295d syllabus fall 2009

BUSINESS PLAN DEVELOPMENT

Fall Quarter 2009Instructor: Jeff Scheinrock

Management 295D Section 1Monday, 4:00 PM – 6:50 PM

Room C315

OVERVIEW

This course presents the fundamentals of developing an effective business plan, both in presentation and written form. It teaches the basic principles of designing and articulating plans for the sales, marketing, product or service, operations, financials, management and staffing functions of a new startup business.

Students are required to arrive on the first day of class as part of a team (4-5 students) with a well thought out, already developed, solid business concept that has been pre-approved by the instructor. This is not a course to “find, create, or think up” a new business. The business concept and market opportunity must already be investigated and prepared. It is preferable that students have previously taken the first course in entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship & New Venture Initiation (Management 295A), as a means to accomplish this.

The Business Plan Development course objectives are for students to: learn how to develop a well written investment quality business plan and business plan presentation; understand the various analytical processes required to produce such a plan; improve their writing and oral presentation skills; review and critique the business plans of several other start up ventures; and to formally present their business plan to an audience of angel and venture capital investors.

Developing an effective business plan is a challenging exercise for even the most seasoned professional. Students are required to integrate material from the several disciplines and fields, which underlie the modern practice of management. As a result, the course builds and extends the student’s ability to assess markets, define businesses, analyze the environment, analyze the competition, assemble and manage the people resource, and build economic and financial models that are grounded in reality. The final business plans are evaluated with feedback from experienced investment professionals who regularly evaluate new business plans. Guest lecturers from entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and angel investors provide real-time knowledge and feedback at various points in the course.

Teams of students (4-5 per team) will work together to develop a business plan for a start up business. Each team is paired up with another team who reads various drafts of each other’s plan and provides valuable feedback to each other, in addition to the professor’s review and critique. Throughout the quarter, students will be required to read, analyze, and critique several real-word business plans as case studies.

At the end of the course, each team makes a final, formal presentation to a panel of professional investors. After all presentations have been made, each student becomes an angel investor and "invests" a total of $100,000 in one or more of the plans, in increments of $10,000. Each plan will be "funded" from a pool of funds.

REQUIRED TEXTS AND CASES

1. “The Ernst & Young Business Plan Guide ”, second edition, by Eric Siegel, Brian Ford, and Jay Bornstein, John Wiley & Sons, 1993, ISBN 0-471-57826-6, paperback. This text is referred to as the “EY” text. This is the primary text for the course and provides an excellent reference for developing a business plan.

2. "Writing Business Plans That Get Results: A Step by Step Guide", by Michael O’Donnell, Lord Publishing, 1991, ISBN 0-8092-40007-6, paperback. This text is referred to as the “O’Donnell” text. This book compliments the above text and is useful in that it provides a set of questions to be answered by the entrepreneur for each major section of a business plan.

3. “Course Packet for Business Plan Development Mgt 295D“ The course packet contains all the business plan case studies for this course.

OTHER OPTIONAL REFERENCE MATERIALS

4. “Guide to Presentations”, by Mary Munter and Lynn Russell, Prentice Hall, 2001, ISBN 0130929956, paperback.

5. “The Ernst & Young Guide to Financing for Growth” , 2nd edition, by Daniel Garner, Robert Owen and Robert Conway, John Wiley & Sons, 1994, ISBN 0-471-599903-4. This is a good introductory overview of the variety of financing alternatives available to startup ventures. This paperback is a complimentary book to the E&Y paperback used as the course text.

6. "The Art of The Start: The Time Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything", by Guy Kawasaki, Portfolio Press division of Penguin Putnam, 2004, ISBN 1591840562, hardcover.

7. “The Successful Business Plan: Secrets & Strategies”, by Rhonda Abrams, Oasis Press 1997

8. “Model Business Plans”, by Wilbur Cross and Alice Richey, Prentice Hall, 1998

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Business Plans Business plans are developed during the course for new business ventures. Student teams are totally responsible for finding startup ventures for whom to write a business plan prior to the start of the course. Students may develop plans for their own personally initiated ventures or for companies being started by entrepreneurs who are outside of Anderson. In order to assist students in finding new ventures before the quarter begins, I will solicit local venture capital firms and angel investors to recommend new ventures who need effective and well-written business plans. Contact me for acceptable ventures which may be viewed prior to the first day of class.

Business Plan TeamsA team of five students develop each business plan. Students form their own teams and must email me the name of the students on his/her team prior to the first day of class. It is best to carefully select the students on each team to include a variety of experiences and skills, such as having marketing/sales, financial and operational skills on each team. Likewise make sure that each team has expertise with financial spreadsheets, market research and excellent writing skills.

