ENGR190D: Creating Market-Tested Startups

ENGR 190D: Creating a Market-Tested Startup Business Model

Course Title: Creating a Market-Tested Startup Business Model
Units: 4
Instructors: Steve Zahm / Craig Cummings / Doug Lynch
TA’s: TBD
Grading: Letter (ABCD/NP)
Days and Times: Mon/Wed 4:00-5:40pm
Office Hours: Wed 2:00-4:00pm
Location: Phelps 1508
Webpage: LaunchPad Central, students must purchase subscription

Course Materials: Steve Blank, The Startup Owner’s Manual
Note: Kindle Reader version is available at Amazon.com

Alexander Osterwalder & Yves Pigneur, Business Model Generation

Note that page numbers cited for reading assignments are all from the
printed (i.e., non-Kindle) text versions.

LaunchPad Central, a cloud-based course management application
(available by subscription at launchpadcentral.com. Each student must
purchase an individual subscription for approximately $30).
Register at https://launchpadcentral.com/signup,
Organization Code = (coming soon)

Course lectures are available at:
http://www.udacity.com/overview/Course/ep245/CourseRev/1
Students must register online separately to view the lectures

Recommended Text: Eric Ries, The Lean Startup
There will not be assigned readings from this text.

Class materials and content are based extensively on the ideas and course materials
created by Steve Blank and Bob Dorf. Learn more about Steve Blank and see
examples of coursework using a similar syllabus at www.steveblank.com.

Prerequisite: A passionate interest in discovering how an idea can become a real
company.

Goal: This course will provide an experiential learning opportunity showing how a
successful business model can be created through the use of the Customer and Market
Validation process.

ENGR190D Syllabus 2012 Revision 1 page 1 of 25

Course Description:
This course provides real world, hands-on learning on what it’s like to start a high-tech
company. This class is not about how to write a business plan. It’s not an exercise on how
well a student can use the library to research markets.

This is an experiential class – essentially a lab, not a theory or “book” class. Our goal, within
the constraints of a classroom and a limited amount of time, is to create an entrepreneurial
experience with all of the pressures and demands of an early stage startup.

You will be talking to customers, partners, and competitors, as you encounter the chaos and
uncertainty of how a startup actually works. You’ll work in teams learning how to turn a
great idea into a great company. You’ll learn how to use a business model to brainstorm
each part of a company and the customer development and market validation process to
get out of the classroom to see whether anyone other than you would want or use your
product.

Class Culture
Startups communicate much differently than inside a university or a large company. At
times this communication style can feel brusque and impersonal, but in reality it is focused
and oriented to create immediate action in time- and cash-constrained environments. The
instructors for this course have limited time and we will push, challenge, and question you in
the hope you will quickly learn. The instructors will be direct, open, and tough – just like the
real world. These comments aren’t personal, but they are part of the learning process.

We also expect you to question the teaching team, and to challenge our point of view if you
disagree, and to engage in a real dialogue with the teaching team. We want you to learn to
challenge yourselves quickly and objectively, and to appreciate that as entrepreneurs you
need to learn and evolve faster than you ever imagined possible.


Amount of Work

NOTE: This class requires a large amount of work on the part of every student.

Projects are treated as real startup companies, so the workload will be intense. Teams have
reported up to 20 hours of work per week, per team. Getting out of the classroom is what
the course effort is about. It’s not about the lectures. In fact, lectures will be provided
outside of the actual class sessions, using online videos recorded by Steve Blank.

You will be spending a significant amount of time in between each of the class sessions
talking to customers. If you can’t commit the time to talk to customers, this class is not for
you. This class is a simulation of what startups and entrepreneurship is like in the real
world: chaos, uncertainly, impossible deadlines in insufficient time, conflicting input, etc.
This class pushes many people past their comfort zone. It's not about you, but it's also not
about the class or the teaching team. This is what startups are like. The pace and the
uncertainty may increase as the class proceeds.

