The syllabus available here has been revised to be more generally useful as a course on starting a business.

Conceptual author:

Tim Berry 683-6162 x101 tberry at paloalto.com. You can follow me on twitter if you like. Also, you might want to subscribe to my Planning Startups Stories blog at bplans.com and my Up and Running blog at entrepreneur.com. I’m not likely to post about class on either one, but you never know; and I’d like to think I post about things related to starting a business on both.

Office:

n.a.

Office Hours: n.a.

My email address is tberry at paloalto.com.

Office Assistant:

Course Description

BA 410 New Business Planning will take students through the process of conceiving, creating, managing, and potentially selling a business. The goal is to provide a solid background with practical application of important concepts for non-business majors that may have limited experience in an entrepreneurial environment. Finance, accounting, marketing and management issues will be addressed from an entrepreneurial perspective. The course relies on classroom discussion, participation, guest speakers, basic case analysis, and the creation of a business plan based on each student’s specific area of interest.

Course Objectives

• To possess a well grounded understanding of entrepreneurial business principals.
• To develop an understanding of important business issues as they relate to new ventures.
• To identify, appreciate, and assess the knowledge, attitudes, and skills of an entrepreneur.
• To study and observe entrepreneurial settings and entrepreneurial role models through exposure to actual business settings and experiences.
• To have an expanded awareness of the resources available for creating a business plan.
• To establish a level of confidence in creating a business plan for your specific area of study as a tool to assess, create and communicate your business concept.

Class Schedule

You can see the click-by-click schedule of recommended sessions on the sidebar on the right. Click on any class for a summary, required readings, assignments due, and additional information like web references, blog posts, ideos, slides, etc.

Required Reading

Use the readings page.

Assignments

Use the assignments page