SMU School of Information Systems (SIS) IS 426: Technopreneurship

Version 2 December 2010

Course Design Document:

IS 426: Technopreneurship



Version 2.1


19 October 2011
SMU School of Information Systems (SIS) IS 426: Technopreneurship

Version 2 December 2010

1. Whoshouldregisterforthiscourse?

This course is targeted at students wishing to create a technology based company.

Students will be introduced to various considerations in starting up a technology based company.
They will also have an opportunity to interact with and learn from current entrepreneurs. Students
will be required to attend the Entrepreneurship Lunch time talks held first Thursday of every
month and the Entrepreneurs corner held first Wednesday of every month at 6 pm at the
University faculty / staff lounge on the 6
th
floor of the SMU admin building.

Students will be required to maintain individual journals of assigned work. These will be assessed
at the end of the course.

Students will present their proposals to a group of experienced business mentors / experienced
entrepreneurs at the end of the course. Business mentor / experienced entrepreneurs assessment
of the proposals will contribute to a major part of the course grade.

Instructor: Practice Professor Arcot Desai Narasimhalu. Phone: 6828-0914

SMU School of Information Systems (SIS) IS 426: Technopreneurship
Version 2.1 October 2011 Page 1 of 21




2. VersionHistory


Version Description of
Changes
Author Date
V0.5 Original Document Desai Narasimhalu 12 September 2008
V0.7 Edits Desai Narasimhalu 16 September 2008
V1.1 Major changes
transitioning the course
from a POC course to a
Tech Start Up course in
line with the
Technopreneurship
Tracks objectives
Desai Narasimhalu 15 November 2009
V2.0 Significant changes to the
course contents and the
nature of speakers.
Desai Narasimhalu 20 December 2010
V 2.1 Major redesign. Approach
company creation from a
project management
perspective.
Desai Narasimhalu 19 October 2010
SMU School of Information Systems (SIS) IS 426: Technopreneurship

Version 2 December 2010


3. OverviewoftheIS426Elective

Synopsis:


This course prepares the students to translate their business innovations into a
technology start-up company. Students will get an opportunity to apply the skills
learnt in this course to a start-up company incubated by SMU Business Innovations
Generator.


Prerequisites:

TWC, IS 401 or an interesting business innovation (contact the instructor for waiving
the course prerequisite.

Objectives:

Upon completion of the course, students will have gained knowledge on:

A step by step approach towards building a technology start up
Working with Business Mentors
1
to help refine proposals for creating new
businesses
Presenting their ideas to investors and business leaders
Applying for funds to develop new products.
Pedagogy:

Learning by doing.
Group Learning and Group Intelligence.
Active learning.
Coach_on_the_side_lines and not Sage_on_the_Stage
Using SMU startups to apply the learning

Class size:

This course will require intense interaction between instructor and students and hence it
is preferred that the class size will be limited to 20 students or less.

1
Teams with interesting business innovation ideas may be assigned a business mentor from IIE
SMU School of Information Systems (SIS) IS 426: Technopreneurship
Version 2.1 October 2011 Page 3 of 21


Course Structure
2
:

Knowledge Assets:

1. Course package on Stage Gate Methodology
2. Videos from business leaders
3. Innovative Entrepreneurs workbook

2
The course structure and the course contents described in this course design document are for planning
purposes only. The actual delivery will depend on the availability of the guest lecturers listed as well as the
pace at which the students learn. The instructor may decide to drop, add, or modify some portions of the
proposed course based on the rate of progress of the class. Any plans and material listed in this document
will be superseded by the material distributed in the class.
Introduction to course and
Technology adoption life cycle
Seminars on key issues and
learning through interaction with
entrepreneurs
Getting feedback on business
proposal
Seminar 1 WEEK
6 WEEKS
WEEKS 2-7
5 WEEKS
WEEKS 9-13
2 WEEKS
WEEKS 14-15
Discussions+ineraction
with entrepreneurs
Discussion +interaction
with entrepreneurs and IIE
staff
Presentation to the instructor
and business mentors
Planning and designing your
technology based start up.
SMU School of Information Systems (SIS) IS 426: Technopreneurship
Version 2.1 October 2011 Page 4 of 21



4. Outputandassessmentsummary


Week Due
Date
Output Assessments
Weighting
in %
Group
Weighting
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8 R E C E S S
9 7
th
March Interim proposal for your
company
20
10
11
12
13
14 11
th
April Final presentations on
your companies
30
15 E X A M W E E K
Every
week until
week 8
journal
3
20
16
th
April Hands on learning gained
through helping the SMU
start-up Report
4

30

Total

100


This is a project based course and hence will not have final exams.