Team Organization: This class is team-based. Working and studying will be done in
teams. Each student will only be admitted as a team member. Teams must submit a
proposal for entry before the class begins. Projects and teams must be approved before the
class begins in January.

Team projects can be software, a physical product, or a service of any kind. The teams will
self-organize and establish individual roles on their own. There are no formal titles among
team members.

Besides the instructors and TA’s, each team will be assigned an industry mentor. The
mentor will be an experienced entrepreneur or venture capitalist, and his or her role will be
to provide assistance and support. Each team will be required to meet weekly with its
assigned mentor using a scheduled online videoconference (we suggest using Google+
Hangouts for this purpose).

Suggested Projects: While your first instinct may be a web-based startup, we suggest that
you consider a subject in which you are a domain expert. In all cases, you should choose
something for which you have passion, enthusiasm, and hopefully some expertise. While
not required, teams that build a web or mobile-based minimally viable application will be
recognized for their additional efforts through extra credit towards their final grade.


Deliverables

1. Your weekly record of customer interactions as recorded on LaunchPad Central will
be the core element of your course deliverables. You will be required to use the
LaunchPad Central online blogging tool to author your course blog, as well as to
gather input from the teaching team and your industry mentor.
2. Your team will present a weekly in-class PowerPoint summary of the progress you
make in your customer and market validation efforts.
3. Your final presentation will consist of a 10 minute “Lessons Learned” PowerPoint, as
well as a 2-minute video outlining your customer and market validation journey.
4. Teams proposing a physical product may gain extra credit by building a prototype
and providing the teaching team with a costed bill of materials.
5. Teams building a web product or mobile application may gain extra credit by building
a minimally viable product, generating demand and have customers using it. See
http://steveblank.com/2011/09/22/how-to-build-a-web-startup-lean-launchpad-
edition/

Grading Criteria

This course is team-based. 85% of your grade will come from your team progress and final
project. The grading criteria are broken down as follows:

15% Individual participation in class. You will be giving feedback to your peers by
using a shared Google Docs file. The individual participation grade will depend
upon the quality and value of your feedback.

40% Out-of-the-building progress as measured by customer interview write-ups and
team presentations each week.

Using LaunchPad Central, team members must:
1) update their business model canvas weekly
2) identify which team member did which portion of the work
3) log detailed reports on what the team did each week
4) log the results of your online meeting with your team’s industry mentor

20% - The team weekly “lesson learned” presentation (see appendix for format)

25% - The team final presentation and 2-minute video (see appendix for format)

NOTE: Grading will be based upon a team member’s ability to demonstrably go through the


process and journey of customer and market validation. A failed business idea will not
necessarily result in a low grade, and may in fact receive high marks. If a business failure is
the team’s outcome, it will not automatically produce a failing grade.


Class Roadmap
Each week’s class is organized around:

• Student team presentations on “lessons learned” from getting out of the building and
iterating or pivoting their business model.
• Comments and suggestions from other teams, and the teaching team, on the lessons
learned.
• An online lecture, viewed prior to each week’s class, on one of the 9 building blocks
of a business model. The online class lectures are available free of charge, but each
student must register for the course separately at the following URL:
• http://www.udacity.com/overview/Course/ep245/CourseRev/1

• Each team will capture their progression in learning by keeping an online blog using
LaunchPad Central.

