The Philadelphia Center

Entrepreneurship, Course Syllabus, Fall 2007

Tim Bosworth, 215 219 5825

twb2@verizon.net

 

Time and Dates of the Course: Tuesday evenings, 6:00 to 9:00, from September 4 to December 4, 2007. Each class is 3 hours long, with two, 10-minute breaks.

 

Learning Outcomes:

 

Recognize entrepreneurial behavior.

*                      Become familiar with new venture concepts and vocabulary.

*                      Learn how to generate and evaluate entrepreneurial ideas.

*                      Understand the entrepreneurial process.

*                      Gain experience in building and working with a team.

*                      Understand the challenges entrepreneurs must overcome.

*                      Learn what it takes to become an entrepreneur.

*                      Learn what entrepreneurs face in the market place.

*                      Other outcomes as required.

 

 

Expectations of Students:

 

*                      Full attendance.

*                      Follow center's policy of plagiarism and academic honesty.

*                      Full participation in all class discussions and assignments.

*                      Completion of all assignments according to instructions and on time.

*                      Competent writing and communication skills.

*                      Completing all readings as assigned.

*                      Making a continual and good-faith effort to understand the material and to ask questions when they do not.

 

Expectations of Instructor:

*                      Full attendance.

*                      Be readily available to students for questions and other assistance.

*                      Always to act in the students' best interests.

*                      Make a continual and good-faith effort to present material understandably and to change course if the material is not understood.

 

Deliverables:

*                      New product feasibility study: team presentation with written and oral submission.

*                      Entrepreneur interview: written paper (3-5pp), and presentation (3-5 minutes)

*                      Three exams, 30 minutes each.

*                      Class participation and interaction.

*                      Team participation and assessment.

*                      Unannounced quizzes, if needed.

 

Grading Criteria:

30%               Attendance (no excused absences).

30%        Exams.

20%        Class leadership.

15%               Feasibility study.

  5%               Entrepreneurial interview.


 

The Philadelphia Center, Entrepreneurship (Fall, 2007) Tim Bosworth, 215 219 5825, twb2@verizon.net, p. 2.

 

 

Wk

Date

Content. Other topics may be covered as appropriate

Assignments are shown the week they are  to be discussed.

1

9/4

Introduction: Who they are; who the instructor is; outline course schedule and materials; self assessment; where we're going. Burt's typology.

Michael Gerber, The E-Myth Revisited, Parts I and II.

2

9/11

Entrepreneur's forum

None

3

9/18

Human Capital #1, including: Creativity and innovation, Business forms, long tails, trust, leadership.

Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point

4

9/25

Human Capital #2, including: brand strategies, niche entrance

Fishman, The Wal-Mart Effect.

5

10/1

Human Capital #3, including: identifying opportunities, product attributes, persuasion.

Moore, Tribal Knowledge

6

10/9

Entrepreneur's forum.

None

7

10/16

Test #1. Financial Capital, part 1, including: financial analysis concepts.

MacGuinness, Cash Rules.

8

10/23

Financial Capital, part 2; including key ratios.

.

9

10/30

Financial Capital, part 3; including accounting for entrepreneurs; new world order.

Friedman, The World is Flat, Excerpts

10

11/6

Test #2. Social Capital, part 1; including social network theory.

Rheingold, Smart Mobs.

11

11/13

Entrepreneur's forum.

None

12

11/20

Social Capital, part 2. Including connection theory.

Scott, Social Network Analysis

13

11/27

Social Capital, part 3. Including evaluating network efficiency and effectiveness.

Barabasi, Linked.

14

12/4

Test #3 and Bon Voyage.

None