COURSE MATERIALS 

You will need access to the following resources to complete this class:

Required resources

1.    Coursepack:

For cases, articles, or podcasts behind a paywall, I have created a coursepack on Harvard Publishing. Link to the coursepack: https://hbsp.harvard.edu/import/1371143

2.     Free readings, podcasts and videos: the course schedule lists any additional free readings, podcasts or videos due for each class session.

Optional resources

The Mom Test – Rob Fitzpatrick

The Startup Owner’s Manual – Steve Blank & Bob Dorf Zero to One – Peter Thiel with Blake Masters

Founders at Work: Stories of Startups’ Early Days – Jessica Livingston The Lean Startup – Eric Ries

Other ancillary resources: For your second and third team assignment, you may need to invest $5-10/student toward the development of a prototype, or the testing of your prototype.

GRADING OVERVIEW 

CLASS PARTICIPATION - 150 points

1.    This is a very experiential course, so you need to be in class to do all the hands-on exercises. Sharing your perceptions and ideas with others is also crucial for learning. You will find yourself presenting and testing new ideas that are not wholly formulated and assisting others in shaping their ideas as well. You should be prepared to take some risks and be supportive of the efforts of others. The ability to present one's ideas

concisely and persuasively and to offer constructive feedback to others is a key business skill that is especially important in entrepreneurship. See Appendix A for how participation is evaluated.

2.    Attendance is critical and a minimum requirement of course contribution. If you need to miss a class due to sickness, interviews, or sports, it is your responsibility to email me ahead of class to request an excused absence

3.    Quality of contribution matters more than frequency; speaking without preparation or repeating surface-level observations does not constitute strong participation.

CLASS PREPARATION ASSIGNMENTS - 150 points

To ensure that we have quality class discussion, you will have class materials to review ahead of every class,

including articles, case studies, podcasts, videos. You may also have to answer class preparation questions  or complete exercises ahead of class. Most class preparation assignments will be ungraded and observed in class (through your participation). On specific occasions, I will ask you to upload your answers to a graded class

preparation assignment. These assignments will be graded for effort, and will each be worth 25 points.  These cannot be made up or turned in after class begins.

INDIViDUAL ASSIGNMENTS - 550 points total

There will be 4 individual assignments to demonstrate your skills and mastery of the material.

1.     Individual Assignment #1 - Founder Notebook (150 points): you will demonstrate your ability to identify and explore problems, blitz and bridge problems, and use the various problem generation techniques discussed in class. You will be asked to assess which problems are worth pursuing, and to identify

entrepreneurial ideas to solve these problems. A template for the Founder Notebook will be available on Brightspace.

2.     Individual Assignment #2 - Pitch (150 points): you will be asked to pitch a startup idea in-class (elevator pitch). You will also submit a pitch presentation and supporting materials, including a customer value  proposition, a TAM/SAM/SOM calculation, and a competitive/differentiation analysis for your idea.

3.     Individual Assignment #3 - Mid-Term Founder Assessment(150 points): This in-class assessment evaluates your ability to apply core entrepreneurial concepts to ambiguous, early-stage startup situations. The focus is on judgment and reasoning rather than memorization. Students will be assessed on their ability to draft and evaluate Customer Value Propositions (CVPs); recognize and apply key concepts discussed in class,

including problem generation and assessment, idea selection, lean testing, effectuation, and pivot logic; and prioritize actions based on the most critical assumptions and available evidence. The assessment will consist of short startup scenarios and will be completed individually, in class. Open notes will be

permitted. At the end of the class session, please upload a PDF of your assessment.

4.     Individual Assignment #4 - Grief Center Passport (100 points):  you will be asked to immerse yourself in the Greif Center ecosystem. There will be various opportunities to participate - from attending events to

networking with founders

TEAM ASSIGNMENTS - 550 points

There will be 3 team assignments

1.   Team Assignment #1 - Customer Discovery (150 points): During module 2, teams will identify the problem or opportunity they are interested in tackling, the customer segment(s) they should focus on first, and the “riskiest assumption” that they’re making and will need to test. Students will establish success measures, then get out of the building, and interview 20-25 potential customers (5 per team member). The

assignment requires an interview script,  transcripts and analyses of the interviews, and a short

presentation of findings to the class. Every team member must participate in the live presentation in some way.

