Preparation

The entire class should read the business plans for both The List and Mi
Viejita.  You should then undertake a detailed evaluation of one of these plans;
students with last names beginning A - H taking The List and those falling in I –
Z taking Mi Viejita. In assessing the plan you should assume the role of a
prospective investor in this business and identify the key benefits and limitations of
the business opportunity.
Slide Preparation Questions:
Prepare 1-2 PowerPoint slides summarising your analysis of the following questions:

 Is there a genuine business opportunity here?

 Do the proposers really understand that opportunity and have they
researched it thoroughly?
 What is the key to success in this business?
 Do the proposers possess this key?
 Is the proposition clearly and persuasively presented in the plan? What’s
good, and bad, about these plans?
 What's missing from the document?
 What questions would you ask the authors of the plan at an initial meeting
with them?

Having answered these questions, you should decide whether or not, on the basis of
the plan alone, you would invest. Be prepared to explain and justify your decision.
Note:

 Please submit slides via Canvas before the class starts.

 Please do not prepare more than two slides.

Case Preparation:
Read the note on Early Stage Finance for New Venture as background. Then read
the WT Mobile case and put yourself in, respectively, the positions of new
management (Tim), the outside investors and the founders. From the perspective of
each of these prospective parties to the venture, how do you assess its financing
needs, what concerns would be uppermost in your mind and what deal structure
would you find acceptable?
The answers to these questions will depend in part upon the point of view that you
adopt. Be clear as to why the assessment may vary, depending on the vantage point
from which you view the business opportunity. Be prepared to show and defend your
deal structure (with numbers) and its impact on the company’s financial position.
Slide Preparation Questions:
  Prepare 1-2 Power point slides summarising your analysis.

Note:

 Please submit slides via Canvas before the class starts.

 Please do not prepare more than two slides

Case:

 Cotswolds Distillery A

Case Preparation:

 Identify the key requirements of a successful beverage business.

 How has Daniel addressed these?
 What are the key choices facing Daniel at the end of the A case?
 How should Daniel address these?

Slide Preparation Questions:

 Prepare 1-2 PowerPoint slides summarising your analysis

Interim presentation    
Each team should come to class with an interim business plan presentation. The
presentation should encapsulate in a maximum of four slides the key elements of
your plan and a summary of the compelling customer proposition on which your
venture is based. Each group will have x minutes to present and will then be
questioned by the class.

 x minutes to present and x minutes Q&A. (Timing to be confirmed later).

 Feedback forms to be completed by class.

Readings

Case:

 1837online.com (A)

Case Preparation:
Consider the following questions:
  Compare and contrast ‘old’ Title Research and ‘new’ Title Research as
business opportunities.
 What do you think of 1837.com  as a business opportunity?
 What are the challenges inherent in establishing and growing professional
service businesses such as Title Research for would-be entrepreneurs?

Slide Preparation Questions:

 Prepare 1-2 Power point slides summarising your analysis

Note:

 Please submit slides via Canvas before the class starts.

 Please do not prepare more than two slides.

One of the most important early activities in new business formation is assembling a
good team. In the first half of this session we will discuss how founding teams should
be assembled and organised so as to give the new venture the best chance of
success. The case also gives some insight into how to compete with an established
player.
To help us we will consider Investic, a young venture in the financial services
industry founded by an MBA graduate.
After the break – and unrelated to the case discussion before the break – we will be
joined by Olga Egorsheva, who will share with us her insights from her
entrepreneurial journey with London-based start-up Lobster Media.

Preparation

Case:

 Investic (A) Assembling the Founding Team (INS426-PDF-ENG)  

 Case Preparation:

 Do you think Nicholas has assembled a strong founding team? Why?

 Do you think Investic will be able to compete effectively against Bondcom?
Why?

Slide Preparation Questions:

 Prepare 1-2 PowerPoint slides summarising your analysis of the above

questions.

Note:
  Please submit slides via Canvas before the class starts.
 Please do not prepare more than two slides.

As we get close to the end of our course, in this session we explore the personal
experiences of LBS alumni entrepreneurs in more detail. What is the reality like
when it comes to starting your own business post-MBA? What particular surprises
are there? What are the particular difficulties that you won’t be prepared for? Before
the break we will explore the story of Tortilla.
After the break we will use a new case, SeeFilm (A), to consider the experience of
another LBS entrepreneur.

Preparation 

Case:    

 Tortilla (A)  (plus appendix);

 Paul Davidson: SeeFilm Ltd (A)

Case Preparation:
Please read the Tortilla (A)  case and appendix.
The Appendix is an investment presentation. Critically evaluate this business
proposition from the perspective of the investor.
At the end of the case Brandon is having to choose between Going forward with his
new venture and taking a job corporate job with Arcadia. How should he choose?
What are the criteria that really matter?
Please also read the Paul Davidson: SeeFilm Ltd (A) case . Consider Paul’s
options and recommend what he should do next
 Slide Preparation Questions:

  Prepare 1-2 PowerPoint slides summarising your analysis

 Note:

 Please submit slides via Canvas before the class starts.

 Please do not prepare more than two slides.

Concepts covered
Having ideas, reality testing and mobilising resources to exploit the opportunity are
necessary but not sufficient requirements for success. Creating real value takes a
combination of timing, teamwork and tenacity. Even then the challenges of early
success can stretch the founding team to and beyond their capacity. Ultimately
entrepreneurs and investors are rewarded for the value they have created at exit –
and it is exit that we will focus on in this final teaching session.   But exit is not simply
a matter of yes or no; key questions also include ‘when’, and ‘how’, and ‘who’.  Given
the importance of exit, surely we should be thinking about it right at the beginning,
when we are putting our business plans together.  In addition to my own teaching
note on exits, I am encouraging you to revisit the thinking of Steve Blank, which I am
sure many of you have come across before, and his hugely influential views on
planning (or not) as a route to creating the value we hope someday to realise.

Preparation

Case:

 Maple Syrup Media Ltd (A)

Case Preparation:

 What is the current competitive landscape and how might it evolve?

 Does the company have the right mix of technical skills and management
to succeed in this industry and the target markets? What needs to be
changed?
 What are the next milestones the company must achieve to demonstrate
progress and create value?
 What should the founders do at the end of the A case? Should they exit
now?  If not now, then when?

Slide Preparation Questions:      

 Prepare 1-2 PowerPoint slides summarising your analysis

Note:

 Please submit slides via Canvas before the class starts.

 Please do not prepare more than two slides.

Your chance to present your business plan to an invited panel of advisors, venture
capitalists and business angel investors.
You are making a first presentation to a group of investors who know relatively little
about your venture. They will all have heard many pitches before and will be judging
you in this context. They are here ‘for real’. By now they will have read your
executive summary. Your objective should be to convince them to spend more time
on your venture – to read your plan, to invite you to a longer meeting so that they
can consider more seriously whether they should invest.

Preparation