Test
Hypotheses:
Test
Agile • Demand Hypotheses:
Development Test Hypotheses: Creation
• Problem

• Product

Test • Customer

Hypotheses: • Market Type

• User

• Channel
• Competitive

• Payer

• (Customer)

• (Problem)

Customer
Development Test Hypotheses:
Team • Channel

Test Hypotheses: Test Hypotheses:
• Size of Opportunity/Market
• Pricing Model / Pricing

• Validate Business Model


To Apply for Admittance to This Course:
Prior to the team interview session, you must:

• Review Steve Blank’s online course strategy at http://youtu.be/VZvgj6B2JZs
• Review team final presentations http://www.slideshare.net/sblank/tagged/stanford
Examples: Nudge E245 Final Presentation, Colorwheels E245 Final Presentation
(Note the number of customer interviews teams conducted during the course.)
• Watch “An Introduction to the Business Model Canvas” by Alexander Osterwalder
http://steveblank.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/osterwalder-guest-talk-012912.mov
• Come up with a preliminary company/product idea
• Form a team of 4 people. Choose your team members well!
• There are two student-focused New Venture Competition events prior to the class,
November 16th (6-8pm, ESB 1001) and November 28th (6-8:30pm, ESB 1001). Use
these events to meet other interested students who could be potential team members.
• Complete the ENGR 190D Application Form and submit to the TMP Office (the form is
the last page of this syllabus)
• Once notified by the TMP Office Staff that you are being offered a team interview,
contact the TMP Office to schedule a course-admittance interview on either December
3rd or December 4th. You must attend the interview with your entire team.
• Ten teams will be offered admission to the course, no later than December 7th.

NO ONE WILL BE ADMITTED TO THE CLASS WITHOUT BEING PART OF A TEAM
AND HAVING AN APPROVED PROJECT

Pre-Class Preparation
If your team is admitted to the course, prior to the first class session, you must:

• Read pages 14-49 of Osterwalder’s Business Model Generation.
• Read The Startup Owner’s Manual, pages 1-50
• Register for the Udacity.com course “How to Build a Startup” (EP245) by going to:
http://www.udacity.com/overview/Course/ep245/CourseRev/1
• Name your team and use that team name when registering for LaunchPad Central
• Register for LaunchPad Central by going to:
https://launchpadcentral.com/signup and using Organization Code = (coming soon)
• Download a PowerPoint version of the Osterwalder Business Model Canvas from the
LaunchPad Central Resource Hub. You must use a filled-in version of the Business
Model Canvas in each of your weekly presentations.
• Review the class syllabus “Week 1” details. You will be expected to present a completed
business model canvas with your team during the first weeks class session on January
7th or 9th. You will also be expected to have completed the work required in the “Actions
to Prepare for This Week’s Presentation,” “Watch Before Class,” and “Read Before
Class” sections of the syllabus for those days.


(All Weeks) Agenda for Class Sessions

Each class session is 100 minutes long (4pm-5:40pm, M-W). We will take a five minute
break at 5pm each class. Please be prepared to present your team’s progress in every
class session. Five teams will present during each class session for 10 to 15 minutes each.

There is one acceptable format for weekly presentations:

Team Presentations: 10-15 minutes each
• Slide 1: Cover slide with Team name
• Slide 2: Current business model canvas with any changes marked
• Slide 3: What did you learn about your value proposition from talking to your first
customers?
• Hypothesis: Here’s What We Thought
• Experiments: So Here’s What We Did
• Results: So Here’s What We Found
• Iterate: So Here’s What We Are Going to Do Next
• Slides 4+: Cover the “Items to Address” for the week in one slide. These items must
be addressed in no more than 3 additional slides.

Do not vary from this format – we are interested in results, not presentation design.

If your team has not presented the prior class session, you will be expected to present
during the next class. Each team presentation will follow the same format of presenting the
overall business model canvas, the hypothesis that was tested during the prior week, the
results of the test, and the learning that came from that test. After the presentation, the
teaching team will provide feedback about the presenting team’s approach, methodology,
execution, and conclusions. The teaching team may also request input from other students.

Students in class will record their comments and impressions from the student
presentations on a shared Google Doc. Individual class participation grades will be largely
based upon the quality and insight of a student’s comments and suggestions on this form.

We suggest that each team schedule their industry mentor videoconference (using Google+
Hangouts) for a time before the class session during which the team will present. The
purpose of the mentor session is to receive feedback from the mentor on that week’s up-
coming presentation.