For students with their own personal ventures: Before the start of the term, students should e-mail me a one or two page executive summary describing their business venture. Tell me about the product or service, what market research has been performed, and how they plan to market and sell the product. I will then determine if the venture is suitable for inclusion in this course. Once I approve the venture, it is up to the student to present and “sell” their venture to four other enrolled students prior to or during the first class session in order to create a five-person team. If they cannot recruit a full five- person team to join them in their venture, that student will have to join another team. While this process initially appears complex, in the past it has resulted in the 12 very best ventures being selected.

For students who do not have their own venture: You are responsible for finding a place on an existing team or you can contact me before the quarter starts to review several available ventures that I have recruited from outside of Anderson. You can reserve a specific venture and then you must form a five-person team before the end of the first class session.

Team formation must be completed before the first day of class. Any student not assigned to a team before Class #1 will be placed on one by the instructor during the first class session. Note, waitlisted students may not be team members. Once enrolled in the class, the instructor will do his best to place those students on their preferred team. However, if team size constraints do not allow for the student to be place on his/her preferred team, the instructor will assign that student to another team.

To assist you in the team formation process, a Yahoo! Groups page has been constructed (INSERT YAHOO! GROUPS NAME). All enrolled students will be invited to join this group. There you will be able to: 1) share your own business concepts, 2) seek opportunities to join another team, and 3) discuss skill sets, experience, and interests in an attempt to best match business concept with team members.

Business Plan ArchitectureThe business plan is developed in sections, the first being the Executive Summary. Then the sections on Products, Markets, Marketing, Sales, Management, Operations, Financials, etc. are written. The process is cumulative and integrative, where after completing the Marketing section; it is almost always necessary to update the Executive Summary section with the new information and insight gained while developing the Marketing section. The same updating occurs after writing the Operations section; after analyzing and studying the operations function in more detail, adjustments almost always need to be made to the financial projections.

Business Plan Case DiscussionsEight actual business plans are studied and discussed in depth during the course, one plan each week (with the exception of Week 6, during which students will be giving midpoint presentations). All students are required to study each plan prior to coming to class. Students are expected to have a thorough understanding of business and to offer a sound critique of the business and the plan. Specifically, students should be able to articulate the company’s position, market, product, monetization strategy, marketing strategy, sales strategy, operations strategy, and financial projections. Students are also expected to be able to answer the following: How attractive is the market? How unique is the product? What is the company’s value proposition? How viable is the business model? What are the most positive attributes of the plan? What are the most apparent weaknesses? How can the plan be improved? How effective is it in presenting the venture’s value proposition and compelling reason to buy? Will this venture be successful? What are the risks? Will this plan stimulate professional investors to schedule further meetings to perform more in depth due diligence? Do not spend time restating the details of the plan which everyone has already read. Jump right into analyzing it, pointing out the strong and weak points and making recommendations on how to improve it. The management core courses and Management 295A is a sufficient foundation for these purposes.

Each case will be discussed in class, with a few students being randomly selected just before class starts to present both the background of the case as well as their own critiques and feedback regarding the case. This opening presentation is a five to eight-minute verbal presentation from the podium. All students should be prepared with notes to effectively deliver their presentations. This activity constitutes a significant portion of the student’s class participation grade which represents 20% of his/her final grade for the course.

Eight business plans are studied: Chronomotion (imaging applications), Tornado Development (communications software), Whagaa (personalized instruction), Home Magic ( home control system), emaimai (auction site), Asia Card (affinity program), Lumitrend (mobile backup platform) and Packard Bell (computer brand).

Initial / Midpoint Business Plan PresentationDuring the sixth week, each team makes an initial formal presentation of the first half of their total business plan. This includes the following sections: Executive Summary, Company Introduction, Product or Service, Market, and Marketing & Sales Strategy. Each team has exactly seven minutes to present up to seven Power Point slides. Load slides onto the class podium computer prior to the start of class and provide the instructor an TA with a hard copy printout before the presentation begins. It is a requirement that all teams arrange to meet with a marketing/communication department TA prior to the midpoint presentation. An evaluation will be required to be turned in. If needed any team can utilize this resource prior to their final presentation.

Business Plan Drafts ReviewsIn order to develop an effective plan, you need critical but constructive feedback from other professionals. Each team is paired up with another team, called your “paired team” and each team will give their written and verbal feedback to the other team. This feedback process occurs twice during the course. The first is the initial presentation and draft of the first half of the plan in week six. The second time is to review the final plan draft due during week 9. In addition, written and verbal feedback will be given to the teams by the instructor me and the teaching assistant.

Each individual team member writes a one-page assessment of the other team’s written drafts. This can be done via a written text or by using the editing software capability in MS Word, where the suggestions and feedback are placed directly into the plan text. You may use either method to communicate your feedback. Feedback is to be emailed to every member of your paired team, with a copy sent to me and the course TA. In your email, clearly enter “(Name of Reviewer)’s Review of (Name of Venture)” in the email subject area. Verbal feedback is given immediately after each presentation.