Deliverables are:

Interim proposal for your company
Final report and presentation for your company
J ournal
Report on your contributions to an SMU start up company applying what you learnt in the class.
5. GroupAllocationforAssignments



3
Every student is expected write a journal on the listed topics. The entries in a journal are expected to be
those of a single student, based on independent thinking and learning. This journal will be evaluated for
quality and completeness at the end of the term.
4
Students will be required to help a SMU BIG incubated company by applying the knowledge acquired in
this course to that company. Students should submit a report on their contributions and the founders of the
start-up company will give their inputs on the value of the contributions.
SMU School of Information Systems (SIS) IS 426: Technopreneurship
Version 2.1 October 2011 Page 5 of 21


Students will form teams of 3. There will be a maximum of eight teams in the course.
SMU School of Information Systems (SIS) IS 426: Technopreneurship
Version 2.1 October 2011 Page 6 of 21



6. Learningoutcomes,achievementmethodsandassessment



Learning Outcomes Student Tasks to Achieve outcome Faculty Methods
of Outcomes
Assessment

1 Integration of Business Technology in a sector context
1.1. Business IT Value
Linkage skills
YY Creating a business proposal based on
a technology based business
innovation
Assessment of
business proposal
1.2. Cost and Benefits
analysis skills
Y Identifying the business case of their
proposal
Assessment of the
business case
1.3. Business Software
Solution Impact
Analysis Skills
Y Identifying the value created to the
customers
Assessment of the
value creation in
the business
proposal

2 IT Architecture, Design and Development Skills
2.1. System requirements
specification skills

2.2. Software and IT
architecture analysis and
design skills

2.3. Implementation skills
2.4. Technology application
skills
YY Offering a technology based business
innovation
Quality of the
business innovation
pursued

3 Project Management Skills
3.1. Scope management
skills
YY Prioritizing the products / services that
are to be offered by the start up
Assessment of the
priorities in the
business proposal
3.2. Risk management skills YY Identifying the different risks in the
business proposal
Assessment of the
completeness of the
risks identified and
the quality of the
mitigation
strategies
3.3. Project integration and
time management skills
Y Planning product development time
frames
Assessment of the
quality of the
planning
3.4. Configuration
management skills

3.5. Quality management
skills
Y Quality across all aspects of their
business proposal
Assessment of
quality across all
dimensions of the
business proposal

4 Learning to Learn Skills
SMU School of Information Systems (SIS) IS 426: Technopreneurship
Version 2.1 October 2011 Page 7 of 21


4.1. Search Skills YY Identifying potential threats to their
plans
Assessment of the
quality of
competitive
analysis
4.2. Skills for developing a
methodology for
learning


5 Collaboration (or Team) Skills
5.1. Skills to improve the
effectiveness of group
processes and work
products
YY Group project work Assessment of the
group dynamics
through peer review

6
6.1. Skills to diagnose
business changes
YY Forecasting possible disruptions to the
plans
Assessment of risks
in the business
proposal
6.2. Skills to implement and
sustain business changes


7 Skills for working across countries, cultures and borders
7.1. Cross-national
awareness skills
YY Identifying opportunities and threats
in different geographies
Assessment of
growth plans in the
business proposal
7.2. Business across
countries facilitation
skills
Y Identification of business partners
beyond Singapore
Assessment of
growth plans

8. Communication Skills
8.1. Presentation skills YY Business Proposal pitching to
investors
Assessment of the
quality of
communication
8.2. Writing skills YY Business Proposal writing Assessment of the
quality of
individual journals
and the business
proposal

