Instructor: Rob Lalka

 

Office:  330

Office Hours:  By appointment; contact Theresa Smith: tasmith@tulane.edu

 

Class Meeting Day & Time:  Wednesdays, 5:30–7:00 pm CT

Zoom: https://tulane.zoom.us/j/9487640763

 

Phone:  (504) 314–2007

             

 

E-mail:  rlalka@tulane.edu

 

Class Location:   Online

 

Course Description

Pursuing a career in entrepreneurship –from conducting analysis for a VC firm, to working for a startup accelerator or incubator, to launching your own venture –has become an  increasingly  attractive  path  for  business  school graduates.    Each  of  these  career  options  has significant  benefits  and  will  allow  you  to  contribute  meaningfully  to  society.    Working  in entrepreneurship means you have the rare opportunity to invest your time and talent by directly addressing  problems  through  innovative  business  solutions,  all  while  indirectly  adding  value  to your community, since startups have created all new net jobs in the United States in recent years.1The primary objective of this elective course is to teach students to apply the skills learned in their functional  area  courses  toward  the  goal  of  understanding  entrepreneurship,  becoming  an entrepreneur,and  launching  a  new  venture.  Working  in  teams,  students  learn  to  assess,  plan, finance, launch, manage, and harvest a scalable, high-growth new venture.Students working in the hospitality industry, food and beverage, and similar fields will particularlybenefit from this course, and the lectures, discussions, and other material will focus on hospitality entrepreneurship.

 

Course Goals

Each class session and assignment in this course is designed around a set of specific learning objectives that provides the student with a real-world understanding of the topics, contextualizes that information within the broader economic and societal trends taking place in our world, and gives the student the opportunity to apply new knowledge and insights to make a realdifference in support of a new venturethat students might actually bring to market.This course truly does present one of the opportunities in your intellectual and professional developmentwhere “the more you put into it, the more you should expect that you will get out of it,” and the course should create value for all graduate students at Freeman regardless of yourfuture roles, career paths, industries, and organization types and structures.

 

Student Learning Objectives

As the result of this course, students should be able to:

• Discern how and why entrepreneurship is a vehicle to create different kinds of value, that different value types are not mutually exclusive, and why the perception of value is not the same for all stakeholders
• Understand the impacts of entrepreneurship on society, differentiate between the roles of small businesses and high-growth venture capital businesses, and address the societal value of each
• Address customer needs, hierarchies of needs, drivers of needs, and how successful products must either better meet needs, meet previously unmet needs, meet new combinations of needs, and address TAM, SAM, SOM, antilogs/analogs, customer acquisition strategies, and other related concepts
• Address key topics about startups from the perspective of each of the major stakeholders involved in the success of a new venture, while being able to analyze the skills needed for effective entrepreneurial management
• Explain the importance of certain terms in financing of new ventures, and understand the nuanced differences between small business financing and venture financing
• Understand key concepts related to growth modeling, churn, lifetime value, resilient business models, partnerships development, and key stakeholder engagement
• Present arguments, data-driven analyses, and critical thinking with clarity, concision, and persuasiveness in presentations, in writing, and in financial models

 

Course Structure

This course occurs asynchronously, with optional “office hour” sessions on Wednesday nights with the professor to discuss key topics where students are struggling or desire further guidance.   All materials for the next week's module will be released as soon as the "office hour" sessions conclude (for week one, you'll have access to all of the preparatory materials and everything you need for Module 1).  Each week, you'll have the opportunity to learn about the topics covered in the module through a variety of approaches: readings from several of the texts that have become best practices in entrepreneurship education, recorded lectures by the professor that build on the materials covered in the readings, videos that tell the final chapter in the story of Yna and Anabel, the co-founders of Selene Hospitality Group, interactive media for two key tools (the Business Model Canvas and Get / Keep / Grow), and Q&A discussions where the professor hosts an expert on entrepreneurship, investor, or business leader to have a candid conversation about the topics that are part of the module.  

 

With each module, you will also have the opportunity to listen to podcasts, watch videos, and/or explore additional readings that are all optional and are designated as such in Canvas.  Your feedback is welcome to ensure that you are getting the most out of this class, and you will have an opportunity to formally provide input to your professor through a mid-course survey in Module 4 and you are encouraged to provide feedback about the course materials, ask questions about anything that is unclear or needs further explanation, or otherwise share your thoughts about the videos, assignments, and other elements of the course during the "office hours" sessions.

