Course 2013-2014 a.y.

Go to class group/s: 22

EMIT (6 credits - I sem. - OB  |  SECS-P/11)

Course Director:
LAURA BOTTAZZI

Course Objectives

The aim of the course is to provide students with a deep understanding of the role played by the financial intermediaries, and in particular by Venture Capital (VC), in the creation and financing of new firms. The course has an analytical nature, not an institutional or descriptive one and covers several topics.

First, we will look at raising and sourcing funding for entrepreneurial companies. We start with an introduction to Entrepreneurial Finance and review traditional sources of finance: bank loans, public grants, and ‘family, friends, and fools’ and then we move to analyze un-intermediated finance, where we focus on (informal) business angels, and (formal) corporate venture investors.
Next we look at financial forecasting and financial management of entrepreneurial firms. We delve deeply into the valuation of entrepreneurial companies, the reasons why financial projections are needed in a business plan and their role for both entrepreneurs and financiers. Then we move to the analysis of deal structuring.
Finally, we cover deal management. This can be divided into investor involvement and exit.

Course Content Summary

• The sources of Entrepreneurial Finance.
• The VC Industry: a survival kit
• Financial contracting theory and applications
• The role of business plan for venture capitalists
• Valuation theory and valuation practice for an outside investor
• The analysis of deal structuring
• The Interaction between Product Market and Financing Strategy
• IPO and the effect of going public

Detailed Description of Assessment Methods

The exam is written. Students can attend the mid-term exam on the first part of the course.

Textbooks

• Entrepreneurial Finance, by J. K. Smith and R. L. Smith, John Wiley & Sons Inc, 2nd Edition (2004)
• Some topics will be covered by case histories/working papers that will be distributed through the Personal Agenda.

Exam textbooks & Online Articles (check availability at the Library)

Prerequisites

In order to successfully attend and complete this course, students are expected to know the basics of:

• descriptive and inferential statistics (mean, standard deviation, correlation, variance-covariance matrices, main statistical distributions, linear multivariate regressions, etc.);
• corporate finance theory and practice (i.e. Capital Asset Pricing Model, IRR, NPV, etc.)

Last change 23/07/2013 16:30