Y- Sub-skill is partially covered by this course. YY- Sub-skill is a main focus of this course.
SMU School of Information Systems (SIS) IS 426: Technopreneurship
Version 2.1 October 2011 Page 8 of 21



7. ClassroomPlanning

Week 1: Introduction to the course and Technology Adoption Life Cycle

Session 1: 1.5 hours

Introduction to the course and frameworks

Session 2: 1.5 hours

Introduction to Technology Adoption Life Cycle

Week 2: Project Management approach to company creation

Session 1: 1.5 hours

Introduction to Principles of Project Management

Session 2: 1.5 hours

Adopting an SMU Start-up

Week 3: Assembling the team

Session 1: 1.5 hours

Seminar and discussions on assembling the founding team

Session 2: 1.5 hours

Discussions on project plans prepared by the teams

Week 4: Innovation Development Methodology

Session 1: 1.5 hours

Seminar on Innovation Development

Session 2: 1.5 hours

Seminar on Triz

Week 5: Preparing the financials

Session 1: 1.5 hour

Seminar on preparing the financials for your company

Session 2: 1.5 hours

Applying the financial planning to your company

SMU School of Information Systems (SIS) IS 426: Technopreneurship
Version 2.1 October 2011 Page 9 of 21


Week 6: Planning early adoption

Session 1: 1.5 hours

Seminar on identifying early adopters

Session 2: 1.5 hours

Identifying early adopters for your company

Week 7: Raising funds

Session 1: 1.5 hours

Seminar on executive summary and preparing an investor deck

Session 2: 1.5 hours

Seminar on analysis of a term sheet

Week 8

Mid Term Break

Week 9: Forming a company

Session 1: 1.5 hours

Seminar on shareholding agreement

Session 2: 1.5 hours

Designing a company structure and registering a company

Week 10: Preparing a sales deck

Session 1: 1.5 hours

Seminar on components of a sales deck

Session 2: 1.5 hours

Class exercises on preparing a sales deck

Week 11: Growing a company


Session 1: 1.5 hours

Seminar on growth strategies

Session 2: 1.5 hours

Introduction to growth partners

SMU School of Information Systems (SIS) IS 426: Technopreneurship
Version 2.1 October 2011 Page 10 of 21


Week 12: IP Strategy

Session 1: 1.5 hours

Seminar on IP Strategy for a start-up company

Session 2: 1.5 hours

Exercises on IP strategy for your company

Week 13: Business Plan

Session 1: 1.5 hours

Seminar on identifying the risks and risk management

Session 2: 1.5 hours

Tying it all together in a business plan

Week 14: Presentations

Session 1:

Presentations

Session 2:

Presentations

Week 15: Exams
SMU School of Information Systems (SIS) IS 426: Technopreneurship
Version 2.1 October 2011 Page 11 of 21



8. CourseScheduleSummary
Week Focus Readings / activities
(Before Class)
Classroom Activities Assignments
(After Class)
Session 1
(first 1.5 hours)
Session 2
(second 1.5 hours)

