The Practice of Entrepreneurship

Please direct your questions to entrepreneurship@business.uzh.ch and not to professor Kaiser. Emails sent to him will not be answered.

THINK BEFORE YOU EMAIL AND READ THE INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET CAREFULLY!

This seminar aims confronting students with problems and perspectives in entrepreneurship pracitice. The goal of the course is to enable students to effectively write their own business plan. Students will write an own business plan that may relate to either an original startup or an existing firm whose business potential is not yet fully explored. This business plan will be evaluated - and graded - by a team of industry professionals and Professor Kaiser.

A sample business plan from the class of 2009 will be provided on the OLAT course-website.

Business plans may originate from two alternative sources:

• an own (preferable technology-driven) idea that is to be turned into a viable business or
• material obtained from an existing firm with growth potential.

We will also offer students the opportunity to write business plans for businesses that either need to grow, need to be sold or need to be turned around. We will post an outline of those firms and further course information on the OLAT course-website.Click here for being redirected to the folder "course material - team case studies BP" on OLAT

Please note: We highly appreciate if teams choose to write a business plan for an existing firm (check on OLAT for detailed descriptions of these "real world" team case studies by following the link above) or if the team's own idea is technology-driven.

• Christoph Adrian, Greissinger & Partner Business Consultancy, Münster
• Ulrich Kaiser, University of Zurich
• Jan Fülscher, Business Angels Schweiz
• Wolfgang Henggeler, unitectra
• Erika Puyal, ZKB

This seminar is open to UZH students of Business, students of Economics and students of Informatics. UZH students from other disciplines may enroll as auditors. Auditors will not obtain ECTS points.

The seminar is limited to a maximum of TEN teams. Each team consists of two to five members. Applications by individuals will NOT be considered. This implies that students need to form teams PRIOR to the start of the seminar in order to apply. If you plan to take this course, you may register for the OLAT course-website. Thereby you may be able to contact potential team members and form teams via the “forum”. The OLAT course-website can be found via the OLAT course catalogue. Click here for being redirected to the OLAT course website

The Chair for Entrepreneurship will not be involved in the formation of teams. Teams will be selected on the basis of a one page motivational letter which is to be written by the team. It is not required that the teams present their ideas already at the point of application. Teams must also include the CVs of each team member.

Sept. 1, 2011; email to entrepreneurship@business.uzh.ch.

Compressed seminar which consists of 14 class meetings of which two are (oral) exams in which ALL students need to participate.
There will be two introductory lectures by Professor Ulrich Kaiser where students will be familiarized with the concept of business plan writing.
These introductory lectures will be followed by presentations from practitioners in the field.
Here is an overview of the current tentative course schedule (all dates are tbc):

tba

BA in Business, Economics or Informatics for enrolled students. BA in the resprective fields for auditors.

1. "Elevator speech" (a three minutes short presentation of the project): 25 percent in total (slides 40 percent, oral presentation 60 percent).
2. Full business plan: 65 percent in total (written full plan 40 percent, oral presentation 60 percent).
3. Oral participation: 10 percent; oral participation is measured both in terms of quantity and quality.

All grades except for the ones for oral participation are for each team, not for individual team members.

Class attendance is mandatory. Students may skip, however, three of the 14 class assemblies (including exams). If more than three meetings are missed, the student will receive the grade “1” for oral participation.
It is also mandatory for all students to attend all presentations by all teams. Remember you get grades for oral participation.
Students who do not show up at the exams will receive the grade “1” for their respective oral presentations.

This class gives 6 ECTS points.

Enrolled students may use the credits for the following modules:

• MA: Wahlpflichtfach BWL 5
• MA: Seminare M&E

Informatics: "Freie Wahlmodule" (please check yourself the specific terms of how credits for this course can ge granted within "Freie Wahlmodule").

Fridays, 14.00 p.m., place tba

Change in place:

• Nov. 18., 2011 -> KO2-F-152
• Dec. 16., 2011 -> SOE-E-2
• Dec. 23., 2011 -> KOL-E-13

Slides for the mid-term exam:
Nov. 13., 12:00 a.m.
email to: entrepreneurship@business.uzh.ch

Written full business plan:
Dec. 20., 12:00 a.m. for those presenting Dec. 23.;
Dec. 13., 12:00 a.m. for those presenting Dec. 16

email to: entrepreneurship@business.uzh.ch

Slides for the final exam presentation:
Dec. 15, 12:00 p.m. for those presenting Dec. 16.;
Dec. 22., 12:00 p.m. for those presenting Dec. 23.

You do not need to present paper copies of the presentations for the other students.
You should, however, provide the slides for Jan Fülscher and me; please send them to: entrepreneurship@business.uzh.ch

Mid-term exam (elevator speech):
Nov. 18, 2011, 14:00-19:00 p.m.
(jury: Jan Fülscher & Ulrich Kaiser).

Final Exam (presentation - full business plan):
Dec. 16, 14:00-19:00 p.m. and Dec. 23., 14:00-19:00 p.m.
(full jury)

Change in place:

• Nov. 18., 2011 -> KO2-F-152
• Dec. 16., 2011 -> SOE-E-2
• Dec. 23., 2011 -> KOL-E-13

There will be NO podcasts as some information provided during the course is proprietary.

Students need to register via the "Buchungstool" once admitted to attend the seminar by the Chair for Entrepreneurship.
Furthermore, students shall register for the OLAT course website in order to have access to the course information and material.