It is important that all students provide positive and constructive feedback to their fellow students in order to have a high quality learning experience. This feedback should be supportive of our overall goal to develop the business plan development skills of all students in the class. I keep accurate records of this important phase of the feedback process, so make sure that I receive a copy of each of your feedback emails. The importance of this feedback cannot be overstated. This individual feedback process represents 15% of your final grade.

Also, you will be required to complete a written confidential formal peer review of your team members. Your feedback will help the instructor make any necessary individual adjustments to the team’s baseline grade which accounts for 65% of a student’s final grade. This portion of the final grade is composed of each team’s written business plans and presentations throughout the course.

Final Business Plan PresentationThe conclusion of the course is the final formal presentation of each business plan. Formal presentations are exactly 15 minutes long with another 15 minutes for questions and answers. This presentation is made to 2-3 professional investors. This takes place during the week 10 and exam week, with each session presenting five to six plans. This is the same exact format used by venture capital firms and angel investor groups such as the Tech Coast Angels and Pasadena Angels. Each investor/judge may “invest” up to a total of $6 million in one, several or all six ventures they see. Each judge will also provide written feedback to each team. Dress is business attire.

Other outsiders, such your venture’s management team, may be invited to view the final presentation, but only for their specific company and with my prior approval. Students working with companies formed by people outside of Anderson, therefore, may invite the entrepreneur of their company to attend. Guests are not, however, allowed to ask questions or make comments in class.

After all 12 final plans have been presented, each student will act as an angel investor and invest up to a hypothetical $100,000 in one, several or all of those ventures that he or she believes are worthy of their investment. Investments are made in $10,000 increments and may be allocated to none of them, only one

venture, or spread across many or all of them. Students, however, may not invest in their own plan’s venture. I will summarize these investment decisions and email the results to students.

Attendance PolicyClass attendance is an important and necessary element of class participation. Expect role to be taken in every class via a class sign-in roster. Please sign your full name, not initials. One class absence is allowed and acceptable, if notification is sent to me in advance via e-mail. A second absence will reduce the final grade for class participation by one third. A third absence will result in a failing grade for the course. Attendance is mandatory during the last two class sessions (Week 10 and Exam Session) when final presentations are being made. Any absences during these final two weeks will result in the loss of one letter grade. There is much to be learned about raising capital by carefully observing the investment professionals asking questions.

At the end of the course, each student will complete a confidential peer review of their team’s members. Completing this review is a mandatory course requirement and no grade will be given until it is received.

ConfidentialityAll business plans developed and discussed in this course are confidential. All students, the Teaching Assistant and I will sign a confidentiality and non-disclosure agreement and a separate non-disclosure agreement for the Asia Card business plan case discussion, which appears on the last five pages of this syllabus. It is imperative that all information disclosed and discussed in this course remains within this classroom. This is a serious concern with our participating entrepreneurs and we must treat their business information with the utmost concern and sensitivity.

Name Cards, Resumes, and Seating AssignmentsTo help me quickly learn each of you by name, please use name cards on your desk and sit in the same seats. To help me do this, please bring to the first class a recent resume with your facial photograph attached to the upper right hand corner. If appropriate, give me advice on how to correctly pronounce your name. Also, students will be assigned to seats during the Week 2 session.

Laptop PolicyOpen laptops are NOT permitted during class. Surfing on the web, checking email, typing notes, even looking at a screensaver can be extremely distracting to the student, to other students around him/her, and to the instructor. Therefore, please have all notes, slides, etc. printed out prior to the start of class.

ExamsThere is neither a mid-term exam nor a final exam. The final completed business plan and the formal presentation serve as the final exam for the course.

Class DocumentationAll class presentations are created on Microsoft Power Point slides, which are placed on the faculty server prior to the beginning of each class session, under the path “INSTRUCT\FACULTY \JSCHEINROCK\ BUSINESS PLAN DEVELOPMENT”. Files are labeled by class number; this class is on “BPD FA2007 1”. These slides will be available on-line during the entire course and removed two weeks after the course ends. This syllabus, my academic resume, and my professional business resume are also in this folder. Note that this syllabus and the class presentation slides have been copyrighted and may not be copied or transmitted to any other persons without my express and written permission.

Contact InformationInstructor: Jeff ScheinrockTelephone: (310) 779-3643 E-Mail: [email protected]: David FranklinTA Email: [email protected] Hours: I do not have regular “office hours”. If you want to meet with me, please send me an email and we’ll arrange a mutually convenient time in the following day or two.

mailto:[email protected]

GRADING CRITERIA

Class Participation (20% weight of final grade)Evaluation is based upon each student’s active, enthusiastic and voluntary involvement in class and case discussions. This is evidenced by preparation prior to class and thoughtful, relevant, and appropriate questions and comments during class. Each student is expected to read and study every case before class in order to maximize the learning experience of the case discussion. The quality of participation is valued much more than quantity or total amount of “air time” and where more than one student raises their hand to speak, I’ll call on the student who has made the fewest contributions to date. This peer feedback is invaluable as a learning experience. The quality, frequency and amount of feedback will be graded. Each student will be evaluated individually. Class participation will be graded on a relative distribution (scale out of 20, mean of 16).

