Entrepreneurship in Entertainment Technology
Course number 53-630, Spring 2021
12 Units Tuesdays and Thursdays 12:50pm to 2:40pm EST
Online
Instructor: Carl Rosendahl
carlr@andrew.cmu.edu
Course Description
This course is an introduction to entrepreneurship designed to develop skills related to entrepreneurship and innovation for non-business students in the Entertainment Technology Center. The course assumes no background courses in business and is appropriate for those who are interested in bringing innovations to market either through new companies or existing companies. The course provides an overview of entrepreneurship and innovation, develops an entrepreneurial frame of mind, and provides a framework for taking ideas from concept to launched product. Students will work in teams to develop both business and practical skills in areas such as creative development, financial planning and financing, business models, organization structures, and management. The class will may include visits with Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. ETC students have first priority for this class.
Course Objectives
At the end of the course you should understand the process for starting up a company and appreciate the passion that drives entrepreneurs. You should be able to:
- Research and evaluate market opportunities
- Evaluate and select an appropriate corporate structure
- Develop a basic financial model and plan for a startup
- Devise a basic marketing/sales plan for a startup
- Identify appropriate sources for funding different companies
- Present ideas clearly and concisely, casually and formally
- Assess your role in a start-up organization
You should also have assembled a rich set of resources to pull from in pursuing any of these topics in greater depth.
Course Organization
The class is organized to progress through the stages of creating a company. Starting with idea creation and evaluation, then progressing through planning, business creation, product development, product launch, marketing and sales, business growth and funding.
You will work as ‘founding teams’ of two or three. Teams are chosen the first week and work together for the entire semester developing a plan for a real or fictional company.
Thursday classes are lectures and discussions. Tuesday classes begin with team presentations based on the prior week’s topic, followed by critique and discussion.
Some classes may be led by guest business leaders, entrepreneurs and/or VCs from Silicon Valley. Class meeting times may change to accommodate guest schedules.
Course Materials
There is no required text book for this course, but there will be reading assignments based on handouts or material available online. You will make extensive use of spreadsheet and presentation software (such as Excel and PowerPoint).
Highly recommended to purchase is “Business Model Generation” by Alexander Osterwalder. We will be reading from the first section of the book which is available for free online at: https://strategyzer.com/books/business-model-generation.
The full book includes many in-depth examples and interviews.
Course Requirements
You are required to attend all classes. Thursday classes will be lecture and discussion, your participation in these discussions is very important. There will be short reading assignments before some of the Thursday classes. Tuesday classes will be team presentations based on material from the prior Thursday class and individual research. Presentations will be short (5 – 10 minutes) but will need to be well researched and rehearsed. You should plan on spending two to six hours preparing each presentation.
Evaluation and Grading Policy
Students will be evaluated in four categories:
- Comprehension (40%) – You need to understand and apply what we’re doing in class. There will be some homework, but much of your grade will be based on how well you are applying your knowledge in your participation and presentations. Are you asking relevant questions? Are you providing thoughtful feedback? It is okay to not understand a concept, as long as you acknowledge that and seek enlightenment – you will be rewarded, not penalized, for saying ‘I don’t know,’ if you follow it up with an indication of how you might find the answer and then follow that up with action.
- Participation (20%) – Your participation in class is crucial. It is one of the ways your comprehension of the topics will be evaluated. You are expected to be actively involved in your learning – applying, analyzing, evaluating, creating – and in this course that comes through participation. There will be opportunities for questions, discussions, critiques and brainstorming; please take advantage of them.
- Presentation (20%) – You and your teammate(s) will prepare and present almost weekly. You will be evaluated individually and as a team on how well prepared you are, how your visual aids help or hinder your presentation, how clearly you communicate the material, and your ability to think on your feet.
- Attendance (20%) – Seriously? Absolutely. In the business world the penalties for not showing up to a meeting or appointment are severe, and tardiness is highly unprofessional. Additionally, your grades for comprehension, participation and presentation all depend on you being present in the class. Full attendance and no tardiness counts as a positive 20% of your grade, but it can negatively impact 40% of your grade (negative points). Small upside, big downside, just like the real world. If you will be late or must miss a class, you MUST talk to me beforehand.
