Who you want to be;
What you want to do;
To what and to whom you want to devote your life;
The principles to which you want to anchor your life;
The legacy you want to leave.

A proposed business model with the 5 elements

A pitch

A personal statement of how this interests you

Feedback from Alums (or graduating student entrepreneurs that are launching a business)

A summary of conversations with potential customers

A list of the type of people you want on your advisory board

You may also include any “alternate” features of “alternative” models you are considering

Introduction

1. What kinds of things can you compare between different businesses? (e.g. Scalability, ability to reach critical mass)
2. What are the five sacred elements in Alan’s business model?
3. What is an elevator pitch? How does Alan differentiate between a “informational” pitch vs. a “persuasive” pitch?
4. How does Alan define a portfolio? What are some common elements?
5. With regard to a portfolio, what is a reflection? How can you go about creating reflections?

Mote.Net

1. What did the founder of Mote (also named Alan) say about pathways to Entrepreneurship?
2. Can you describe how Mote has evolved as a concept?

Peter Roberts & Greenpoint Landscaping

1. What was Peter’s first tip for entrepreneurs?
2. What were Peter’s thoughts regarding the choice of a partner?
3. Compare and contrast Peter’s first business model for landscaping vs. his present model. What did Peter like about that newer model?
4. What did Peter specify as being associated with startup-struggles? (there were two items)
5. Peter differentiated between a dreamer versus a entrepreneur: How? (hint: look at Tip #2 for part of the answer).
6. What were the rest of Peter’s tips?

Ladd Smith & InHarmony Landscaping

1. What did Ladd lack when starting his business?
2. What does Ladd mean by “sales aren’t crap”?
3. What was Ladd’s top advice? What does he suggest to make this work?
4. What are some of the values that Ladd built into his business? (I’ll give you one value: “green”)

Steve Ward & Tom Burns of VieVu

1. How is a “Northwest atmosphere” created at VieVu?
2. Why is there price differentiation between the “law enforcement product” vs. “consumer product”?
3. What were the backgrounds of the two founders? What type of entrepreneurial experiences did each have before creating VieVu?
4. What are Steve’s three tips? How do they resemble the tips from the other entrepreneurs?

Kim Volz and Volz Enterprises

1. What does Kim see as the difference between an entrepreneur vs a dreamer?
2. What does Kim put into his notebook?

Alan’s Lectures on Business Models and Social Entrepreneurship

1. Compare and contrast: a) continuous improvement; b) process reengineering; c) business modeling
2. Why does Alan say that the 5 sacred elements comprise a whole model? Why can’t we just change one element and say it’s the same model?

Elizabeth Rusnak and Bank Loans

1. What is an SBA loan? What is the 504 loan program? What’s the advantage of an SBA loan?
2. What is a line of credit? What is its purpose?
3. What is SCORE? What can they do for you?
4. What are some of Liz’s tips regarding business plans?
5. What do banks examine in a loan applicant? What are the 5 C’s of credit?

Dwayne Northrup, Franchising, and Garlic Jim’s Pizza

1. How did Dwayne and his group choose “Jim” as part of the company name? (check if you were listening)
2. How does Dwayne ensure quality?
3. What’s Dwayne’s business model? What’s the difference between a sub-franchise vs. a franchisee?
4. How does Dwayne target locations?

A Few more Alan Questions

1. What are some benefits associated with reflections (done with a learning portfolio)?What are some typical reasons for doing a learning portfolio?
2. Better yet, what is Alan’s definition for a learning portolio?
3. What are his three critical elements in a learning portfolio?
4. What is a process? What is a legacy process? (hint: remember the apple pie example in class)
5. What is social entrepreneurship? What does Martin Fisher say about social entrepreneurship? What was Martin Fisher’s social entrepreneurship venture?
6. What are some Pros and Cons of the charity model?
7. At the end of the social entrepreneurship lecture, Alan pleaded for policy makers and administrators to learn the art of making business plans. Why did Alan advocate this?

