Teaching Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurial Course Fusion

Michael K. Madison
Managing Director
Cocoon Ventures
 Disclaimer

• Teaching is not my day job

– You’re the expert

• I am:
– a venture capitalist
– a mentor/lecturer Berkeley’s MBA
 About me

• Managing Director of Cocoon Ventures

• 2009 Silicon Valley Top 40 under 40
• Early start in technology
– Great mentorship
– Hands on entrepreneurial experience
• UMBC alum (2000)
– Meyerhoff Scholar
– #1 in Comp Eng. department
• Stanford MS in EE, Berkeley MBA
 What do we mean about
entrepreneurship?

Without a definition it’s impossible infuse it into a course.

 Defining Entrepreneurship

1. Act of starting a business

2. Organization, management and

assumption of risks for a business or
enterprise

Business isn’t a dirty word

 Entrepreneurship Basics

Creating something from nothing

Managing growth
Exit

Embracing failure. Leveraging mentors

Top Program
Commonalities
 Top 25 Entrepreneurial Grad
Programs Interesting Averages

Scholarship value $126,491

4.8 mentorship programs
3.6 entrepreneurship clubs
20.12 entrepreneurship course
Students starting a business 16%
Recent grads starting a business 20%
83% of faculty are entrepreneurs

2008 Entrepreneur.com’s Survey of Entrepreneurial Universities

 Entrepreneur.com Findings

Commonalities in Top Schools:

• Commitment to hands-on learning

• Emphasis on mentorship
• Students & entrepreneurial alumni activity
• Faculty had been successful entrepreneurs

2008 Entrepreneur.com’s Survey of Entrepreneurial Universities

 Additional Findings

Very high bar

Class Size: ~40-60
Socratic Method
Case Method
4-10 non-student teachers
Theoretical Project vs. Real business
Keep it real!
(Cases, mentors, speakers, VCs)
Course Structure
 Day 1

• Assignment is due!
• Warnings about workload
• Real entrepreneurs’ investor pitch
• Examples of business plans
• Open idea market
 Last Day: Final Exam

• Next to last class: Networking 101

• Pitch to real VCs
• Business Plan due
 Class Time (hrs)

0.5
13%
1.5 Case + Speaker
0.75 40% Regular Lecture
20%
Mentor/Break
1 Peer Pitch
27%

Business Plan 40%, Final Pitch 30%, Class Participation 30%

Grade Composition

Business Plan
30%
40% Oral Pitch

Class
30%
Participaction
 Entrepreneurial Class Structure

• 2-3 Lead Professors, 4-6 mentors

• 1 mentor assigned 2 teams
– Experienced mentors get more
– Mentors and student teams can be fired
• Maximum of 4 students per team
– (CEO, CFO, CMO, CTO)
• Milestones
• Final:
– Business plan (40%), VC pitch (30%), participation (30%)
Entrepreneurship Weekly Lecture
1. Intro to Entrepreneurship and 10.Presentation Skills & Handling
Business Plans VC
2. Opportunity Assessment 11.Gate II: Sales and
3. Market Research Marketing Plan
4. Business Models, Revenue 12.Operations & Partnerships
Models & Channel 13.Scaling a Non-Technology
5. Gate I: Executive Summary Business
6. Sales Strategy & Customer Value 14.Venture Financing, Term
Proposition Sheets, Company Formation, IP
7. Financial Models, Projections & 15. Presentation Practice
Valuations 16.Wrap Up & Reflections on
8. Product Launch & Go-2-Market Entrepreneurship
Strategies 17.Final Pitch
9. Team dynamics & soft skills
 Ambiguity by Design

“It depends”
No defined business plan structure
Entrepreneurship 2.0
 Next Disruptive Technology

born from the genius of a student

no academic/corporate lab affiliation
a first-time entrepreneur
a couple kids in a dorm room
 A New Model

Case method is not real enough

Fund real student ventures
 A New Model

• Fellow Program
– Seed = tuition + stipend + other startup costs
– 2-3 years of support
– Startup curriculum
• CxO Mentoring
– Mentor matching
– Shadowing program versus iCxO pairing
• Venture Lab
– Venture equivalent to academic PhD lab
– Off campus 24/7 computer lab and lounge
– No IP conflict with university
 Unfair Advantage

How can corporations partner with

university ventures?

Give best technologies

Give large customers
Give room to fail fast
 Questions?

+Extra unnecessary slides

What about my class?
How do I implement?
 1 Experiment
Coursework and Case Method

• Observe case based business school class

• Leverage available cases
• Write a case!!!

• Get real speakers mentors

• Set the bar high
 2 Practical Experiment
Better professor / student ratio

• Tag team and cross-list the class

• Find talented mentors (ask)
– Treat them WELL!
• Berkeley’s progession
– Mentor -> PT Lecturer -> Lecturer -> PT Prof
• Chicago Booth
– Clinical Professor, mentors, outside speakers