 

You will be tested on your comprehension of the materials throughout the semester through four individual assignments that are worth a total of 500 points (three assignments for 100 points and one for 200 points) and three group assignments that are worth a total of 300 points (with each assignment worth 100 points each).  You will be assigned to your groups after answering a survey as part of Module 1, and these groups will remain the same for the entire course.  You are expected to work effectively in groups, and your professor reserves the right to adjust your group grade based upon your level of participation and contribution to your group assignments as determined by the peer-review surveys that are part of Module 5 and Module 8.

 

All online materials must be reviewed each week for full credit; all submissions must be made by the assigned time via Canvas; and late assignments will be accepted for partial credit for the first 24 hours and then no credit thereafter (an A becomes an A- as the highest grade within 6 hours, an A becomes a B+ as the highest grade within 12 hours, an A becomes a B as the highest grade within 18 hours, an A becomes a B- as the highest grade within 24 hours, and no credit is offered for any assignments submitted 24 hours late or any later).

 

Course Materials

Please note: All of the following texts are available online through the Tulane Library except for Bland and Osterwalder’s Testing Business Ideas (2019).

 

Required Texts:

• Bland, D.J., & Osterwalder, A. (2019). Testing business ideas: A field guide for rapid experimentation. Wiley.
• Blank, S. (2020). The startup owner’s manual: The step-by-step guide for building a great company. Wiley.
• Osterwalder, A., Pigneur, Y., Bernarda, G., & Smith, A. (2014). Value proposition design: How to create products and services customers want. Wiley.
• Osterwalder, A. (2010). Business model generation: A handbook for visionaries, game changers, and challengers. Wiley.

Recommended Texts:

• Mastrogiacomo, S. & Osterwalder, A. (2021). High impact tools for teams: 5 tools to align team members, build trust, and get results. Wiley.
• Osterwalder, A. Pigneur, Y., Smith, A., & Etieble, F. (2020). The invincible company.

Evaluation Procedures and Grading Criteria

Grades will be determined based on the following breakdown:

 

• Individual Assignment #1: 100 pts (12.5%)
• Individual Assignment #2: 100 pts (12.5%)
• Individual Assignment #3: 200 pts (25%)
• Individual Assignment #4: 100 pts (12.5%)
• Group Assignment #1: 100 pts (12.5%)
• Group Assignment #2: 100 pts (12.5%)
• Group Assignment #3: 100 pts (12.5%)

 

Grade Symbols

All graduate programs in the Freeman School use a letter grade system with the following quality point equivalents:

 

A	4.0
A-	3.6
B+	3.3
B	3.0
B-	2.6
C+	2.3
C	2.0
C-	1.6
D+	1.3
D	1.0
D-	0.6
F	0.0

 

The quality point total for each course is computed by multiplying the numerical value of the grade received by the course credit hours.

 

Grading Guidelines

The Freeman School faculty approved the recommended grading policy for a class GPA by program. 6000-level courses are expected to have a mean class GPA in the range of 3.00 to 3.33.

 

Canvas Use and Requirements

Faculty and students must comply with University policies on COVID-19 testing and isolation, which are located here https://tulane.edu/covid-19/health-strategies. Faculty and students must wear face coverings in all common areas, including classrooms, and follow social distancing rules. Failure to comply is a violation of the Code of Student Conduct, and students will be subject to University discipline, which can include suspension or permanent dismissal. 

 

If a student cannot attend a class for any reason, the student is responsible for communicating with their instructors to make up any work they may miss. Faculty will provide online options for class participation, outlined in this document, and unless a student is seriously ill, they are expected to use this option. The University Health Center will provide documentation verifying a student is ill, as well as verification that a student may return to class. 

 

With the approval of the Freeman School Associate Dean for Graduate Programs, students may have been approved for Remote/Online instruction for Spring 2021.  Such students will attend all class sessions remotely and are not permitted to attend in person.  Course policies and grading will accommodate all students including those approved for Remote/Online learning.

 

Statement about Academic Integrity

This class will be conducted in full accordance with Tulane’s policies about academic integrity including, but not limited to, the Unified Code of Graduate Student Academic Conduct (https://academicaffairs.tulane.edu/policies/academic-policies) and the Tulane University Code of Student Conduct (https://conduct.tulane.edu/resources/code-student-conduct). 

 

Any member of the university community may file charges against a student for violations of the code.  A charge shall be prepared in writing and directed to Associate Dean John Clarke at jfc@tulane.edu.

 

Norms and Expectations

This class will be conducted in full accordance with published Norms and Expectations for Students in Freeman Classes. Please review the Norms and Expectations in your graduate program handbook which can be found on the Freeman School website https://freeman.tulane.edu/current-students.

 

Students participating remotely are expected to have their cameras on at all times.