2.   Team Assignment #2: MVP Development and Showcase (200 points): Each team must produce an MVP,  a type of prototype that “looks like” and/or “works like” model of the ultimate product. In this class, the

MVP will take the form of a landing page website to showcase the product/service (answering the

question “How does it work?” and “How much does it cost?”) and/or a prototype if necessary. It will also include a social media account and 3 posts for your startup. Each team will present their MVP to their

classmates in the MVP Showcase, and be asked to provide feedback as investors and customers.

3.    Team Assignment #3: Gain traction (200 points):  Teams will now seek to put their MVP in front of real

potential customers to assess interest in the solution. This will include testing social media ads, as well as interviewing customers to test the MVP they produced in team assignment #2. They will also conduct a   final opportunity assessment based on the results of the MVP testing, and a finalized assessment of

financial viability and feasibility. The findings, alongside a sizzle reel, will be presented in a final

presentation, during which every team member must participate in the live presentation in some way.

LATE ASSIGNMENT POLICY

Please note that all assignments are to be submitted digitally in Brightspace before the start of class on the due

date or by the date and time posted on Brightspace. It’s very important that the assignments in this class are done on time, and in order, as they build upon each other toward your final presentation. The point deduction schedule below is applied. To be safe, consider each deadline to be 1 hour sooner to account for internet connectivity issues and Brightspace issues.  Note that class preparation assignments are excluded - they cannot be made up after class.

Deductions from your total on individual or team assignments are as follows:

●    Submission in the 24 hours after the deadline        1 grade deduction (e.g., from A to A-)

●    Submission between 1 and 7 days after the deadline    2 grades deduction (e.g., from A to B+)

●    Submission more than 7 days after the deadline      Automatic C

Make sure your assignment is fully submitted – assignments that show as “pending” or “in progress” on Brightspace will not be graded or counted for credit!

Screenshots of when you last modified an assignment, or track changes, etc., are not a viable substitute for turning in your work. The only way to confirm that your work was submitted is through Brightspace.

Assignments submitted by email will not be considered for credit, no matter when they are submitted, and will still need to be uploaded to Brightspace for full grade consideration.

If you are unable to turn in an assignment for any reason, please let the instructor know as soon as possible, prior to the assignment’s due date. Requests for excused late submission will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Generally, late assignments will only receive full credit in cases of unavoidable emergency or sickness.

For team assignments, one team member should submit and notify the rest of the team upon submission to ensure that the assignment is submitted on time. Please list all team members’ names on the first page of the document.  Students can expect grading and feedback within 2 weeks of submission, depending on complexity.

CLASSROOM POLICIES

Any student with an accommodation letter from USC OSAS or Marshall should submit their accommodation

document to their instructor as soon as possible. Without an OSAS letter specifying a need for remote access, there is no option to attend class remotely. Class recordings will not be shared.

GRADING POLICIES:

Final grades represent how you perform in the class both in absolute terms and relative to other students. To

achieve an A or A- in this class, you will need to go well beyond the minimum requirements as stated in the syllabus in terms of the quality of your work and your involvement in and contribution to the class. An A is a sign of

exceptional work and, much like the efforts of entrepreneurs, reflects the fact that you stood out from your peers.

The assignment guidelines are meant to outline what is needed to earn credit on the assignment itself, not as a checklist for getting 100%.

Final letter grades will be posted to Brightspace 24 hours before they become official on the Grading and Records   System. You must ensure that all your work is submitted within two weeks after each assignment’s deadline to earn credit or to notify the professor of any problem. If any of your assignments are submitted but not graded within

three weeks after submission, please alert the professor. Once grades are posted to GRS they are official and cannot be changed.

It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that your grading option is up to date (e.g. credit/no-credit, pass/fail, audit, letter grade, drop with a “W”, etc). NO petitions will be granted for any reason to change these grading  options after final grades are assigned.

You may regard each of your submissions as an “exam” in which you apply what you’ve learned according to the assignment. I will do my best to make my expectations for the various assignments clear and to evaluate them as fairly and objectively as I can. If you feel that an error has occurred in the grading of any assignment, you may,

within one week of the date the assignment is returned to you, write me an email in which you request that I

re-evaluate the assignment. I will not discuss grades in class due to the recording in progress. Attach the original assignment to the email and explain fully and carefully why you think the assignment should be re-graded. Be

aware that the re-evaluation process can result in three types of grade adjustments: positive, none, or negative.