Week 1 Jan 7th – Jan 9th

Subject Matter: Intro/Business Model/Customer Development

What’s a business model? What are the 9 parts of a business model? What are
hypotheses? What is the Minimum Feature Set? What experiments are needed to run to
test business model hypotheses? What is market size? How can you determine whether a
business model is worth doing?

Items To Address in This Week’s Presentations:
• Write down hypotheses for each of the 9 parts of the business model.
• Come up with ways to test:
o Is your business opportunity worth pursuing? (market size)
o Each of the your business model canvas hypotheses
• Come up with what constitutes a pass/fail signal for the test (e.g. at what point
would you say that your hypotheses wasn’t even close to correct)?

Actions To Prepare for This Week’s Presentation:
• Be prepared to present your business model canvas with your team for 3 minutes.
You must have a slide version of Osterwalder’s Business Model Canvas filled out
with your team’s initial entries for all nine boxes of the canvas.
• Conduct a test videoconference with all team members and your industry mentor.
Google+ Hangouts are free for multiple participants while Skype requires an active
payment plan for multiple video attendees. You must conduct a videoconference so
that you can view your mentor and so that he/she can see you.
• Make sure you are registered for both LaunchPad Central and the Udacity online
lectures
• Start team blog on LaunchPad Central

Watch Before Class:
• Udacity.com “How to Build a Startup (EP245): Lecture 1 – What We Now Know” and
“Lecture 2 – Business Models and Customer Development”

Read Before Class:
• Business Model Generation, pp. 86-119, 135-145
• The Startup Owner’s Manual, pages 1-50
• Blog post: Steve Blank, “What’s a Startup? First Principles,”
http://steveblank.com/2010/01/25/whats-a-startup-first-principles/
• Blog post: Steve Blank, “Make No Little Plans – Defining the Scalable Startup,”
http://steveblank.com/2010/01/04/make-no-little-plans-–-defining-the-scalable-
startup/
• Blog post: Steve Blank, “A Startup is Not a Smaller Version of a Large Company”,
http://steveblank.com/2010/01/14/a-startup-is-not-a-smaller-version-of-a-large-
company/


Week 2 Jan 14th – Jan 16th

Subject Matter: The Value Proposition

What is your product or service? How does it differ from an idea? Why will people want it?
Who’s the competition and how does your customer view these competitive offerings?
Where’s the market? What’s the minimum feature set for your product? What’s the Market
Type? What was your inspiration or impetus? What assumptions drove you to this? What
unique insight do you have into the market dynamics or into a technological shift that makes
this a fresh opportunity?

Items To Address in This Week’s Presentations:
• What were your value proposition hypotheses?
• What did you discover from customers?
• Market Size estimates (TAM, SAM, addressable) -- include in your presentation

Actions to Prepare for This Week’s Presentation:
• Get out of the building and talk to 10-15 customers face-to-face
• Update LaunchPad Central with the results of your customer interviews
• Be prepared to present your business model canvas with your team.
• Hold your scheduled mentor videoconference

Watch Before Class:
• Udacity.com “How to Build a Startup (EP245): Lecture 3 – Value Proposition”

Read Before Class:
• Business Model Generation, pp. 161-167 and 226-231
• The Startup Owner’s Manual, pages 51-84: market size, value proposition and MVP;
pp. 188-199: getting out of the building; 457-459 market type
• Blog Post: Giff Constable, “12 Tips for Early Customer Development Interviews,”
http://giffconstable.com/2010/07/12-tips-for-early-customer-development-interviews/


Week 3 Jan 23rd

NOTE: No class session on January 21st. Get out of the building and get ahead on
your customer interviews! If necessary, be sure to re-schedule your weekly mentor
online meeting session. Due to shortened time available for team presentations, your
LaunchPad Central entries will be closely reviewed by the teaching team this week –
make sure the entries are detailed and comprehensive.