 

Class Attendance Statement

Faculty and students must comply with University policies on COVID-19 testing and isolation, which are located here https://tulane.edu/covid-19/health-strategies. Faculty and students must wear face coverings in all common areas, including classrooms, and follow social distancing rules. Failure to comply is a violation of the Code of Student Conduct, and students will be subject to University discipline, which can include suspension or permanent dismissal.

 

If a student cannot attend a class for any reason, the student is responsible for communicating with their instructors to make up any work they may miss. Faculty will provide online options for class participation, outlined in this document, and unless a student is seriously ill, they are expected to use this option. The University Health Center will provide documentation verifying a student is ill, as well as verification that a student may return to class.

 

With the approval of the Newcomb-Tulane College dean, an instructor may have a student who has excessive absences involuntarily withdrawn from a course with a WF grade after written warning at any time during the semester.

 

Important Ground Rules

• Class participation is of the utmost importance.
• Please close your laptop unless you are taking notes and stay off your cell phones while we are in class.
• Please follow all COVID-19 protocols.
• Please make it a priority to show up to class on time and return from breaks on time.
• The Freeman Honor Code will be strictly enforced.
• Part of the grade component is based on individual work and part on teamwork. Individual work is “individually conducted from the beginning to the end.” Teamwork should be conducted within your team and without assistance from others. Any breach of these rules is a violation of the Tulane and Freeman Honor Code. If you have questions about what qualifies as either individual or teamwork, please ask.

About Your Professor

Rob Lalka is the Albert R. Lepage Professor in Business at Tulane University’s A.B. Freeman School of Business and Executive Director of the Albert Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. In both 2019 and 2020, he received the A.B. Freeman School’s Excellence in Intellectual Contributions Award.

 

He previously served as an American diplomat who received numerous awards for his work advancing global entrepreneurship while serving in the Secretary of State’s Office of Global Partnerships and as a member of her policy planning staff.  

 

He then became a director at one of the world’s most active venture capital groups, which has supported more than 1,100 entrepreneurs in 28 countries over the past decade, and a senior advisor at a foundation with one of the world’s largest annual grantmaking budgets, which provides over $150 million each year to philanthropic causes, journalists, and activists in 40 countries.  In 2012, he co-founded a consulting firm that supported leading impact investors, social enterprises, and corporations to grow their businesses by maximizing their impact.  It was acquired in 2019.

 

Lalka serves on the boards of Public Democracy, Inc., Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, and Venture For America in New Orleans. He graduated from Yale University, cum laude with distinction in both history and English, and holds his master’s degree in global public policy from Duke University.

 

About the LePage Center

Vision: 

The Lepage Center will lead the effort to establish New Orleans as one of the greatest entrepreneurial ecosystems in the world.  Our work will be in service to Tulane University’s overall purpose to create, communicate, and conserve knowledge in order to enrich the capacity of individuals, organizations and communities to think, to learn, and to act and lead with integrity and wisdom.

 

Mission: 

To serve as a center for entrepreneurial activity at Tulane, as a center for knowledge about entrepreneurship in New Orleans, and as a center for innovation in the Gulf South and beyond.

 

Statement of Purpose:

“There is a real need for research in the best practices of entrepreneurship and growing a business. But it is also important to bring that expertise back into the wider community — both the under-served and well-served — to help entrepreneurs and innovators in New Orleans and the Gulf South achieve their goals and thrive.”   Albert Lepage, April 17, 2015

 

Values: 

• Inclusivity: All are welcome. We believe that diversity of ideas, people, and perspectives are strengths.
• Transparency: Be your best and most trustworthy self. We treat each other with respect, open-mindedness, and honesty.
• Accountability: Excellence without compromise. We hold ourselves to the highest standards in our actions and superior quality in our results.
• Positivity: Always onwards. We welcome challenges, celebrate successes, and support each other through failures.

 

Emergency Preparedness & Response

 

Freeman Educational Norms and Expectations 

This class is in full accordance with Freeman’s Educational Norms and Expectations. 

 

Goldman Center for Student Accessibility and ADA/Accessibility Statement

Under the Americans with Disability Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, if you have a disability, you may have the right to an accommodation; however, the right is contingent upon your taking certain steps. You should review the steps that you need to take, as well as Tulane’s policy concerning accommodations at https://accessibility.tulane.edu/.  

 

Any student with a disability, in need of course or examination accommodation, should request an accommodation through the University’s Goldman Center for Student Accessibility, located on the first floor of the Science and Engineering Lab Complex. http://accessibility.tulane.edu or 504.862.8433  

 

At the beginning of the semester, please provide me with a copy of your approved accommodation form. I am committed to working with the Goldman Center to ensure that I provide you with all approved accommodations. If you do not deliver the approved accommodation form to me, I will not know that the Goldman Center approved your accommodation and I will have no basis to provide those accommodations. 

