Business Models and Entrepreneurial Strategy at Parsons The New School for Design
Excited to teach a revised and redesigned version of Lean at Parsons The New School for Design’s BBA program.
Here’s the syllabus:
BUSINESS MODELS AND ENTREPRENEURIAL STRATEGY
Course Code: PUDM4322 CRN: 7370 | Section: A
Instructor: Jen van der Meer
Fall / 2016
Monday / 9:00 AM
Location: 6 East 16th Street, Room 1108
Course Description
This course prepares students with a hypothesis-driven approach to company formation. Students will work in teams to generate a business concept, and then validate business model risks in direct collaboration with customers. This course is offered in conjunction with the Senior Project studios and allows the students to compare and analyze different business models and strategies for their Senior Project concepts. Students develop storytelling and financial skills to lead early stage companies from concept through launch.
Open To: Open to: BBA in Strategic Design and Management students; Seniors only; others by permission of BBA in Strategic Design and Management program.
Pre-requisites: Co-requisite(s): PUDM 4120 Senior Project 1. Pre-requisite(s): PUDM 3409 Financial Management
Learning Outcomes
By the successful completion of this course, students will be able, at an introductory level, to:
- DEMONSTRATE FAMILIARITY WITH hypothesis-driven innovation methodologies practiced in “real world” startup environments (Lean Startup, Business Model Canvas development, Minimum Viable Product/Proposition).
- DEMONSTRATE FAMILIARITY WITH presentation and storytelling skills necessary for early stage startup strategy, team formation, and capital raising.
- DEMONSTRATE FAMILIARITY WITH financial literacy, learning the basic building blocks of innovation accounting, generating financial assumptions and forecasts, marketing sizing, term sheets, and capitalization tables.
- DEMONSTRATE COMPETENCE IN developing realistic business model evolution scenarios, and ability to create, analyze, combine business model archetypes.
- DEMONSTRATE COMPETENCE IN business model validation: the practical strategy of identifying unique customer segment(s) and an early stage value proposition through real world customer discovery interviews and early stage prototype tests.
Course Outline
Week |
Date |
Class Theme and Activities |
Assignment Due |
Week 1 |
Aug 29 |
Class intro / concept formation |
(None) |
Week 2 |
Sep 12 |
Team formation, intro to the Business Model Canvas (BMC) and customer discovery |
Early stage company concepts |
Week 3 |
Sep 19 |
Customer discovery, customer validation, Market Size Analysis (Total Addressable Market, Served Addressable Market, Target Market or TAM, SAM, TM) |
Company BMC analysis results1 Business model archetype analysis |
Week 4 |
Sep 26 |
Value, value propositions, and the purpose of business, team forms initial BMC hypothesis v 1.0, team develops customer interview plan |
Team BMC 1.0, TAM, SAM,TM1 Business model archetype analysis |
Oct 3 |
No Classes – Rosh Hashanah |
||
Week 5 |
Oct 10 |
Personal value, motivation, vision, and team, team continues to plan customer interviews |
Customer discovery interview results, BMC 2.02nd Business model archetype analysis |
Week 6 |
Oct 17 |
Customer relationships, channels, initial value proposition testCompetition, disruptive innovation theory. Innovation accounting |
Customer discovery interview results, BMC 3.0 + Lessons learned3rd Business model archetype analysis |
Week 7 |
Oct 24 |
How to analyze |
Customer discovery interview results, BMC 4.04th Business model archetype analysis |
Week 8 |
Oct 31 |
Midterm: validated “front stage” of the business model, competitive analysis, initial value proposition |
Midterm presentations, including BMC 5.0 |
Week 9 |
Nov 7 |
“Back stage” of the business model: Resources, Activities, Partners |
Customer discovery interview results, BMC 6.05th Business model archetype analysis |
Week 10 |
Nov 14 |
The money: revenues, costs, how to create financial scenarios 3 years outBusiness model scenariosUnit economics |
3 year financial assumptions7th Business model archetype analysis |
Week 11 |
Nov 21 |
Investment strategy, cap tables, term sheets |
Validated unit economics8th Business model archetype analysis |
Week 12 |
Nov 28 |
Turning customer discovery insights into a Minimum Viable Product |
Draft cap table, term sheet, investment plan9th Business model archetype analysis |
Week 13 |
Dec 5 |
Storytelling and pitch clinic, how to create a “teaser” presentation and a longer form presentation for investors, employees, partners |
MVP sketch |
Week 14 |
Dec 12 |
Pitch practice |
Short form presentation |
Week 15 |
Dec 19 |
Lessons Learned – Final |
Long form presentation |
Assessable Tasks
The students will work in self-formed teams to simulate the experience of developing a startup from scratch.
Key tasks, all as group work:
- Presentations: weekly presentation of lessons learned, updated Business Model Canvas versions based on customer interview findings, formulation of new hypotheses to test (over 10 weeks).
- Field research: customer discovery interviews (at least 30 interviews per team or until key business model hypotheses are sufficiently validated).
- Financial analysis and industry analysis: market sizing (total addressable market, served addressable market, target market estimations.
- Value proposition test and test results for midterm
- Financial scenario development, calculating and validating unit economics, investment strategy, cap table, term sheet
- Pitch development and delivery.
- Final lessons learned presentation.
Final Grade Calculation
10% participation in class, giving constructive feedback to your peers
30% progress in customer validation, customer interviews
20% midterm validation test and presentation
20% financial analysis, scenarios, and projections
20% final pitch and lessons learned
Extra Credit Policy
No extra credit
Required Reading
Textbooks may be purchased (new or used), rented, or downloaded through standard sources such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Chegg. Be sure to use the ISBN number in order to ensure that you are ordering the correct edition.
Book available on directly from the publisher:
Lean Analytics, Alistair Croll and Ben Yoskovitz, 2013
Articles, Papers:
The End of Competitive Advantage, by Rita Gunther McGrath, HBR, 8, 2013.
What is Disruptive Innovation? By Clayton Christensen, Michael E. Raynor, and Rory McDonald, HBR, December 2015
A Friedman Doctrine–; The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase Its Profits, by Milton Friedman, The New York Times, 9, 1970. (paywall)
The Founder’s Dilemma by Noam Wasserman, HBR, 2008
The Role of the Business Model in Capturing Value from Innovation: Evidence from Xerox Corporation’s Technology Spinoff Companies Henry Chesbrough and Richard S. Rosenbloom, Oxford University Press, 2002
Why the Lean-Startup Changes Everything, by Steve Blank, HBR, 2013
Recommended Reading
The following two books are recommended for your reference and for help in writing and conducting research:
Business Model Generation, Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur
Talking to Humans, Giff Constsable and Frank Rimalovski (fre download)
Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights, Steve Portigal, 2013
Traction: How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth, Gabriel Weinberg, 2015
The Founder’s Dilemma, Noam Wasserman, 2013
Value Proposition Design, by Alexander Osterwalder
Resources
Lean LaunchPad videos on Udacity by Steve Blank
Lean Startup video by Eric Reis