CLASS SCHEDULE
DATE	READINGS	SPEAKER/LECTURER	NOTES
Introduction
Mon 02/03		JP Singh	Start forming your teams of 4 people. Join the Piazza site!
Role of the CTO
Wed 02/05	7 Steps: How to Hire a CTO for Your Startup The Many Roles of a Startup CTO What Does a Startup CTO Actually Do? Startup CTO or Developer
Why Build a Startup?
Mon 02/10	Should You Really Be A Startup Entrepreneur? Why Are You Doing a Startup? 10 Founders on What They Don't Tell You About Building a Startup Why You Shouldn't Build Your Startup in Silicon Valley-And Where To Do It Instead	Shana Fisher	Post your team name and team members to Piazza. Optional reading: The Innovator's Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book That Will Change the Way You Do Business by Clayton M. Christensen Crush It! Why Now is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion by Gary Vaynerchuk
What to build/Thinking about the Market/Competition
Wed 02/12	Startup KPIs and Balanced Scorecard The Startup Scorecard How to effectively determine your market size How to Determine If There's a Market for Your Business Idea How to estimate market size: Business and marketing planning for startups Lean market research methods: a 4-step guide on how to do market research Market Research Tips for Startups Competitive Mindshare Maps		Optional reading: The Art of the Start 2.0 by Guy Kawasaki Demand: Creating What People Love Before They Know They Want It by Adrian J. Slywotzky
Defining the Vision, Mission, Strategy
Mon 02/17	The Mission Statement: The Basis for Startups' Strategic Planning 30 Inspiring Billion-Dollar Startup Company Mission Statements How to define a mission and vision for your startup The Biggest Startup Strategy Myth (and How to Deal With It) 3 Proven Startup Strategies for Success		Optional reading: Rework by Jason Fried Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind by Al Ries
Raising money, and Financing Strategy
Wed 02/19	4 Reasons Why Your Startup Should Not Raise Capital Ways to Raise Money: The Ultimate Guide to Raising Startup Capital How the World Regulates Equity Crowdfunding 10 Terms You Must Know Before Raising Startup Capital Getting Creative: 4 Ideas Generating Techniques 18 Best Idea Generation Techniques 19 Top Brainstorming Techniques to Generate Ideas for Every Situation	Gillian Munson	Optional reading: Venture Deals by Brad Feld
Mon 02/24	Financing Options: Convertible Debt Title III Crowdfunding Became Legal on May 16: What It Does and What's Still Lacking It's time to Rethink the Startup Pitch Deck (Here's a Start)
Incorporation and Setting Things Up Right
Wed 02/26	Choose Your Business Structure Incorporating a Startup Co-founder Equity Split: A New Framework to Objectively Divide Startup Ownership and Get Back to Building a Business	Josh Kopelman	In the Plex write-up due at 5:00pm on 02/28
Defining the Offering
Mon 03/02	The Lean Startup Methodology Why the Lean Startup Changes Everything 6 things wrong with the 'Lean Startup' model (and what to do about it) Lean Start-Up, and How It Almost Killed Our Company Six Keys to Building New Markets by Unleashing Disruptive Innovation Business Model Canvas: A Complete Guide		Optional reading: The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Ries Running Lean: Iterate From Plan A to a Plan That Works by Ash Maurya Lean Analytics by Alistair Croll
Building the Offering
Wed 03/04	Why Some Startups Say the Cloud is a Waste of Money A View of Cloud Computing What are the pros and cons of the waterfall and agile/scrum project management approach? New research turns the agile vs waterfall debate on its head The Languages and Frameworks You Should Learn in 2017	Dayna Grayson	Optional reading: The Startup Owner's Manual: The Step-by-Step Guide for Building a Great Company by Steve Blank Business Model Generation by Alexander Osterwalder
Hiring, Talent, and Culture
Mon 03/09	How to hire the best people you've ever worked with Whom should you hire at a Startup? (Attitude over Aptitude) How Netflix Reinvented HR Why the Annual Performance Review is going extinct The Measure of a Man 80% of Your Culture is Your Founder		Optional reading: Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh
Execution: Prioritization, Planning, Data driven, Pricing, Costs, Revenue Models
Wed 03/11	How to Prioritize Feature Building on Your Startup How to Use Data to Plan Your Startup Budget 4 Steps to Launching a Data-Driven Startup The complete guide to A/B testing​
Mon 03/23	Pricing Your Product The 3 Pricing Strategies Your Startup Should Choose From Cost Structure Block in Business Model Canvas The 10 Most Popular Startup Revenue Models	Muneeb Ali
Distribution: Customer/User Acquisition. Brand.
Wed 03/25	How to Create a Customer Acquisition Plan for Startups Customer Acquisition Strategy for Startups: 23 Techniques to Win New Customers 8 Components of Branding Your Startup	Keller Rinaudo	Midterm paper due at 5:00pm on 03/27 Optional reading: Traction by Gabriel Weinberg
Intellectual Property
Mon 03/30	What Start-ups Need to Know About Intellectual Property Patent Strategies of Technology Startups Patenting Software Bitlaw	Dan Levin
Wed 04/01	Startup Resources Provisional Application for Patent Copyright Strategies for Start-Up Companies Trademarking Principles for Startups: A Brand Managers Guide	Dan Levin
Mon 04/06
Wed 04/08			The Everything Store write-up due at 5:00pm on 04/10
Mon 04/13
Wed 04/15
Mon 04/20
Wed 04/22
Mon 04/27
Wed 04/29
Fri 05/08	Reserved for Team Presentations (tentative) 11:00am - 3:00pm		Presentations (PDF only) due at 5:00pm on 05/07 The Airbnb Story write-up due at 5:00pm on 05/08 Final Paper at midnight on 05/12 (Dean's Date)