| The syllabus for the spring 2011 version of the course reads: This course will use a combination of case discussions and lectures to study entrepreneurial finance. The course is targeted to budding entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. There are five main areas of focus. 1) Business Evaluation and Valuation: Here we will give you some tools to valuate early stage business opportunity. We will also review the standard tools of valuation applied to start-up situations and introduce the venture capital method and the real options approach to valuation. 2) Financing: In this module, we will highlight the main ways that entrepreneurs are financed and analyze the role of financial contracts in addressing information and incentive problems in uncertain environments. 3) Venture Capital Funds: We will look at the structure of venture capital funds and their fund raising process. This module will include issues of corporate venture capital and private equity funds in emerging market economies. 4) Employment: Here we will study the issues of attracting and compensating employees in start-ups. 5) Exit: How should founders exit? Should they sell to another company, take it public, or continue independently as a private company? |