GBUS 8210 STARTING NEW VENTURES

The primary objective of the course is to allow students to walk a few steps in the shoes of an entrepreneur while learning how expert entrepreneurs build new ventures that endure. Cases, guest lecturers, and students’ project work will allow them to explore financial, legal, interpersonal, and personal challenges likely to be encountered by the independent entrepreneur. This course draws from cognitive science-based research on how expert entrepreneurs think, decide, and act while starting new ventures. Key issues addressed will include risk perception and management, formulation of innovative stakeholder relationships, and the creation of new markets through new ventures. As part of the course, students will be required to come up with a venture idea and take the initial steps in actually starting it. The course is recommended for those interested in initiating a personal venture at some point in their lives working with or consulting for an early stage entrepreneurial team or seeking entry into Darden’s Progressive Incubator™.

Academic course objectives:

· Contrast conventional wisdom with how expert entrepreneurs actually do it

· Show how to build innovative and effective partnerships

· Help students grasp the subtleties of ownership and control

· Increase the probability of success and reduce the costs of failure

· Comprehend the personal realities of becoming and being an entrepreneur

· Acquire basic tools for successful entrepreneurship that include incorporation, putting together a board, creating a new brand, and elements of business plans

Elements of the course grade:

Class contribution                   50%

Individual paper/project          50%