Course 2017-2018 a.y.

Classes: 22 (II sem.)

Instructors:
Class 22: LUIGI PROSERPIO

Welcome to this course, we are looking forward to developing your own company together with us.
Class participation and user generated interaction are the keys to the success.
Please, be contributive.
Stefano Alberti, Luigi Proserpio.

Mission and task.
From the first Internet wave, we have seen enthusiastic young entrepreneurs joining the web arena. However, a number of diverse factors caused few to succeed and many to fail. It is not just a matter of ideas, technological capabilities, or viral diffusion; sustainable business models are required to foster the growth of startups and the burst of a new Internet bubble. We try to nurture conscious entrepreneurship, to take advantage of the endless possibilities of the web and the technology in general and to avoid traps and common mistakes. We have built our course around a business plan required from attending students. This business plan should include your novel ideas along with a professionally crafted financial forecast. Then, we present our ideas to the real world business community, composed of angels and institutional investors. Please note that your business idea must be formally approved by the course instructors before going into the business plan details. Please, avoid sterile apps, multi-sided markets (if you don’t have a superior value proposition), ideas with a very strong incumbent.

• Understanding Internet related technologies and their business models.
• Selling your idea to Angels. Where is the money?
• Designing your prototype and its interface.
• Selling your idea to customers.
• Organizing your Internet business and your team.

For attending students

• R. ABRAMS, Successful business plan (secrets & strategies), PlanningShop, 2014, 6th edition.
  
• D. BUTLER, Business Planning for new ventures: a guide for start-ups and new innovations, 2014 (not mandatory but strongly suggested, also available in E-Pub).
• Some papers. The list is made available on the E-learning platform.
• Course slides.

For non attending students
Book.

• R. STUTELY, The Definitive Business Plan, 2012, Prentice Hall.

Papers.

• S.A. ZAHRA, W.C. BOGNER, Technology strategy and software new ventures' performance: exploring the moderating effect of the competitive environment, Journal of Business Venturing, 1999.
• J. EUCHNER, A. SLYWOTZKY, Business design (interview with Adrian Slywotzky), Research-Technology-Management, 2015.
• E.D. BEWAIO, Pre-start-up preparations: Why the business plan isn’t always written, The Entrepreneurial Executive, 2010.
• S. SINHA, The exploration exploitation dilemma: a review in the context of managing growth of new ventures, Vikalpa, 2015.
• N. ROIG TIERNO, J. ALCAZAR, S. RIBEIRO NAVARRETE, Use of infrastructures to support innovative entrepreneurship and business growth, Journal of Business Research, 2015.
• C. ZOTT, R. AMIT, Business model design: an activity system perspective, long range planning, 2010.
• D.J. TEECE, Business models, business strategy and innovation, long range planning, 2010.
• A. RAUCH, W.HULSINK, Putting entrepreneurship education where the intention to act lies: An investigation into the impact of entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial behavior, Academy of Management Learning & Education, 2015.