IEOR 190 -- Burgstone -- Assignments

Department of Industrial Engineering & Operations Research

University of California, Berkeley

Assignments

Aug 28

	Class Introduction -- review course website
	Read Chapter 6, "The Road Well Traveled " by Amar Bhide

Aug 30

Case: Dr. John's Products

	What is the nature of the opportunity?
	How does John Osher test the market? Who is the customer? What do they think of the product?
	How much revenue can SpinBrush generate per year in the US? In other countries?

	Read Chapter 1, "A Perspective on Entrepeneurship" by Howard Stevenson
	Two resumes due to Prof. Burgstone. Version 1: submit an accurate, current resume. Version 2: develop your ideal resume detailing your experiences accumulated through the year 2026.

Sept 4

Campus Holiday

Sept 6

Case: Corporate New Ventures at Procter & Gamble

	What are the explicit and implicit goals of CNV?
	How does CNV fit within Procter & Gamble?
	How would you advise Craig Wynett to invest his time and energy?
	Should CNV develop a single "hot" product or help support existing lines?

Read Chapter 8, "Developing Start-Up Strategies" by Amar Bhide

Group Work: Class introductions and group formation

Sept 11

	Case: E Ink
	Read Chapter 9, "Some Thoughts on Business Plans" by Bill Sahlman
	Email the names of your team members by 5:00pm
	Brief lecture on Sahlman reading; conceptual introduction of customer pain and value proposition.

Sept 13

Quiz at beginning of class: study readings, cases and notes from class.

Case: ZipCar

	Define the customer pain.
	Calculate the value proposition.
	Estimate the market size in a) Boston b) the United States.

Read Chapter 4, "The Questions Every Entrepreneur Must Answer" by Amar Bhide

Sept 18

Team Presentations

	10 business ideas, involving new technology and addressing a large/growing market
	At least three ideas based upon UCB research
	Teams 1-7 present today

Sept 20

Team Presentations

	10 business ideas, involving new technology and addressing a large/growing market
	At least three ideas based upon UCB research
	Teams 8-13 present today

Sept 25

	Case: Parenting Magazine
	Read Chapter 28, "Discovery-Driven Planning" by Rita Gunther McGrath and Ian C. MacMillan

Sept 27

Case: SupplierMarket.com

	Case will be distributed via email by Jeremy Schiff
	Answer the questions as assigned

Read Chapter 10, "How to Write a Winning Business Plan" by Stanley R. Rich and David E. Gumpert

Oct 2

Case: Staples: A Year in the Life of a Start-Up

Prepare the questions asked in the case

Oct 4

Case: TBD

Oct 9

Case: Digital Think

	Who are the stake-holders for Digital Think? How can the founders best attract prospective stake-holders to their company?
	Should the company engage an attorney? Which one? How should the company proceed with Band of Angels?
	Guest speaker: Auren Hoffman, entrepreneur and IEOR Alum.

Read Chapter 12, "Attracting Stakeholders" by Amar Bhide and Howard H. Stevenson

Oct 11

Case: UPromise

	What's the nature of the opportunity? What do you think of the individuals involved?
	Who are the stake-holders? How has the company worked to instill trust with the stake-holders? How can the company minimize the exposure of potential stake-holders?
	As of July 20-25 companies have experessed serious interest, but none had yet committed. How can Bussgang get the ball rolling?

Read Chapter 5, "Why Be Honest if Honesty Doesn't Pay" by Amar Bhide and Howard H. Stevenson

Oct 16

Project Presentations

	Groups 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8
	Presentations to include: a) detailed product spec, b) result from customer interviews/surveys, c) competitive positioning d) sales/distribution plan. Turn-in a 3-5 page written summary and deliver a 5 minute in-class presentation.

Oct 18

Project Presentations

	Groups 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
	Presentations to include: a) detailed product spec, b) result from customer interviews/surveys, c) competitive positioning d) sales/distribution plan. Turn-in a 3-5 page written summary and deliver a 5 minute in-class presentation.

Oct 23

Introduction to Venture Capital

	Read Chapter 13, "Bootstrap Finance: The Art of Start-ups" by Amar Bhide
	Read Chapter 15, "Venture Capital" by Bagley and Dauchy
	Guest speaker: Ravi Mohan, Managing Director of Shasta Ventures

Oct 25

Case: Vermeer Technologies

	What are the qualities of a good strategist and of a good tactician? How well does Ferguson perform these roles?
	Why does growth stimulate the need for the managerial work required? How well does Ferguson "fit" with the enterprise? What should Ferguson do next and why?

Oct 30

Case: Microsoft, Launching the SmartWatch

	What are Microsoft's goals in launching SmartWatch? How does MSN fit?
	How well does Microsoft's launch plans fit with the goals?

Nov 1

Case: Oracle Corporation, Reading: "Why Business Models Matter". Jacob Christfort will teach this class session.

	What is Oracle's business model? How good is the business model? Does it meet the tests in the HBR reading?
	What accounts for the differences in profitability in Exhibit 7? Do you agree with Mr. Ellison's prediction regarding the future of the software industry? If Mr. Ellison is right, how will the model change? How would Oracle have to change as an organization?

Nov 6

Case: XM Satellite Radio (A). Jacob Christfort will teach this class session.

	What are the possible business models for XM radio? What is attractive and unattractive about each model?
	How should Mr. Acker choose between them? How does the competitive situation affect this choice, if at all?

Nov 8

Case: Intel, Reading "How competive forces shape strategy." (new addition to HBSP).

	What is Intel business model and how has it changed over time, if at all?
	What specific strategies have Intel employed over the years? How did they fit or not fit with their business model?
	Please use Yahoo Finance or similar site to find Intel lastest numbers to update Exhibit 1. Do the same for AMD.
	Is Intel back on track? How is AMD doing?
	What to you think is at the heart of the differences and similarities between AMD's and Intel's performance?
	If a friend suggest to you to do a startup around Integrated Circuit technology, what would be on top of your mind?

Nov 13

Guess the Business with Jacob Christfort

	Think of at least 3 random public companies that you know something about.Maybe you worked for them, maybe you just love their products. Try to guess what their Gross margins and Operating margins are, and jot it down. Then go research their profiles and income statements using Yahoo Finance or similar site.
	Which one surprised you the most? Why?
	Which one is the most attractive? Why?
	Do you think it would be realistic for a group of Berkeley grads to start a company like that, or if not, why not?

Nov 15

Take-home exam. Pick-up your materials in class at 4:10pm. Your exam response is due 24 hours later, at 4:10pm, on April 6th.

Nov 20

Case: Randy Haykin

	What skillsets does Haykin seek to devleop in himself? What do you think about his priorities? What other priorities would you suggest?
	What do you think about Haykin's use the the Paramount and Apple relationships to expand his rolodex? Haykin describes entrepreneurship as a lonely profession, how does he combat his sense of isolation?

Nov 22

Day before Thanksgiving - No Class

Nov 27

Case: Randy Haykin

	What skillsets does Haykin seek to devleop in himself? What do you think about his priorities? What other priorities would you suggest?
	What do you think about Haykin's use the the Paramount and Apple relationships to expand his rolodex? Haykin describes entrepreneurship as a lonely profession, how does he combat his sense of isolation?

Nov 29

Final class: lecture

Dec 4

Group Presentations

Teams 1-7

Dec 6

Group Presentations

Teams 8-13