Class 1

Introduction

  1. Topics Covered:
    1. Section I – What We Hope to Accomplish
    2. Section II - March of Innovation
    3. Section III - Technology and Business
    4. Section IV - Business Basics
    5. Section V – Venture Capital Industry/ Start-ups (a/k/a What I’m Working on)
    6. Section VI – Entrepreneurial Finance
    7. Section VII – Intellectual Property
    8. Section VIII - System Theory and Network Dynamics
    9. Section IX – Network Dynamics in Business
    10. Section X – Decision Making & Negotiation
    11. Section XI – Seeking a Meaningful Life
  2. Class materials: All class materials can be found at: www.adamdell.com
  3. Grades (20% class participation; 30% midterm; 50% final)
    1. Class participation is based on attendance and the quality of your comments made during class. You are expected to come to every class. At the end of the semester I will ask you to submit a record of how many classes you attended during the semester. If you are going to be absent, please do not send me an email about it. You are permitted to miss two classes before your attendance will negatively impact your grade.
    2. There will be a midterm during the semester. It will consist of a real world start-up presenting their business to the class. You will be asked to write a two page analysis of the start-up. Your grade will be based on: i) your ability to adequately analyze the various elements of the start-up, and ii) the quality of your thinking.
    3. There is no final exam, instead there is a final project. Students may work individually or in small groups no greater than four. The project shall consist of an in-class presentation. The topic of the final project is up to you. You may analyze an industry, an established company, a start-up, a business concept, a new technology, anything you like. The only parameter is that analysis must incorporate the principles covered in class. Examples of exemplary final projects that were awarded the high grades are available here: http://www.adamdell.com/sample-final-projects. If you have any additional questions regarding the final, don’t hesitate to ask!
  4. Goals / Oath
  5. Preparing for Class
    1. All the material needed for each class is set forth here: http://www.adamdell.com/class-1. Before each class please read and be prepared to discuss the materials listed under “Reading Assignment” for each class. We will conduct a number of in-class exercises during the semester. Your preparedness will impact the quality and depth of our discussion.
    2. Complexity, by Mitchell Waldrop is the only course book I will ask you to read.
    3. Daily Recommended Reading: TechCrunch.com
    4. Additional Books (recommended only; better for the summer):
      Seeking Wisdom, by Peter Bevelin
      A New Kind of Science, by Stephen Wolfram
      Guns, Germs & Steel, by Jared Diamond
      How the Mind Works, by Stephen Pinker
      The Art and Science of Negotiation, by Howard Raiffa

Section I - What I Hope to Accomplish

  1. Understand how and why technology progresses
  2. Fundamental understanding of start-ups and venture capital
  3. Fundamental understanding of business and negotiation
  4. Inspire you; expand your horizons; challenge your assumptions; get you our of the box
  5. Help you find a Pareto optimal life.

Section II - The March of Innovation

  1. Science Doesn’t Sleep
  2. Ecosystem of Innovation
    1. Economic Incentives
    2. Cultural Bias
    3. Regional Advantage
  3. The Nature of Innovation
    Parallelism
    New Models in Innovation (Open Source, Crowd Source, Bounties)
  4. Results

Section III - Technology & Business

  1. What’s the Big Deal?
    a. Economy at a Marco Level
    b. Rate of Technology Adoption
    c. Why Companies Buy Technology?
    d. Technology as a Key Differentiator
    e. Spending on IT
    f. Return of Investment (ROI)
    g. Technology Schematic of the Enterprise
    h. Implications of Multiple Technologies inside Businesses
    i. Future of the Enterprise (Software-as-a-Service) / Cloud Services
     
  2. Brief History of Technology
    a. Vocabulary

 

Guest Speaker(s):

In-Class Presentation(s):
Welcome – Spring 2014
March of Innovation – Spring 2014
Technology & Business - Spring 2014

Reading Assignment:
Complexity, by Mitchell Waldrop, Chapters 1-2

In-Class Presentations

March Of Innovation Spring 2014 Open Save
Technology and Business Spring 2014 Open Save
Welcome Spring 2014 Open Save