Learning and Grading Rubric
| Excellent | Good | Unacceptable | |
| Comprehension | Able to use knowledge to synthesize and test new ideas. Asks questions that are relevant to a deeper understanding of the topics. Understands not just the concepts, but the implications of applying those concepts. | Understands concepts, terms and processes, and is beginning to synthesize new ideas from them. Asks relevant questions and seeks help to understand more. | Makes no effort to learn the material. Questions are not relevant to the topic or concept. Does not recognize terms or cannot explain basic concepts. |
| Participation | Always contributes to class discussions with thoughtful questions, constructive critiques and building on others’ ideas. Helps to maintain the flow of discussion and engages with the whole class. | Frequently contributes to class discussions with thoughtful questions, constructive critiques and building on others’ ideas. Often helps to maintain the flow of discussion and engages with the whole class. | Does not participate in class. Shows a lack of respect for class members or the discussion process. Argumentative or dismissive of others’ ideas. |
| Presentation | Intimate knowledge of material and confident in presenting it. Notes are not needed, and responses to questions and comments are accurate and appropriate. Visual aids support and amplify the material. Prepared for, and not distracted by, things “going wrong.” | Good knowledge of material and comfortable presenting it. Occasional referral to notes. Visual aids support the material. Respond to most questions accurately and appropriately. React well when things “go wrong.” | Little, or no, apparent preparation. Heavy use of notes. Lack of confidence in speaking, including hesitance, and um, lots of, like, filler words. Difficulty responding to questions and comments. Lack of a logical progression through material. Absent, confusing or unnecessary visual aids. |
| Attendance | Classes are not missed and attendance is prompt. | Classes are not missed without prior approval, and 2 or fewer classes are missed overall. No tardiness. | Classes are missed without prior notification or attendance is frequently tardy. |
Course Policies and Expectations
- You are expected to behave professionally in class.
- This class requires in-class discussion and participation. You are expected to freely express your ideas and to respect the expression of others.
- Silence your phone and put it away. You won’t need it for anything relevant to what’s happening in the room, no matter how smart it is.
- Ditto for Slack, Discord, or any other apps that are not being used in class.
- Do not record the class without my express prior approval on a per class basis.
- Email will be used to communicate important information about classes. You are expected to check your email frequently.
- Office hours can be booked through my calendar. If you would like to meet outside of my normal office hours, I am happy to accommodate that. Please ask.
Advice
You will often be grilled in class to find the depth of your understanding. Don’t BS the answer, that will just lead to deeper questions.
Participate!
Practice your presentations! When you think you have it down pat, you’re halfway there. Hint: nothing ever happens as planned in the business world, expect to be thrown a curve ball once in awhile; if you know your material this shouldn’t be a problem.
You will be given links and resources for learning how to
make brilliant business presentations – use those to your advantage.
Course Calendar
Subject to change.
| Tue, Feb 02 | Introduction |
| Thu, Feb 04 | Entrepreneurs, Vision, Purpose, BHAG. Teams. |
| Tue, Feb 09 | Presentation: Team intro, Vision, 3 Ideas. |
| Thu, Feb 11 | Ideas. Intro to BMC. Value Prop, Customers. |
| Tue, Feb 16 | Presentation: Final idea, Customers, Market Opp. |
| Thu, Feb 18 | Customers, cont’d |
| Tue, Feb 23 | CMU Break Day |
| Thu, Feb 25 | Customers / Left side of BMC |
| Tue, Mar 02 | Team Presentations: Customer Plan |
| Thu, Mar 04 | Financial pt. 1: Inc, Bal, Cash |
| Tue, Mar 09 | Financial pt. 2: Modeling |
| Thu, Mar 11 | Financial: Team Modeling Meetings |
| Tue, Mar 16 | Financial: Team Modeling Meetings |
| Thu, Mar 18 | Team Presentations: Financial model |
| Tue, Mar 23 | Company Structure and Stock |
| Thu, Mar 25 | Legal |
| Tue, Mar 30 | Carl – 3 Things |
| Thu, Apr 01 | Culture and Values |
| Tue, Apr 06 | Indiv. Presentations: Entrepreneurs |
| Thu, Apr 08 | Indv. Presentations: Company Cultures |
| Tue, Apr 13 | Review Cultures and Entrepreneurs |
| Thu, Apr 15 | CMU Spring Carnival |
| Tue, Apr 20 | Funding |
| Thu, Apr 22 | Guest |
| Tue, Apr 27 | Presentations: Funding Plan, About Final Pres. |
| Thu, Apr 29 | Long Term Growth and Exits |
| Tue, May 04 | Final Presentations |
| Thu, May 06 | Summary Day |
| Tue, May 11 | No Class |
| Thu, May 13 | No Class |