CLASS SCHEDULE
     
 | 
| DATE | 
READINGS | 
SPEAKER/LECTURER | 
NOTES | 
Introduction | 
    | Mon 02/01 | 
     | 
    JP Singh | 
    Start forming your teams of 4 people. Join the Ed site! | 
Role of the CTO | 
  | Wed 02/03 | 
  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 02/08 | 
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
 | 
 | 
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 02/10 | 
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
 | 
Qi Lu | 
Post your team name and team members to Ed. 
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 02/15 | 
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
 | 
Keller Rinaudo
  | 
Optional reading: Rework by Jason Fried 
    Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind by Al Ries | 
Raising money, and Financing Strategy | 
| Wed 02/17 | 
    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
 | 
 | 
 
    Optional reading: Venture Deals by Brad Feld
 | 
| Mon 02/22 | 
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) 
 | 
Gillian Munson | 
 | 
Incorporation and Setting Things Up Right | 
| Wed 02/24 | 
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
 | 
Shana Fisher | 
 | 
Defining the Offering | 
| Mon 03/01 | 
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
 | 
 | 
In the Plex write-up due at 5:00pm on 02/26 
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 03/03 | 
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
 | 
 | 
 
    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 03/08 | 
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
 | 
Peter Fenton | 
Optional reading: Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh | 
Execution: Prioritization, Planning, Data driven, Pricing, Costs, Revenue Models | 
| Wed 03/10 | 
Peanut Butter Manifesto 
Checklist Manifesto 
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​
 | 
 | 
Optional reading: Scott Galloway blog   
Happiness & the Gorilla 
Moats and Prey 
User Review: VC Firms 
  | 
| Wed 03/17 | 
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
 | 
John Hennessy | 
Midterm paper due at 5:00pm on 03/19 | 
Distribution: Customer/User Acquisition. Brand. | 
| Mon 03/22 | 
A Complete Guide to Customer Acquisition for Startups 
    Customer Acquisition Strategy for Startups: 23 Techniques to Win New Customers 
    8 Components of Branding Your Startup 
 | 
Dan Levin | 
Optional reading: Traction by Gabriel Weinberg | 
Intellectual Property | 
| Wed 03/24 | 
What Start-ups Need to Know About Intellectual Property 
    Patent Strategies of Technology Startups 
    Patenting Software 
    Bitlaw
 | 
Dan Levin | 
 | 
| Mon 03/29 | 
Startup Resources 
    Provisional Application for Patent 
    Copyright Strategies for Start-Up Companies 
    Trademarking Principles for Startups: A Brand Managers Guide
 | 
 | 
 | 
| Wed 3/31 | 
 | 
Bryan Schreier | 
The Everything Store write-up due at 5:00pm on 04/02 | 
| Mon 04/05 | 
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| Wed 04/07 | 
 | 
Meg Whitman | 
 | 
| Mon 04/12 | 
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| Wed 04/14 | 
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| Mon 04/19 | 
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| Wed 04/21 | 
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| Mon 04/26 | 
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| Fri 04/30 | 
Reserved for Team Presentations (tentative) 11:00am - 3:00pm | 
 | 
Presentations (PDF only) due at 5:00pm on 04/29
    The Airbnb Story write-up due at 5:00pm on 05/03
    Final Paper at midnight on 05/05 (Dean's Date) |