Subject Matter: Customer Segments

Who’s the customer? User? Payer? How are they different? How can you reach them?
How is a business customer different from a consumer?

Items To Address in This Week’s Presentation
• What were your hypotheses about who your users and customers were? Did you
learn anything different?
• Draw the diagram of “customer flow” and include in your presentation
• What are your hypotheses around customer acquisition costs? Can you articulate
the direct benefits (economic or other) that are apparent?
• If your customer is part of a company, who is the decision maker, how large is the
budget they have authority over, what are they spending it on today, and how are
they individually evaluated within that organization, and how will this buying decision
be made?
• What is it about your business model that resonates with customers?
• Did anything change about your Value Proposition?


Watch Before Class:
• Udacity.com “How to Build a Startup (EP245): Lecture 4 – Customer Segments”

Read Before Class:
• Business Model Generation, pp. 146-150, 161-168, 200-211
• The Startup Owner’s Manual, pp. 85-97, 112-125, 203-217, 218-221, 260-266


Week 4 Jan 28th-Jan 30th

Subject Matter: The Channel

What’s a channel? Direct channels, indirect channels, OEM. Multi-sided markets. B-to-B
versus B-to-C channels and sales (business to business versus business to consumer)

Items to Address in This Week’s Presentation:
• What is your assumed customer lifetime value? Are there any proxy companies that
would suggest that this is a reasonable number?
• Channel incentives – does your product or proposition extend or replace existing
revenue for the channel?
• What is the “cost” of your channel, and it’s efficiency vs. your selling price.
• What are the barriers to entry?
• What kind of initial feedback did you receive from your users?
• Did anything change about Value Proposition or Customers/Users?

• Get out of the building and talk to 10-15 customers or channel participants face-to-
face

Watch Before Class:
• Udacity.com “How to Build a Startup (EP245): Lecture 5 – Channels”

Read Before Class:
• Business Model Generation, pp. 127-133
• Startup Owners Manual, pp. 98-111, pp. 332-342, pp. 406-412


Week 5 Feb 4th - Feb 6th

Subject Matter: Customer Relationships/Demand Creation

How do you create end user demand? How does it differ on the web versus other
channels? Evangelism vs. existing need or category? General Marketing, Sales Funnel,
etc.

• Present and explain your marketing campaign. What worked best and why?
• Did anything change about Value Proposition, Customers/Users or Channel?


Watch Before Class:
• Udacity.com “How to Build a Startup (EP245): Lecture 6 – Customer Relations”

Read Before Class:
• The Startup Owners Manual, pp. 126-168, pp. 296-351
• Blog post: Dave McClure, “Startup Metrics for Pirates”,
http://www.slideshare.net/dmc500hats/startup-metrics-for-pirates-seedcamp-2008-
presentation
• Blog post: Dan Siroker, “How Obama Raised $60 Million by Running a Simple
Experiment”, http://blog.optimizely.com/how-obama-raised-60-million-by-running-an-
exp


Week 6 Feb 11th - Feb 13th

Subject Matter: The Revenue Model

What’s a revenue model? What types of revenue streams are there? How does it differ on
the web versus other channels?

• Test pricing in front of 10-15 customers
• What’s your business revenue model?
• How will you package your product into various offerings if you have more than one?
• How will you price the offerings?
• What are the key financials metrics for your business model?
• What are the risks involved?
• What are your competitors doing?
• Assemble an income statement for the your business model. Lifetime value
calculation for customers.
• Draw a diagram of your model’s payment flows
• Did anything change about Value Proposition or Customers/Users, Channel,
Demand Creation?


Watch Before Class:
• Udacity.com “How to Build a Startup (EP245): Lecture 7 – Revenue Models”
• Mark Pincus, “Quick and Frequent Product Testing and Assessment”,
http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=2313

Read Before Class:
• The Startup Owner’s Manual, pp. 180-188, pp. 260-269, pp. 438-456


Week 7 Feb 20th

NOTE: No class session on February 18th. Get out of the building and get ahead on
your customer interviews. If necessary, be sure to re-schedule your weekly mentor
online meeting session. Due to shortened time available for team presentations, your
LaunchPad Central entries will be closely reviewed by the teaching team this week –
make sure the entries are detailed and comprehensive.