1 Technology
Adoption Life
Cycle
Read the TALC from
Inside the Tornado
book

Read course design
document
Introduction to course Introduction to Technology
Adoption Life Cycle
Write journal 1
2 Project
management
approach to
company
creation
Write a one pager on
the company that you
wish to create
Introduction to project
management
principles.
Adopting a SMU startup for
study. We call this SFS
(Start-up for Study)
Write journal 2
3 Assembling
the team
Prepare the project plan
for building your
company
Seminar and
discussions on
assembling the key
members of the team
Discussion on project plans
prepared by the teams
Write journal 3
4 Innovation
Development
Methodology
Read up on the material
for the class
Seminar on Innovation
Development
Seminar on Triz Write journal 4
5 Preparing the
financials
Prepare an innovation
development plan for
your company
Seminar on planning
the financials for your
company
Applying financial planning
for your company
Write journal 5
6 Planning
early adoption
Prepare the financials
for your company
Seminar on identifying
early adopters
Seminar on identifying
early adopters
Write journal 6
7 Raising funds Prepare a plan for early
adoption for your
company
Seminar on preparing
an executive summary
Preparing an
investment deck
Seminar on analysis of a
term sheet offered by
investors.
Write journal 7
8
9 Forming a
company
Prepare executive
summary and investor
deck
Seminar on
shareholding
agreement
Learning about company
formation from a professor
of accounting.
Start refining the
executive
summary of
your BP
10 Preparing a
sales deck
Prepare a plan for
forming your company
Seminar on the
components of a sales
deck
Class exercises on
preparing a sales deck
Continue
developing the
BP
11 Growing your
company
Prepare a sales plan for
your first innovation
Seminar on growth
strategy
Introduction to growth
partners
Continue
refining the BP
12 IP Strategy Prepare a growth plan Seminar on IP strategy
for a start-up company
Exercises on IP strategy Continue
refining your BP
13 Business Plan Prepare IP strategy Seminar on identifying
risks and risk
management
Tying it all together into a
business plan.
Complete your
BP
14 Final Presentations
15 Exam week



SMU School of Information Systems (SIS) IS 426: Technopreneurship
Version 2.1 October 2011 Page 12 of 21


9. ListofInformationresourcesandreferences



a. Video recordings to be viewed. Students will be advised in class

10. Tooling

a. Students should look up the website of the Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship for
links that direct them on writing good business proposals.

11. JournalAssignments
Studentsarerequiredtowritethefollowingjournals.Allsubmissionsaretobemadetothedrop
boxsetupforthispurpose.

Dropbox submission
on or before the
beginning of
List your learning from
2
nd
class
Write the journal entry on the key learnings in the first class and from the video of the talk
on technology intelligence.
3
rd
class
Write journal entry on the key learnings in the second class and from the video of the talk
by Leslie Loh
4
th
class
Write journal entry on the key learnings in the third class and from the video of the talk by
Allen Pathamaraja
5
th
class
Write journal entry on the key learnings in the fourth class and from the video of the talk
by Ms Goh Yi Ping
6
th
class
Write journal entry on the key learnings in the fifth class and from the video of the talk by
Dr. Ting Choon Meng
7
th
class
Write journal entry on the key learnings in the sixth class and from the video of the talk by
Gideon Tolkowsky

SMU School of Information Systems (SIS) IS 426: Technopreneurship
Version 2.1 October 2011

12. WeeklyPlan

Week: 1 Date: 11
th
J an Topic: Introduction to the course and Technology Adoption
Session 1: Introduction to the course

1. Introduction to the course.


Session 2: Introduction to Technology Adoption Lifecycle

1. Different approaches at different stages of technology adoption
2. Examples from the past
3. Discussions using a general method.

Assignment: Before this class

Read up course design document
Read up on Technology Adoption Life Cycle from Inside the Tornado

Assignment: After this class

Write journal 1 and submit it to drop box by the end of Friday




Week: 2 Date: 18
th
J an Topic: Project Management Approach to Company Creation
Session 1: Introduction to Project Management Principles

Introduction to project management principles


Session 2: Applying project management principles to company creation

Develop a company creation plan using project management principles learnt in session 1
Adopt a SMU startup for study. Contributions to the company will attract 30 % of marks.

Assignment: Before the class

Write a one pager on the company you wish to create

Assignment: After the class

Write the journal 2 and submit it to the drop box by the end of Friday






SMU School of Information Systems (SIS) IS 426: Technopreneurship
Version 2.1 October 2011






Week: 3 Date: 25
th
J an Topic: Assembling the team
Session 1: Seminar on assembling the team

1. Discussions related to formation of a robust team

Session 2:

1. Discussions on project plans prepared by the teams
2. Discussions on assembling the team for the company

Assignment: Before the class

Prepare the project plan for building your company

Assignment: After the class

Write journal 3 and upload it to the drop box by end of Friday




Week: 4 Date: 1
st
February Topic: Innovation Development Methodology
Session 1: Seminar on innovation development

