Course 2020-2021 a.y.

The course analyzes the economics of venture investors and the venture fundraising cycle. The course is structured in six modules:

1. An introduction to Entrepreneurial Finance.
2. Investor assessment of business opportunities.
3. Valuation of entrepreneurial companies.
4. Deal structuring.
5. Deal management.
6. The economics and strategy of venture investors.

• Recognize the goals and constraints of different venture investors, and the implication these have on the management of an entrepreneurial venture.
• Understand the valuation of private knowledge-based ventures.   
• Identify the different phases of a financing deal– origination, valuation, structuring, management, and exit.

• Formulate a business plan for eliciting interest from venture investors, and assemble financial projects to illustrate the venture’s business model.
• Pitch a business opportunity to a potential investor.
• Elaborate a financial plan and fundraising strategy.
• Calculate the valuation of an entrepreneurial venture, and assess the value relevance of the covenants in the term sheets.
• Negotiate a funding round.

• Face-to-face lectures
• Online lectures
• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
• Case studies /Incidents (traditional, online)
• Group assignments
• Interactive class activities (role playing, business game, simulation, online forum, instant polls)

The learning experience of this course is mainly based on online lectures, both recorded and interactive.

• The lectures consist of both academic materials and of illustrations taken from actual business situations that are commented and discussed. Academic materials are mostly explained in recorded lectures and discussed in interactive online sessions, which also address actual business examples.
• In most of the modules academic material is complemented by interative case study discussions.
• Instant polls are used to provide discussion material and to verify how the class is learning new concepts.
• There are two written case study assignments to be developed in groups, and one presentation by an external guest speaker.
• The use of actual business situations, case studies, and external speaker aims at better connecting the body of knowledge covered in the course with real business examples, focused on a variety of innovative venture experiences. The interaction between the instructor and students during the case discussions and the presentations helps students understand how entrepreneurs and venture investors approach, structure, and manage entrepreneurial funding.
• There course also includes a group assignment where students identify and analyze, in a structured way, a real example of entrepreneurial funding. This allows students to discuss in depth a situation of their choice and present it to the class, to the instructors, and to entrepreneurs or investors (if feasible).

• Two group case study assignments. These assignment are due by email before the start of the class in which they are due. Late deliveries are not accepted. These assignments are designed with the purpose of verifying students’ ability  to identify and analyze a real entrepreneurial finance situation using the tools learnt in the course.
• One group assignment examining a real entrepreneurial venture funding situation chosen by the group and approved by the lecturers. The analysis is structured according to instructions provided in class. It is presented in a lecture to the class, and is delivered after having received feedback from the instructors. This assignment is designed with the purpose of verifying students’ ability to:
• Identify and analyze the main issues related to the course.
• Work on a team and organize and present effectively the relevant outcomes.
• A genral exam on all the topics covered in the course after the course completion.
• Each group can choose, within a given deadline, whether to engage only in business case assignments or also in the analysis of a real entrepreneurial venture, with a different weighting of grades for the two options. 
• The full exam includes both open questions and exercises.

Non-attending students’ assessment is fully based on the written exam (either two partials or one general). The two partial exams have equal weight, and the exact split of course contents are announced in the syllabus. 

1. Slides available on Blackboard
2. Textbook: Marco Da Rin and Thomas Hellmann (2020) Fundamentals of Entrepreneurial Finance, Oxford University Press (ISBN: 9780199744756).
3. Case studies to be purchased from Harvard Business Press Online or developed by the course Professor.