Subject Matter: Partners

Who are your partners? Strategic alliances, competition, joint ventures, buyer supplier,
licensees.

• Talk to actual partner candidates as part of your 10-15 interviews.
• What partners will you need?
• Why do you need them and what are risks?
• What are the incentives and impediments for the partners?
• Why will they partner with you?
• What are the benefits for an exclusive partnership?
• What’s the cost of the partnership?
Demand Creation, Revenue Model?

• Get out of the building and talk to 10-15 customers/partner candidates face-to-face

Watch Before Class:
• Udacity.com “How to Build a Startup (EP245): Lecture 8 – Partners”

Read Before Class:
• The Startup Owner’s Manual, pp. 176-179, 257-270, 429-459


Week 8 Feb 25th – Feb 27th

Subject Matter: Key Resources & Cost Structure

What resources do you need to build this business? How many people? What kind? Any
hardware or software you need to buy? Any IP you need to license? How much money do
you need to raise? When? Why? What is the importance of cash flows? When do you get
paid vs. when do you pay others?

• What’s your expense model?
• What are the key financials metrics for costs in your business model?
• Costs vs. ramp vs. product iteration?
• Access to resources. What is the best location for your business?
• Where is your cash flow break-even point?
• Assemble a resources assumptions spreadsheet. Include people, hardware,
software, prototypes, financing, etc.
• Draw the diagram of a finance and operations timeline
• When will you need these resources?
• Roll up all the costs from partners, resources and activities in a spreadsheet by time.
Demand Creation, Revenue Model, Partners?


Watch Before Class:
• Udacity.com “How to Build a Startup (EP245): Lecture 9 – Resources, Activities and
Costs”

Read Before Class:
• The Startup Owner’s Manual, pgs. 169-175, 180-188


Week 9 Subject Matter: Preparation for Final Presentations

March 4th Class Summation: What Have We Accomplished?

March 6th Presentation Rehearsals & Questions

• Review: Autonomow, Mammoptics, Agora, and Personal Libraries final presentations
(available on http://www.slideshare.net/, search by project name)

We'll talk through some these example slides and presentations from previous courses
taught by Steve Blank, discuss the presentation format we're asking you to follow and the
reason(s) why, and then we'll be working with all of the teams on an ad hoc basis, walking
around, talking about where you are, what you're working on, answering questions, and
encouraging you as we all whip our presentations into shape.

Week 10 Subject Matter: Lessons Learned Presentations

March 11th Team Presentations of Lessons Learned (Five Teams)

Each team will present a 10-minute “Lessons Learned” presentation about their
business in front of the teaching team and potential investors, and a 2-minute video.

March 13th Team Presentations of Lessons Learned (Five Teams)

Each team will present a 10-minute “Lessons Learned” presentation about their
business in front of the teaching team and potential investors, and a 2-minute video.

Note that this course will not have a Final Exam or Course Session after March 13th.


Lessons Learned – Final Team Presentation Format

10 to 12-minutes: Team Videos & Lessons Learned Presentations

Deliverable: Each team will present a 2-minute video and then provide an 8-10-minute
“Lessons Learned” presentation about their business.