Feedback (15%)Evaluation will be based on quality and comprehensiveness of your verbal and written feedback given to your paired team’s plan and presentation. Each student will be evaluated individually. Copy me and the Teaching Assistant on your feedback emails. I read every feedback email and keep accurate records of each feedback. Feedback will be graded on a relative distribution (scale out of 15, mean of 12).

Written Business Plan (50%)This is the final result of the class, hence the major weighting. Taken as a total business plan, is it effective in presenting the business opportunity in a realistic manner? Does it convey a level of knowledge and confidence that the authors really know what they are talking about and have developed a comprehensive plan? Does it have all the elements needed in a well-prepared plan? Will it be read in one sitting? The same grade will generally, but not always, is given to all members of each team. This grade will incorporate not only the final deliverable, but also your team’s progress and effort throughout the course. The written business plan will be graded on a relative basis (scale of 50, mean of 40).

a) Executive Summary (20% of the plan)Does it present an effective capsule of the business opportunity? Does it cover all the major points of markets, operations, financials, management, and sales? Is it strong and interesting enough to motivate an investor to completely read the entire plan at one time?b) Market Segment Analysis Section (20% of plan)What is the target market segment? Who is the target customer? What is the purchasing criterion? How large is the total market? How fast is it growing? What is the competition? How is the product or serviced differentiated from the competition? What is the compelling reason to buy? What is the value proposition being offered to the customer?c) Marketing & Sales Section (20% of plan ) What is the marketing strategy? How will it be sold? What is the typical sell cycle? What is the pricing strategy? What is the sales forecast and how was it developed? What about advertising, public relations and sourcing sales leads?d) Financial Projections (20% of plan)Do the financial projections directly relate to the activities described in the plan? Are the expenses reasonable and appropriate? Have the revenues been realistically forecasted? Does the balance sheet represent the true position of the firm? Are the spreadsheets complete and easy to understand? Does it clearly indicate when break-even operation, positive cash flow and profitability is reached?e) Other Sections (20% of plan)

Business Plan Presentations (15%)How well did the presentation come across to the audience? Were the presenters able to convey a sense of excitement and credibility for their new business? Were their slides and handouts appropriate, well designed, and easy to understand? Was there a direct relationship between the slides and the plan? How did they handle the questions and answers period? Did they get caught without a convincing answer to the judges’ questions? Were they able to substantiate their claims? Were they credible? The same grade will normally be given to all members of the team. The Business Plan Presentations will be graded according to a relative distribution (15 point scale, mean of 12).

CLASS SCHEDULE

Class #1 (September 28, 2009) – Introduction to Business Planning

Preparation / Assignments for Today1. Make sure you sign the class roster each week using your full name; no initials.2. Before you leave tonight, give me the name of your venture and the names of the student team

members. I will assign team numbers tonight.3. Bring to class a recent resume with a facial photograph attached to the upper right hand corner.4. Bring a clearly printed name plate to class each week and display it.5. REQUIRED Reading:

EY text: Chapters 1 through 4 with emphasis on chapters 1 and 2. O’Donnell text: Pages 1 through 9. Chronomotion

6. OPTIONAL Reading: Harvard Business School , September 16, 1985, Prestart Analysis: a Framework for

Thinking about Business Ventures, article 9-386-075. Alan Carsrud, Women - Owned Businesses , 1989, In the Beginning...Concept

Development, Feasibility, Analysis, and Value Creation, 35-54 Robert A Baron, Journal of Business Venturing, 2000 Counterfactual Thinking and

Venture Formation: The Potential Effects of Thinking About “What Might Have Been”, 15(1), 79-92

Ian MacMillan, Lauriann Zemann, & P. N. SubbaNarasimha, Journal Of Business Venturing, 1987, Criteria Distinguishing Successful From Unsuccessful Ventures, 123-138, Vol. 2.

Xenas Block & Ian MacMillan, Harvard Business Review, Milestones for Successful Venture Planning, 1985, Sept.-Oct., 184-196

William Gartner, Jennifer Starr, Sudodh Bhat, Journal of Business Venturing, 1999, Predicting New Venture Survival: An analysis of “Anatomy of a Start-Up Cases from INC. Magazine”, 14 (2), 215-232.

Deliverables Due Today1. Resume with photo attached on the upper right hand corner.2. Names of each person on each team and team company name.

Agenda1. Presentation and Class Discussion of Course Introduction and Overview - This includes an

overview of the course, syllabus, teaching objectives, grading criteria, texts and cases, presentations, review of candidate ventures, and other administrative issues.

2. Presentation and Class Discussion: Overview of Business Plan Development - Why develop a business plan, elements of a business plan, the business plan development process, and who is the audience? Describe the reiterative process of improving each version of the plan. We’ll discuss the Executive Summary and Company Description sections. Stress the importance of the first minute or two of reading a business plan.