Participants can submit 5 copies of a revised business plan by 5:00 pm, Monday, May 26, 2008 - The Center will reimburse up to $50 per team
Finalists are announced by Friday morning, May 23, 2008
Bring Copy of 6 Copies of Presentation Handout Slides to the Presentation Jury

Presentations

5:45 pm Friday, May 30, 2008 - Directions to Northshore Utility District Auditorium

Final Competition Brochure

1. Name
2. Statement of Personal Interest

I. Portfolio Collaboration & Reflection

Remember the elements needed in a portfolio? Collaboration is one of them. It’s clear that for many of you, it’s a highly personal thing. Create a couple demo or sample pages from your portfolio. Perhaps it’s the front page with a mission statement on it. Or perhaps it’s one of your academic or personal pages.

Find someone you trust and respect. Get their opinion with regard to clarity and content. Do they clearly understand the intent or message behind your page? Does it convey who you are? Do they have any suggestions?

HW Questions

1) Create a couple prototype pages for your learning portfolio. You should write down what you want to convey to a reader: what message should they get? What mood should it evoke? What lessons did you want to convey?

2) Show your pages to a trusted person. Ask them what they think is the intent behind each page. If that person(s) offers advice or help (e.g. your trusted person may say: “I know someone who can help you get what you want”) Record all this information.

3) Ask a trusted person (can be the same one in the previous question) regarding suggested improvements.

4) Summarize the preceding (Items #1 to #3).

Section II Business Models

1. Which two businesses are you thinking of using for your project?

I. Organizational Motifs

Your other class is: Organizational Theory & Knowledge Management with Prof. Tim Hargraves. You’re being asked to integrate some of the material.

Homework (Essay) Question:

1. What motif (from the other class) would adopt for your startup organization (for your current plan)? How does this make sense? How does this set the right culture into your startup? What are the pros and cons of using this motif versus another viable motif. You may use a comparison table to summarize your argument.

II. The Joys and Pains of Biotech Entrepreneurship

On Monday May 12, 2008, we’ll be holding class in the lectureship room in Room 005 in UW2. Joe Belanoff, Founder and CEO of Corcept Therapeutics, flies in from Menlo Park, CA with the sole intent to make a guest appearance at our campus.

Corcept is backed by some of the most reputable people in technology venture capital. Nevertheless, its drug and company is met with skepticism. The drug is also infamously known as RU-486 and is being applied in advanced human trials to treat Cushing’s Syndrome and Psychotic Depression.

It’s hard to point out a forerunner to something as controversial as RU-486. Thalidomide is the best example: it was know to cause some of the most gruesome birth defects in the late 50s. Largely banned, it turned out to be one of the only effective treatments for leprosy and multiple myeloma. Celgene is continuing to test Thalidomide in other cancer indications. (Disclosure: I am working an a comparative case study of Celgene and Corcept as startups)

Required Reading

1. The Case of the Notorious Depression Drug (May 2007; San Francisco Magazine) - The seminal, easy to read, introduction to Joe Belanoff and Corcept.

Background Reading

This isn’t required, but depending upon your background in life science commercialization, you may use these pieces to help you answer the questions.

1. What the hell happened? (April 2007) - This was a post-mortem to the failed trials that caused the Corcept stock to crater.

2. Orphan Drug Act - Corcept is developing for an “orphan disease” called Cushing’s Disease. Why might Corcept develop for such a micro market?

3. Update for Class (April 2008) - This piece was originally written as an update in March 2008. It was revised and expanded for the class.

Homework Questions

1. Before and after the disastrous Phase III trial results were known, the management of tiny Corcept were confronted with a strategy choice. Based on available data, the management was fairly certain that the drug could successfully treat an orphan disease called “Cushing’s Syndrome”.

This would likely yield about $20M in annual revenues. With the extreme pricing allowed for orphans, this figure could be significantly higher. This would be like trying to bunt or hit a single.

On the other hand, the team originally came to swing the home-run: to pursue the “more humane and effective” treatment of psychotic depression. It could result in a large stream of revenues ($250M to $500M). This is like swinging for a home run.

As late as last Summer, the Corcept team appeared to decline the orphan opportunity. It has now changed course and is pursuing the opportunity.

What are the pros and cons of pursuing an orphan strategy? Do you think Joe’s team made the right call? Or should they have begun work earlier on Cushing’s Disease?

2. Tiny Corcept only has about 20 employees. Contract research was “pharmed out” to the United Kingdom and to India. The company also sports an unorthodox CEO paired with an experienced board. What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of running a tiny, virtual biotech company like Corcept?

(By the way, Joe has one of the more strenuous travel schedules. Be sure to give him a rousing welcome)

3. What questions do you have for Dr. Belanoff?