1. Stage gate method
2. Bill of materials
3. Manufacturing plans

Session 2: Seminar on Triz

1. Learning and applying Triz to solve problems

Assignment: Before the class

Read up on Triz

Assignment: After the class

Write journal 4 and upload it to the Dropbox











SMU School of Information Systems (SIS) IS 426: Technopreneurship
Version 2.1 October 2011







Week: 5 Date: 8
th
Feb Topic: Preparing the financials
Session 1: Seminar

1. Planning the financials of your company

Session 2: Preparing the financials

2. Applying the financial planning to your company
3.
Assignment: Before the class

Prepare an innovation development plan for your company

Assignment: After the class

Write J ournal 5 and upload it to the Drop box by end of Friday



Week: 6 Date: 15
th
Feb Topic: Planning early adoption
Session 1: Discussion on identifying early adopters

1. Seminar and discussions on methods to identify early adopters

Session 2: Applying early adopter identification methods

1. Applying early adoption identification techniques to your company.

Assignment: Before the class

Prepare financials for your company

Assignment: After the class

Write journal 6 and upload it to DropBox


SMU School of Information Systems (SIS) IS 426: Technopreneurship
Version 2.1 October 2011



Week: 7 Date: 22ndFeb Topic: Raising funds
Session 1: Key instruments for investment pitching

1. Writing an executive summary of your business plan
2. Developing an investment pitching deck

Session 2: Analyzing a term sheet

1. Components of a term sheet
2. Negotiating the term sheet
3. Valuing your company

Assignment: Before the class

Prepare an early adoption plan for your company

Assignment: After the class

Write journal 7 and upload it to the drop box by end of Friday



Week: 9 Date: 7
th
March Topic: Forming a company
Session 1: Seminar and Discussions on shareholding

1. Discussions on shareholders agreement
2. Discussions on ESOP

Session 2: Learning on the type of company to register

1. Professor from Accounting will handle this session

Assignment: Before the class

Prepare executive summary and investor pitch deck for your company

Assignment: After the class

Refine your executive summary

SMU School of Information Systems (SIS) IS 426: Technopreneurship
Version 2.1 October 2011



Week: 10 Date: 14
th
March Topic: Preparing a sales deck
Session 1: Components of a sales deck

1. Seminar on components of a sales deck

Session 2: Exercise on a sales deck

1. Small group exercise on preparing a sales deck

Assignment: Before the class
Prepare a plan for forming your company

Reading: After the class
Continue adding to the business plan



Week: 11 Date: 21
st
March Topic: Growing your company
Session 1: Growth strategies

1. Growth models
2. Context and relevance of growth models

Session 2: Growth partners

1. Partners for growth
2. Partner selection strategies

Assignment: Before the class

Prepare a sales plan for your company

Assignment: After the class

Continue developing the business plan




SMU School of Information Systems (SIS) IS 426: Technopreneurship
Version 2.1 October 2011



Week: 12 Date: 28
th
March Topic: IP Strategy
Session 1: IP Strategy for start ups

1. Seminar on IP strategy for start ups

Session 2: Exercises on IP Strategy

1. Small group exercises on IP strategy

Assignment: Before the class
Prepare a growth plan for your company

Assignment: After the class

Continue to add to the business plan








Week: 14 Date: 11
th
April Topic: Presentation of Business Proposals
Topics to be covered in Session 1: Presentation of business proposals

1. Teams 1-4

Topics to be covered in Session 2: Presentation of business proposals

1. Teams 5-8

Week: 13 Date: 4
th
April Topic: Business Plan
Session 1: Risk

1. Identifying risks
2. Prioritizing risks
3. Managing risks

Session 2: Tying them all up

1. Completing the business plan

Assignment: Before the class

Prepare IP strategy for your company

Assignment: After the class

Review and revise to develop a robust business plan

SMU School of Information Systems (SIS) IS 426: Technopreneurship
Version 2.1 October 2011


Assignment: Before the class
Prepare not more than 7 slides for a 10 minute presentation
Assignment: After the class

Revise the business proposal based on the feedback and good luck