3. Discuss Chronomotion plan4. Team Formation and Assignment to Ventures - If you are bringing your own venture to class,

which I have previously approved, and you do not yet have four other students on your team, be prepared to make a short 3-4 minute verbal introduction of your business venture to the class. The objective is for you to recruit another four team members to join your venture. If you are not successful, you will have to join another team. If you are not committed to a team by the first class, you will be able to view other students who have approved ventures and who need to recruit team members. If you have not joined a team by the end of this first class session, I will randomly assign you to a team.

Class #2 (October 5, 2009) – Product Strategies

Preparation / Assignments for Today1. If your team is developing a plan for someone else, contact your venture company and interview

the entrepreneurs to develop sufficient background about the product, market and background to write an effective Executive Summary and Company Description.

2. Write a two to three page Executive Summary and a two to three page Company Introduction section of your business plan. This will be submitted with other sections due in week 5.

3. REQUIRED Reading EY: Chapters 5, 6, 7 O’Donnell: Modules 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Tornado Development plan

4. OPTIONAL Reading Rita Gunther McGrath, Ian C. MacMillan and Willow Sheremata, The Academy of

Management Review, 2000, Centrifugal and Centripetal Forces in Radical New Product Development Under Time Pressure, 25 (2), 389-408.

Richard Robinson & John Pearce II, Journal of Business Venturing, 1986, Product Lifecycle Considerations and the Nature of Strategic Activities, 207-244, Vol. 1.

Johne Axel & Patricia Suelson, Journal of Business Venturing, 1988, Success Factors in Product Innovation, 114-128, Vol. 5.

Deliverables Due Today1. None

Agenda1. Presentation and Class Discussion: "What is the Product or Service?" - What business are

you in? What is the core competency of the business? What's different about your product? How have you differentiated it? What is the value proposition you provide customers? Why will the customer buy? What is the compelling reason to buy? Do you have patent protection? Do you have a working prototype?

2. Discuss the Tornado Development plan.3. Panel Discussion with Current Entrepreneurs - This one-hour panel discussion includes three

current entrepreneurs who have recently started their own ventures. The objective is to provide current real world insights into writing and re-writing business plans and raising capital.

Class #3 (October 12, 2009) - Market Segment Analysis

Preparation / Assignments for Today1. Write a two or three page section of the plan on the Product or Service. This will be handed in

during week 5 of class.2. REQUIRED Reading

EY: Chapter 8 O’Donnell: Modules 6, 7 Whagaa plan

3. OPTIONAL Reading Briance Mascarenhas, Journal of Business Venturing, 1997, The order and size of

entry into international markets, 12 (4), 287-300. Bengt Johannisson, Entrepreneurship and Regional Development Personal networks

in emerging knowledge-based firms: Spatial and functional patterns, 1998, 10 (4), 297-312.

Kenneth Robinson, Journal of Business Venturing, 1999, An examination of the influence of industry structure on eight alternative measures of new venture performance for high potential independent new ventures, 14 (2), 165-188

4. Obtain all necessary signatures on the Non Disclosure Agreement and bring the signed original to class to give to me. Make copies for yourself and your venture’s executive sponsor.

Deliverables Due Today1. Signed NDA’s.

Agenda1. Presentation and Class Discussion: Market Segment Analysis - Who is the target customer?

How do you describe him or her? How do you define the market? How is the market segmented? What about trends, market size and growth potential? What’s the relationship between market share and profitability? Who is the competition?

2. Discuss Whagaa plan.

Class #4 (October 19, 2009) – Marketing & Sales Strategies

Preparation / Assignments for Today1. Write a two to three page section on your venture’s target market. To be handed in during the

Week 5 session along with other sections of the plan that you’ve previously written.2. REQUIRED Reading

EY: Chapters 12, 13 O’Donnell: Module 8 Home Magic plan

3. OPTIONAL Reading John Pearce and Steven Michael, Journal of Business Venturing, 1997, Marketing

Strategies that make entrepreneurial firms recession-resistant, 12 (4), 301-314. Jeffrey Covin, Dennis Slevin, and Michael Heeley, Journal of Business Venturing,

2000, Pioneers and Followers: Competitive Tactics, Environment and Firm Growth, 15(2), 175-210.

Kenneth Robinson, Journal of Business Venturing, 1999, An examination of the influence of industry structure on eight alternative measures of new venture performance for high potential independent new ventures, 14 (2), 165-188

Shaker Zahra and William Bogner, Journal of Business Venturing, 2000, Technology Strategy and Software new Ventures’ Performance: Exploring the Moderating Effects of the Competitive Environment, 15 (2), 135-174


Agenda1. Present Final Presentation Schedule - Weeks 10 and 11 (during Exam time)2. Presentation and Class Discussion: Marketing and Sales Strategies - How do you plan to

market your product or service? What strategies are you going to use? Who is the competition? How are you positioned versus your competition? What is the pricing and business revenue model? What are your sales strategy and tactics? Who will sell the product? How? How are you going to generate sales leads? What's the sell cycle?