“Lessons Learned” Presentation Format
▪ First: Play your two-minute video. The video should illustrate your business model idea
and the lessons learned on the journey of customer and market validation.
▪ Slide 1: Team Name, your product, what business you ended up in and number of
customers you talked to.
▪ Slide 2: Team members – name, background, expertise and your role for the team
▪ Slide 4: The size of the opportunity
▪ Slide 5: Business Model Canvas Version 1 (use the Osterwalder Canvas).
So here’s what we did (explain how you got out of the building)
▪ Slide 6: So here’s what we found (what was reality) so then, …
We iterated or pivoted…explain why and what you found.
▪ Slide 8: So here’s what we did (explain how you got out of the building)
▪ Slide 9: So here’s what we found (what was reality) so then,
We iterated or pivoted…explain why and what you found.
▪ Etc… Every presentation requires at least three Business Model Canvas slides.
▪ Etc… Every presentation requires a channel diagram, distribution diagram and customer
archetype or customer flow diagram.
▪ Etc… Every presentation requires hypotheses you tested, experiments you ran and the
results of those experiments.
▪ Side n – “So here’s where we ended up.” Talk about:
1. what you learned;
2. whether you think this a viable business; and


3. whether you want to pursue this business idea after the class.
▪ Final Slides – Click through each one of your business model canvas slides.

Links to online examples of final “Lessons Learned” presentations:
See http://www.slideshare.net/sblank/tagged/stanford
Examples include Colorwheel, Gamespeed, Parkpoint, Zillion, etc.


Engineering 190D Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Enrollment
• Admission is by teams of 4 individuals.
• Your entire team must attend the first class to be enrolled.
• Teams must interview with the teaching team prior to the class start date.
• Enrollment application closes on November 30th.
• The class list and any wait-listed students will be posted online by midnight December 7th.
• There are two student-focused New Venture Competition events prior to the class,
November 16th (6-8pm, ESB 1001) and November 28th (6-8:30pm, ESB 1001). Use these
events to meet other interested students who could be potential team members.

Students
▪ ENGR 190D is only open to students at UCSB from any school or department.
▪ Each team must have at least 4 students.
▪ Exceptions for team size and external members will be made on a case-by-case basis.
Note your special team needs on your application form. We will let you know on Day 1 of
the class.
▪ This is very intense class with a very high workload. We expect you to invest at least 5-10
hours per week outside of the classroom.
▪ You cannot miss the first class without prior approval

Company Ideas
▪ Is this class for web startups only?
No, anyone with any idea and preferably a product can form or join a team
▪ What if I do want to test a web idea?
Great. Only condition is that you have to get the site up and deliver the minimum product
feature set during the quarter.

Team Formation
• Do I need to be part of a team before I enroll in class?
Yes.
• Does my team need to have a product/business idea to enroll in ENGR 190D?
Yes
• How do teams form? Will I be assigned to a team?
We do not assign members to teams. The mixer sessions will introduce you to potential
team members. We also suggest using LinkedIn to find students with an appropriate


skillset. Don’t have a LinkedIn profile? Build one now, you’ll have it for life.
• How many people compose a team?
Typically, 4.

Attendance and Participation
▪ You cannot miss the first class without prior approval
▪ If you cannot commit to 15-20 hours a week as a team outside the classroom, this class
is not for you.
▪ The startup culture at times can feel brusque and impersonal, but in reality is focused and
oriented to create immediate action in time- and cash-constrained environments.
▪ If during the quarter you find you cannot continue to commit the time, immediately notify
your team members and teaching team and drop the class.
▪ If you expect to miss a class, please let the TA’s and your team members know ahead of
time via email.
▪ The teaching team WILL cold call in class. Be prepared.
▪ Your class participation grade will be based in large part upon constructive comments
made to fellow student teams during their presentations. Comments will be entered into a
shared Google Docs form that is visible to all enrolled students. We expect your attention
during our presentations and those of your fellow students. If you’re getting bored, tired or
inattentive step outside for some air. If we see reading email or browsing the web we will
ask you to leave the class.
▪ We ask that you use a name card during every session of the quarter.

