Thursday, February 5, 2015

Welcome to Cafe Byers...we are generous with our portions!

EF2 Blog Menu

Restaurant Menu

Source credits: dreamstime.com


2 course meal: Your choice of 1 appetizer and 1 entree

3 course meal: Your choice of 1 appetizer, 1 entrée and 1 dessert (includes coffee and tea)

4 course meal: Your choice of any 4 plates = either 2 appetizers or entrees along with 1 dessert

Note: you can choose to have as many desserts as you deem your belly can handle. Please use your judgment.

Appetizer (includes complimentary glass of pinot grigio) (300 words minimum)

Why are you taking this class?

What did you get out of EF1 and how do you hope complement EF2 with it?

If you were teaching Entrepreneurship to graduate students, what 3 elements would you focus on?

In 3 years, what do you hope to be doing professionally and personally?

In 10 years, what do you hope to be doing professionally and personally?

In 20 years, what do you hope to be doing professionally and personally? (please revisit this blog then and tell your spouse or kids about this class)

DIY: Make your own ‘rhetorical’ appetizer up and answer it effectively.

Entrée (comes with your choice of sides: fries, fresh fruit or salad) (600 words minimum)

Walk me through your business model as it stands (or sits) in March 2015. Include as many relevant ingredients as possible.

Walk me through your business model as it stands (or walks) in April 2015. Include as many relevant ingredients as possible.

Steve Blank is the Man (or at least one of the Men). Please deconstruct the 5 most important elements of his point of view and philosophy and then connect the dots with your own venture.

Gerald Chertavian’s YearUp venture was filled with many important decisions along various juncture points. Please walk me through 3 key decision moments and also connect the dots with your own venture. Please use Exhibits and technical analysis as you deem fit.

You are off and running (not walking) with your Venture and now need to make a gameplan for how to raise financing. Walk me through the key steps and also inject a recent business example from the Wall Street Journal or BusinessWeek (or any other credible news source).

Alex Osterwalder (‘Alex’) and Yves Pigneur (‘Yves’) talk about Business Model Generation and key business types. I would love to get you take on their take of the Three Core Business Types. Where does your Business/Venture fit in? (see Alex and Yves, pages 58-59)

Does you Venture have a long tail or short leash? Explain the difference with 2 outside business examples. (see Alex and Yves, pages 68-69)

Alex and Yves walk through myriad silly exercises; the silly cow exercise is one of them. I would love to hear about your silly cow exercise. (see pages 144-145)

Back in the Cenozoic period (i.e. EF1), we talked about company valuation and metrics. Can you walk me through ROA, ROE, ROI, ROIC with reference to two real businesses. Would love to also hear about these metrics specific to your venture. (see The Four Cornerstones of Corporate Finance: Value, McKinsey & Company)

Back in the Paleozoic era (i.e. EF1), we talked about cash vs accrual accounting. Can you walk me through how your venture is handling credit lag times – accounts payable, accounts receivable and the like.

How would you differentiate among these scenarios and please rank order or combine them according to how they fit your venture:

  • Angel financed round through a friend of a friend of a friend (your Harvard friend’s friend connects you to her uncle) who is interested in becoming a passive partner in your venture    
  • Byers Venture Capital fund is impressed with your venture and wants to start talking term sheet with you. How do you frame it differently versus an Angel?
  • Your rich aunt bequeaths you with some Benjamin Franklins (albeit less than Angel or VC) and all she asks is to generate stable returns with it (5-8% is fine).

Feld and Mendelson lay out some important terms in the first five chapters of Venture Deals. Please excavate 5 relevant deal terms that you should look out for in the context of your venture.

Please do some SWOT analysis on your venture to date. You can answer this question twice. Once in March and the other in April. (see Alex and Yves, pages 216-226)

Reasonably (and without too much irrational exuberance) walk me through how you would value your own business.

Dessert (includes choice of coffee or tea)

Verbal Sprint: 1 minute video drill

Verbal Run: 3 minute video clip


Verbal Power Walk: 5 minute video

Bon Appetit! Salud! Enjoy!

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