3. Discuss Home Magic plan

Class #5 (October 26, 2009) – Financial Forecasts

Preparation / Assignments for Today1. Write a two to three page section on your venture's Marketing and Sales Strategies. To be

handed in this week with other sections of the plan you’ve previously written.2. Compile your business plan to date as your Initial Plan Document (See Today’s Deliverable)3. REQUIRED Reading:

O’Donnell: Module 14 emaimai plan

4. OPTIONAL Reading: “The Ernst & Young Guide to Financing for Growth” by Daniel Garner, Robert Owen

and Robert Conway. William Bygrave (ed) The Portable MBA in Entrepreneurship (2 nd Ed.), 1997 , Wiley

Chapter 10 on Legal & Tax and Chapter 11 on Intellectual Property.

Deliverables Due Today1. Submit your Initial Plan Document, which is the first half of the plan. This includes all sections of

the business plan completed to date. This one Word document should include the following sections: Executive Summary, Company Introduction, Product/Service, Market, and Marketing & Sales Strategy. Bring a printed copy to class to give me. Email copies to me, the course Teaching Assistant and to each student on your paired team.

Agenda1. Presentation and Class Discussion on Development of Financial Projections – Overview of

necessary financial forecasts: balance sheets, P&L statements, and cash flow statements.2. Discuss emaimai plan.3. Panel Discussion with Professional Investors - This is a one-hour panel discussion with

several venture capitalists and angel investors who regularly review business plans and make investments in seed and early stage ventures. The objective is to provide an insight into what investors look for when reading business plans and what they like and don’t like to see in business plans.

Class #6 (November 2, 2009) – Midpoint Presentations

Preparation / Assignments for Today1. Midpoint Presentations2. Paired Team Feedback. This is an individual assignment. See Deliverables for more details.3. Start developing your venture’s financial forecasts and reports.

Deliverables Due Today1. Midpoint Presentations2. Paired Team Feedback. Before class tonight, each student is to individually write a critical

analysis and comprehensive review of the plan their paired team sent them. It is useful to use the revision functionality of the Word software to accomplish this. Then e-mail a soft copy of your written feedback review to each member of the feedback team with whom you are paired with, plus email soft copies to the Teaching Assistant and me. As you will be graded on the comprehensiveness and quality of your, make sure the Teaching Assistant and I receive a copy of your feedback email.

Agenda1. Initial / Midpoint Plan Presentations

Class #7 (November 9, 2009) – Company Operations, Room

Preparation / Assignments for Today1. Develop your venture’s financial projections and reports to be handed in (as your next draft of the

final business plan) with other sections of the plan you’ve previously written.2. REQUIRED Reading:

EY: Chapters 9, 11 O’Donnell: Module 9 Asia Card plan

3. OPTIONAL Reading: “The Ernst & Young Guide to Financing for Growth” by Daniel Garner, Robert Owen

and Robert Conway. William Bygrave (ed) The Portable MBA in Entrepreneurship (2 nd Ed.), 1997 , Wiley

Chapter 10 on Legal & Tax and Chapter 11 on Intellectual Property.


Agenda1. Presentation and Class Discussion on Company Operations – This includes discussion

about operations, manufacturing, logistics, sub-contracting, supplier relationships, capital investment requirements for infrastructure, facilities planning and major milestones.

2. Discuss Asia Card plan.

Class #8 (November 16, 2009) – Management & Personnel

Preparation / Assignments for Today1. Write the section on your venture's Operations.2. Complete writing final business plan draft including sections on Operations, Management,

Personnel, and Financials. See Deliverables Due for more details.3. Schedule a mandatory dry run review of formal presentation with the Instructor and TA4. REQUIRED Reading:

EY: Chapter 10 O’Donnell: Modules 10, 11 Lumitrend plan

4. OPTIONAL Reading: Beverly Virany & Michael Tushman, Journal of Business Venturing, 1986, Top

Management Teams & Corporate Success in an Emerging Industry, 261-274, Vol. 1. Vance Fried, Garry Bruton, and Robert Hisrich, Journal of Business Venturing, 1998,

Strategy and the board of directors in venture capital-backed firms, 13 (6), 493-504. Sara Carter and Peter Rosa, The financing of male- and female-owned businesses,

Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 1998, 10 (3), 225-242.

Deliverables Due Today1. Submit Final Business Plan Drafts - This includes all sections of the business plan. Email

copies to me, the course Teaching Assistant and to each student on your paired team. E-mail soft copies to each member of your paired team for their feedback, with copies to the TA and me.

Agenda1. Presentation and Class Discussion on Management and Personnel – This includes

discussion on the importance of the management team, executive equity compensation, creating a board of directors and a board of advisors.

