not smaller versions of large companies. Instead early stage ventures require their own tools and techniques. For the purpose of this course, a “start-up” can either be a new venture, or an existing company entering a new market. The class will cover the four steps of Customer Development; Customer Discovery – understanding customer problems and needs, Customer Validation – developing a sales model that can be replicated, Customer Creation – creating and driving end user demand, and Company Building – transitioning the organization from learning and discovery to a well oiled machine engineered for execution. |
[top of page]
|
295I.
Entrepreneurship Workshop for Start-ups (2)
[Fall & Spring] |
Students actively developing a business plan take this course to understand how new businesses form and gain focus on their opportunities. This class typically follows the main Entrepreneurship class and allows dedicated teams to pursue their goals. Structured as a clinic, the course typically has up to 15 ventures under development. Students have the opportunity to consult to other venture teams and receive advice from other members of the class. Over the years, up to half of the ventures developed in this class have launched.
|
[top of page]
|
295J. Entrepreneurship in Biotechnology
(2) [Spring] |
| This course provides an introduction to the complexities and unique problems of entrepreneurship in the life sciences. Students will be exposed to the topics most critical to successfully founding, financing and operating a life science company and will be expected to perform many of the tasks that founders would normally undertake. An overview of the industry based on trends over the past 20 years and on opportunity recognition and how “good” opportunities have changed over time is followed by a focus on functional and operational issues of small life science companies. The course concludes with the preparation and presentation of a final project. |
[top of page]
|
295T. Business Model Innovation & Entrepreneurial Strategy (2) [Fall] |
| The course examines innovation in business models as a critical aspect of successfully starting new enterprises. It reviews the business models of over 50 companies, new entrants and incumbents, and explores the successful strategies of entrant firms and the reactions of incumbents. Students learn how new enterprises use innovative business models to obtain success and avoid the challenges put forth by incumbents. The class uses case studies, short lectures, discussions and guest speakers to reinforce frameworks and showcase actual business examples. Students apply the models developed by the course to their own ventures and fields of interest. |
[top of page]
|
Boalt 250.8 Lawyers and Entrepreneurship:
Business Plans (2) [Fall],
Investment Process and Methodology (2) [Spring] |
| Meant to be companion courses, these can be taken independently or in any sequence. Lawyers can become great entrepreneurs. Even a cursory look across the entrepreneurial landscape reveals lawyers leading many great companies, from start-ups to established enterprises, as well as dynamic investment firms with all manner of strategies. Still, too many business attorneys do not grasp what it truly means to add value, and too few law students set about to purposefully use their legal education to help them become great entrepreneurs. Learning, as lawyers do, how to locate, define and champion clarity out of confusing and conflicting fact patterns is wonderful training for any entrepreneur. In addition, lawyers and entrepreneurs both benefit greatly from learning how to balance the demands of being a great, subjective, advocate while at the same time being disciplined by objective facts. This course will focus on business plans as a way to provide students with a deep understanding of the building blocks of any entrepreneurial endeavor. This class will depend upon rigorous and dynamic student classroom participation and will utilize readings, case-studies and guest speakers to help students learn to develop, critique, and utilize business plans and investment screens. In addition, the guest speakers – all current or former lawyers, some practicing law and some active as investors or operating managers – will share their views of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship and the ways in which their legal backgrounds contributed to their own professional successes. Note: The Law School offers additional legally focused courses relating to the entrepreneurial process that may be of interest, e.g., IPO Law: Advising the Emerging Growth Company (Boalt 255 - Spring/2 units). |
[top of page]
|
Boalt 256.12. New Business Counseling Practicum (3) [Fall/Spring] |
| This course, open to both law and business students, covers a broad range of knowledge in law and business related to the development of new businesses, through classroom learning, field trips, participating in simulations, and providing hands-on assistance with real business start-ups. Class time will be primarily devoted to preparing students for consulting with real entrepreneur clients during the term, specifically entrepreneurs who are beginning new business ventures (for-profit or non-profit). Students will work in interdisciplinary teams and under instructor supervision, to research and formulate options that will address their entrepreneur clients’ needs. |
[top of page]
|
|