 

Recordings of Class Sessions

Classes will be recorded, and the recordings will be posted to Canvas. Students may not post a class recording elsewhere, either wholly or in part.

 

Religious Accommodation Policy

Per Tulane’s religious accommodation policy, I will make every reasonable effort to ensure that students can observe religious holidays without jeopardizing their ability to fulfill their academic obligations. Excused absences do not relieve the student from the responsibility for any course work required during the period of absence. Students should notify me within the first two weeks of the semester about their intent to observe any holidays that fall on a class day or on the day of the final exam.

 

Discrimination and Harassment

Tulane University recognizes the inherent dignity of all individuals and promotes respect for all people. As One Wave, Tulane is committed to providing an environment free of all forms of discrimination and sexual harassment, including sexual assault, domestic and dating violence, and stalking. If you (or someone you know) has experienced or experiences gender-based violence, know that you are not alone. Learn more at https://campushealth.tulane.edu/well/one-wave.  

 

Statement about Academic Integrity

The Code of Academic Conduct applies to all undergraduate students, full-time and part-time, in Tulane University. Tulane University expects and requires behavior compatible with its high standards of scholarship. By accepting admission to the University, a student accepts its regulations (i.e., Code of Academic Conduct and Code of Student Conduct) and acknowledges the right of the University to take disciplinary action, including suspension or expulsion, for conduct judged unsatisfactory or disruptive.

 

Unless I indicate differently on instructions, all assignments and exams are to be completed individually and without any study aid, including textbooks, class notes, or online sites. If you have any question about whether a resource is acceptable, you must ask the instructor rather than assume. 

 

Title IX

Tulane University recognizes the inherent dignity of all individuals and promotes respect for all people. As such, Tulane is committed to providing an environment free of all forms of discrimination, including sexual and gender-based discrimination, harassment, and violence like sexual assault, intimate partner violence, and stalking. If you (or someone you know) has experienced or is experiencing these types of behaviors, know that you are not alone. Resources and support are available: you can learn more at allin.tulane.edu.  Any and all of your communications on these matters will be treated as either “Confidential” or “Private” as explained in the chart below. Please know that if you choose to confide in me, I am mandated by the University to report to the Title IX Coordinator, as Tulane, and I want to be sure you are connected with all the support the University can offer. You do not need to respond to outreach from the University if you do not want. You can also make a report yourself, including an anonymous report, through the form at tulane.edu/concerns.

 

Confidential	Private
Except in extreme circumstances, involving imminent danger to one’s self or others, nothing will be shared without your explicit permission.	Conversations are kept as confidential as possible, but the information is shared with key staff members so the University can offer resources and accommodations and take action if necessary for safety reasons.
Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) | (504) 314-2277 or The Line (24/7) | (504) 264-6074	Case Management & Victim Support Services | (504) 314-2160 orsrss@tulane.edu
Student Health Center | (504) 865-5255	Tulane University Police (TUPD) | Uptown - (504) 865-5911.  Downtown – (504) 988-5531
Sexual Aggression Peer Hotline and Education (SAPHE) | (504) 654-9543	Title IX Coordinator | (504) 314-2160 or msmith76@tulane.edu

 

 

Course Schedule/Calendar

The following schedule is subject to change at your instructor’s discretion. Please see Canvas for additional details.

 

Week	Module	Dates	Available in Canvas	Topic	Assignment Due
1	1	Oct 27 – Nov 2, 2021	Oct 27, 2021	Entrepreneurship as Problem-Solving	Module 1 Survey
2	2	Nov 3 – Nov 9, 2021	Oct 27, 2021	Market Sizing	Individual Assignment #1
3	3	Nov 10 – Nov 16, 2021	Nov 3, 2021	Market Analysis	Group Assignment #1
4	4	Nov 17 – Nov 23, 2021	Nov 10, 2021	Customer-Focused Business Model Generation	Individual Assignment #2   Module 4 Survey
5	5	Nov 24 – Nov 30, 2021	Nov 17, 2021	Crafting Your Narrative	Individual Assignment #3   Module 5 Survey
6	6	Dec 1 – Dec 7, 2021	Nov 24, 2021	Better Business and Societal Responsibility	Group Assignment #2
7	7	Dec 8 – Dec 14, 2021	Dec 1, 2021	Customer Acquisition for High-Growth Business	Individual Assignment #4   Group Assignment #3
8	8	Dec 15 – Dec 21, 2021	Dec 8, 2021	Next Steps In Your Own Entrepreneurial Journey	Module 8 Survey