2. Discuss Lumitrend plan.

Class #9 (November 23, 2009) – Raising Capital

Preparation / Assignments for Today1. Update Business Plan with Management and Personnel based on last week’s class.2. Paired Team Feedback. This is an individual assignment. See Deliverables for more details.3. Develop the formal slide presentation, both the slides themselves and the vocal presentation.

Identify ten potential questions that you believe may be asked by the judges and prepare a back up slide to answer each one of them.

4. REQUIRED Reading: EY: Chapter 12 Packard Bell plan

5. OPTIONAL Reading: Noam Wasserman, Harvard Business School case Venture Capital Negotiations: VC

versus Entrepreneur, case 9-800-170, revised March 2, 2000. Bob Zider, Harvard Business Review, How Venture Capital Works, November-

December 1998, reprint number 98611 Houlihan Valution Advisors/Venture One Study, Journal of Business Venturing, 1998,

The pricing of successful venture capital-backed, high-tech and life-sciences companies, 13 (5), 333-352.

William Sahlman & Howard Stevenson, Journal of Business Venturing, 1985, Capital Market Myopia, 7-30, Vol. 1.

Albert Bruno & Tysoon T. Tyebjee, Journal of Business Venturing, 1985, The Entrepreneur's Search for Capital, 61-74, Vol. 1.

Neil Churchill & Virginia Lewis, Journal of Business Venturing, 1986, Bank Lending to New and Growing Enterprises, 193-206, Vol. 1.

Andrew Zacharakis and Dale Meyer, A lack of insight: Do venture capitalists really understand their own decision process?, Journal of Business Venturing, 1998, 13 (1), 57-79

James McNeill Stancil. Harvard Business Review, 1986, How Much Money Does Your New Venture Need?, 122-139.

Gary Rivlin, The Industry Standard, The Advisory Board Game, June 19, 2000, page 162.

Rafe Needleman, Business 2.0, Building the Perfect Board, May 2003, page 58. Auren Hoffman, Business Week On-line, Going By the Board, August 6, 2003. Ross Garber, Red Herring, Board Management Made Easy, July 2000, page 390.

Deliverables Due Today1. Paired Team Feedback. Before class tonight, each student is to individually write a critical

analysis and comprehensive review of the plan their paired team sent them. It is useful to use the revision functionality of the Word software to accomplish this. Then e-mail a soft copy of your written feedback review to each member of the feedback team with whom you are paired with, plus email soft copies to the Teaching Assistant and me. As you will be graded on the comprehensiveness and quality of your, make sure the Teaching Assistant and I receive a copy of your feedback email.

Agenda1. Presentation and Class Discussion on Raising Capital - Discuss various financing

alternatives and the terms and conditions normally used when raising capital. Will cover financing from friends & family, angel investors and venture capital. Also will cover valuation of startup ventures and what percentage of equity an investor receives for a given investment. Presenting how invested capital will be used.

2. Discuss Packard Bell plan

Class #10 (November 30, 2009) – Final Presentations (Day 1)

Preparation / Assignments for Today1. All students are required to attend both today’s class session and next week’s session (at the

scheduled Exam day/time) to view the final presentations.2. Day 1 Teams must have completed and submitted their business plans and presentations.3. All students must individually submit their “Day 1 Investment Sheets”.

Deliverables Due Today1. Day 1 Teams: Final Business Plan document and presentation. Each team is to make five

printed full size copies of their slide presentation to give to the three investors, me and the Teaching Assistant before they make their presentation. Final copies of the complete business plan should be available to give to investors if they request a plan. At the time of the presentation, give me and the course Teaching Assistant a copy of the final version of the business plan. Also e-mail me soft copies to both of us.

2. All students must individually submit their “Day 1 Student Investment Forms” at the end of class based on today’s presentations.

Agenda1. Day 1 Final Business Plan Presentations - The first group of teams will make formal, final

presentations of their business plans before a panel of judges composed of members of the investment community. The format will be a formal 15-minute slide presentation followed by another 15 minutes of answering questions from the panelists. All team members stand in front of the class during the Q&A period and join in answering questions. Dress for all members of those teams presenting is business attire.

2. Teacher / Course Evaluations

Class #11 / December 4, 2009 – Final Presentations (Day 2)

Preparation / Assignments for Today1. All students are required to attend both today’s class session.2. Day 2 Teams must have completed and submitted their business plans and presentations.3. All students must individually submit their “Day 2 Investment Sheets”.4. Complete Business Plan Team Peer Evaluations.

Deliverables Due Today1. Day 2 Teams: Final Business Plan document and presentation. Each team is to make five

printed full size copies of their slide presentation to give to the three investors, me and the Teaching Assistant before they make their presentation. Final copies of the complete business plan should be available to give to investors if they request a plan. At the time of the presentation, give me and the course Teaching Assistant a copy of the final version of the business plan. Also e-mail me soft copies to both of us.

