Time Schedule:
Rebecca A Lovell
ENTRE 542
Seattle Campus
Provides overview and teaches the mechanics of the venture capital industry and culminates in intramural venture capital competition. Students assume the role of investors in a venture capital firm and real entrepreneurs pitch to them for investment dollars. Teams defend their allocation decisions before a judging panel of venture capitalists. Credit/no-credit only. Offered: A.
Class description
The course provides an overview of the world of venture capital. Though the capstone of the class is the Venture Capital Investment Competition (more on that below), the curriculum is more broadly designed to provide students with the tools to evaluate early-stage investment opportunities. Guest speakers include entrepreneurs, VC’s and prior VCIC competitors, and students will engage with them on a weekly basis. Through team-based exercises, Q&A and role play, you’ll get into character as a venture capitalist. We will cover such basics as business planning, valuation, term sheets, the investment life cycle, and negotiations.
Student learning goals
Evaluate the pro's and con's of a business plan
Learn how to use a term sheet as a tool for mitigating risk and maximizing returns
Become familiar with market-driven methods for determining a company's valuation
Be conversant in the language of venture capital
Engage entrepreneurs in business planning and financing discussions
General method of instruction
The class is interactive and integrative—every session will involve student activity, and every subsequent week will build on the materials covered previously.
Recommended preparation
The class will not have a course pak; readings will be topical online research as recommended by industry experts—the more research you do, the more you’ll get out of the class.
Class assignments and grading
Most of the work will be done in teams in class sessions. Online research on recommended sites will enhance the classroom experience.
The class is offered credit/no credit, i.e. ungraded.
