Entrepreneurial Challenges
Offered Spring 2010
Overview
Entrepreneurship is often described as the science and art of creating new organizations, whether those organizations be for- or non-profit. Entrepreneurs are known for being visionary, risk takers, people who are comfortable with uncertainty, and not afraid of the new and untried. Entrepreneurs might work alone (the solo practitioner offering, for example, graphics services) or with a group of professionals seeking to create a large, job-creating organization (YouTube is such an example). Entrepreneurship always includes the articulation of a new idea (often in the form of a business plan), the raising of capital (usually in the form of “angel” money and venture capital), and then the execution of the plan. There is much literature, experience, history – and many organizations – that are valuable resources for introducing students to the world of entrepreneurship. Part of our goal is to introduce students to those treasures.
In addition, it is our aim to make this cluster interdisciplinary by integrating the nuts and bolts of entrepreneurship with some of the broader liberal arts issues. Some of those issues include intersections such as: social responsibility (e.g., immigration, globalization, diversity, the environment); the ethical and political values of entrepreneurs (e.g., competition, the profit motive, employer-employee relations); entrepreneurs and the arts (especially their depiction in drama, novels, and movies); sociological and psychological theories (e.g., the theory of entrepreneurs as “great personalities,” as products of their time, as case studies for the anatomy of decision making); legal and regulatory issues (e.g., intellectual property, the SEC and antitrust).
Courses
Seminar: Startup a Biotechnology Venture: What, Why, and How?
George L. McLendon, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Professor, Department of Chemistry
The course is structured with three pedagogic components, and associated evaluative mechanisms.
In the first section (3 weeks) the course coordinator and instructor, Professor McLendon, will present an overview of the current state of the science and business of biotechnology with a particular focus on genomics and structure dependent (small molecule) drug development. There will be a take home exam (1/3 of course grade). With this background, we will move to a case study approach (4 weeks) of three biotechnology start-ups: one early stage (<1 year operations, first round funding), one mid-stage (ca. 5 years operations, >50M capitalization), and one mature stage (publicly traded > $1B cap(. Detailed homework will be provided before each case study, leading to detailed presentations made by the scientists and/or CEO’s. These visitors will share dinner with the students, present a lecture, and engage in open discussion. Student (homework) preparation and participation will be graded (1/3 of course grade). In the third section of the course (4 weeks) students will partner in four person teams to assess potential biotechnology based ventures within the Duke science and medicine community, resulting in a technology assessment/business plan (1/3 of course grade).
The last week of the course will be devoted to student team presentations of these assessments.
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Seminar: Discussions with Entrepreneurs
Carl Nordgren
The gentleman acknowledged as the founding father of the study of Entrepreneurship, the economist Joseph Schumpeter, insisted that an original creative idea, an innovation, must be at the heart of Entrepreneurship. Some, such as Schumpeter, believe that a true innovation-the sort that transforms a market or industry-can not be achieved through logic or analysis, but only through an intuitive creative leap. Others, such as Peter Drucker, believe that one can learn how to be innovative by mastering a body of knowledge and by engaging in "purposeful tasks" and "systematic work".
This course will explore the sources of creative thinking, from various perspectives. The key feature will be a series of live, two-way video presentations from some of the country's leading entrepreneurs, sharing their insights into their creative processes, their ideas about generating innovative ideas, and their experiences building organizations that generate a steady stream of new ideas.
The texts are Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind and Peter Drucker's Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Assignments will be two papers and one team presentation.
Carl Nordgren is a serial entrepreneur, and has been teaching courses in Creative Entrepreneurship at Duke and Knox College the past eight years. His companies have been in the cellular telephone, software, semiconductor, and marketing services industries, and he headed up a new venture incubator.
Seminar: The Entrepreneurial Path
Evan L. Jones
The course is structured to provide students with an overview of the important elements of entrepreneurship, including the players involved, social structures, business processes, and economic issues.
The course will cover:
- A brief discussion of the historical evolution of entrepreneurship
- Review of the key players that make entrepreneurship flourish (venture capitalists, incubators, etc.)
- Discussion of the social and psychological characteristics of entrepreneurs. Topics include: the psychological characteristics of entrepreneurs, how people’s lives are affected by entrepreneurship, the benefits of social networks, and how society affects entrepreneurship.
- Discussion of the fundamental business elements of entrepreneurship, including analyzing markets, creating a business plan, understanding strategy, and financial issues associated with start-ups.
Class sessions take the form of lectures, discussions, and guest speaker presentations. The course will encourage student participation through case studies and project work. The course encourages the application of theory into real world events. Students will be asked to work on both team and individual projects.
Evan L. Jones Bio:
Evan has been a lifelong entrepreneur, who has been operating and investing in business, as well as mentoring entrepreneurs the last 20 years.
As an operator, Evan founded TSI Soccer and grew the company, as President/CEO and Chairman, into a leader in the soccer industry. During his tenure at TSI Soccer, the company was twice named to Inc. Magazine's 500 Fastest Growing Companies in the Nation list ('95 and '96). Evan sold TSI Soccer to publicly-held dELiA*s Corporation (DLIA). At the time of the sale, TSI Soccer employed 450 people, owned 12 retail stores, distributed 7 million catalogs nationally, and sold a pair of soccer shoes every minute of the year.
As an investor, Evan co-founded Brightleaf Capital and Treetop Research. Brightleaf Capital was a long / short US equity hedge fund focused on small and micro cap companies in the consumer sector. Treetop Research is a fundamental equity research firm aiding investment managers.
As a mentor and teacher, Evan has been teaching in the Markets and Management Program at Duke University for the last 10 years and has been a mentor to a number of start-up companies.
Evan received a B.A. in Economics from Duke University (1987) and an M.B.A. from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the Univ. of North Carolina (1993). Evan is a CFA charterholder.
Focus 99FCS Special Topics in Focus: Entrepreneurial Challenges
Students faculty will meet weekly in this half-credit course to discuss issues of common interest that bridge the topics of individual seminar courses.
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