2. All students must individually submit their “Day 2 Student Investment Forms” at the end of class based on today’s presentations.

3. All students must individually submit their “Business Plan Peer Evaluations” at the end of class.

Agenda1. Day 2 Final Business Plan Presentations - The second group of teams will make formal, final

presentations of their business plans before a panel of judges composed of members of the investment community. The format will be a formal 15-minute slide presentation followed by another 15 minutes of answering questions from the panelists. All team members stand in front of the class during the Q&A period and join in answering questions. Dress for all members of those teams presenting is business attire.

2. Course Wrap-Up

Business Plan Development CourseConfidential Non-Disclosure Agreement (page 1 of 2)

This agreement is between the company listed below ("Company") who is participating in a Business Plan Development course at The UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Management, the students ("Students") enrolled in this course, the course instructor ("Professor") and the Teaching Assistant ("TA") for the course. All parties mutually agree to the following:

1. The Company agrees to disclose to Students certain confidential information about their company in order for the Students to develop and write a formal business plan for the Company. This confidential information includes, but is not limited to, financial data and projections, business strategies, business models, product designs and strategies and business plans. This information may be communicated verbally or in writing. Students agree that this confidential information is owned solely by the Company and no intellectual property rights are acquired by the Students. Students agree not to disclose, disseminate or communicate any of this confidential information to any other third party. Information that is generally available in the public domain is not considered confidential information. Students may use this confidential information only for the purpose of developing and writing a formal business plan and presentation for the Company. The Company authorizes no other use of this confidential information. Students may not communicate this confidential information, the final business plan, or any part of the business plan to any third party. Students agree to promptly return to the Company all documents, computer data files and other media containing confidential information that was given to them during the course.

2. Students agree that the resulting formal business plan developed during the Business Plan Development course is the sole property of the Company. Students may retain one soft and one hard copy of the business plan and presentation developed in the course for their own personal use, but may not reproduce them nor give them to any third party. Students agree that the final business plan and presentation developed in this course is the Company's confidential information. Company agrees that the Anderson School may reproduce the plan and presentation for internal educational purposes, but only after a period of 12 months after the Company’s representative signs and dates this agreement.

3. Students will not receive any financial compensation from the Company for the development of the business plan and the Student is not an employee, consultant, nor an agent of the Company.

4. The Company understands that during the Business Plan Development course, portions of their confidential information may be disclosed to all Students enrolled in the course in formal classroom discussions. Students agree to treat this confidential information in the same manner and under the same obligations as they do for the Company for whom they are developing plans. Students also agree to treat all business plans reviewed in class as confidential information.

5. The laws of the state of California will govern this agreement. All parties agree to submit any disputes to a mutually agreed upon arbitration service and that the prevailing party will be entitled to reimbursement of their reasonable legal expenses by the other party.

6. The Professor and Teaching Assistant agree to all obligations of this agreement in exactly the same way as the Students are obligated.

7. The Company and Students agree that the final business plan and presentation made at the end of this course is for educational purposes only and is not to be considered an offering to sell securities. Company and Students agree that the final business plan is not a prospectus, offering memorandum or private placement memorandum.

Confidential Non-Disclosure Agreement Continued (page 2 of 2)

___________________________________Company Name

___________________________________Print Name of Company Representative

__________________________________Signature

_______________Date

________________________________ __________________________________________________ Print Student Name Student Signature Date






________________________________ __________________________________________________ Print Professor Name Professor Signature Date

________________________________ __________________________________________________ Print Teaching Assistant Name TA Signature Date

Management 295D – Business Plan Development Winter 2007

Peer Evaluation Form

NAME: ________________________________________________________________

TEAM NAME: ________________________________________________________________

Please complete and submit hard copy to the TA at the beginning of class on Monday, March 12.

Part 1: Please provide scores (1 – 5, 5 being Outstanding, 1 being Unacceptable) for each team member (including you).

Team Member Idea Creation

Research Contribution

Deliverable Contribution

Teamwork Overall

ME

Part 2: You are given 100 “Performance” points. Please allocate an appropriate portion of these points to each team member (including you).

Team Member Points Comments

ME


DAY 1 - Student Investment Form

NAME: ________________________________________________________________

YOUR TEAM: ________________________________________________________________

DATE: ________________________________________________________________

Please complete and submit hard copy to the TA at the end of the March 5th and March 12th classes.

You have $100,000 each day to invest across one or more teams that present. Please articulate why you are or are not investing in each team that presents. You may not invest in your own company.

Team Name Investment ($) Rationale


DAY 2 - Student Investment Form

NAME: ________________________________________________________________

YOUR TEAM: ________________________________________________________________

DATE: ________________________________________________________________

Please complete and submit hard copy to the TA at the end of the March 5th and March 12th classes.

You have $100,000 each day to invest across one or more teams that present. Please articulate why you are or are not investing in each team that presents. You may not invest in your own company.

Team Name Investment ($) Rationale

295d syllabus fall 2009

Documents