Intellectual Property
• Who owns the intellectual property tested in the Business Model?
1. You own what Intellectual Property (patents, hardware, algorithms, etc.) you brought to
class with you. No one has claim to anything you brought to class.
2. You all own any intellectual property developed for the class (such as code for a web-
based project) developed during class. If a team is working with a UCSB related-
technology (i.e. either research from one of the team members or a UCSB patent), you
must check with the Office of Technology & Licensing to better understand any UCSB
licensing and royalties issues.
3. You and your team members need to disclose to each other what IP/Licensing rights
any company you’ve worked at has to inventions you make at school.
4. If any or you decide to start a company based on the class, you own only what was
written and completed in the class. You have no claim for work done before or after the


class quarter.
4. If a subset of the team decides to start a company they do NOT “owe” anything to any
other team members for work done in and during the class. All team members are free to
start the same company, without permission of the others. (We would hope that a
modicum of common sense and fairness would apply.)

• I feel my idea / Business Model may become a real company and the "next killer
app" and I want to own it myself what should I do?
This is more than likely the wrong class to take. Your slides, notes and findings will be
publically shared. Your team owns everything done in class. Discuss Intellectual
Property rights with your team from the beginning. If you can’t come to agreement with
the team, join another team, pick another project, or drop the class. Remember anything
you do and learn in the class is public.

• Will my Intellectual Property rights be protected when I discuss my ideas with the
class?
NO. This is an open class. There are no non-disclosures. All your presentations and
Customer Discovery and Validation notes, business model canvas, blogs and slides can,
and more likely will, be made public.

• This class is not an incubator. At times you will learn by seeing how previous classes
solved the same class of problem by looking at their slides, notes and blogs.
Keep in mind that successful companies are less about the original idea and more about
the learning, discovery and execution. (That’s the purpose of this class.) Therefore you
must be prepared to share your ideas openly with the class. It is a forum for you to
"bounce" your ideas off your peers.

• I’m not comfortable sharing what I learn with others, what should I do?
Don’t take this class.

Help!
• What kind of support will our team have?
The teaching team consists of three lecturers, two TA’s and at one mentor per team. A
mentor is an experienced entrepreneur or venture capitalist assigned to your team.
They’ve volunteered to help with the class and your team because they love startups.
Their job is to guide you as you get of the building.
• How often can we/should we meet with our mentors?


Your mentor is expecting to meet with you at least every week using an online video
conferencing tool. You can email them or meet with them more often, or in person, as
they have time for.
• Can I talk to a mentor not assigned to my team?
By all means, do so. All the mentors are happy to help. However they cannot support
your team full time unless your mentor decides to swap places with them.
• I have a busy schedule and my mentor can’t meet when I want them to.
Mentors have day jobs. Asking them to meet or reply to you ASAP is not acceptable. So
plan ahead to allow for a reasonable amount of time for a reply or meeting. Be concise
with your request and be respectful of their time. Ideally, you will meet via online
videoconference on the same day, and at the same time each week in order to review
your weekly progress.
• I need help now.
You first stop are your TA’s. Email or sit down with them during the week if you have a
problem. Your professors have office hours every Monday and Wednesday from 2-4pm.
If you need something resolved sooner, email us.

Team Dynamics
• What roles are in each team?
Traditionally, each team member is part of the “customer development team”. You have to
figure out how to allocate the work.
• What if my team becomes dysfunctional?
Prepare to work through difficult issues. If the situation continues, approach the teaching
team. Do not wait until the end of the quarter to raise the issue.
• What if one of my teammates is not "pulling his/her weight"?
Try to resolve it within your team. If the situation continues longer than a week, please
approach the teaching team. Final grades will also reflect individual participation and
contribution.


Grading
▪ How do you determine our grade?
▪ 15% Individual participation in class. You will be giving feedback to your peers.
▪ 40% out-of-the-building progress as measured by blog write-ups each week.
Team members must:
1) update business model canvas weekly
2) identify which team member did which portion of the work.
3) detailed report on what the team did each week
4) weekly email of team member participation
▪ 20% team weekly “lesson learned” summaries (see appendix for format)
▪ 25% team final report (see appendix for format)

▪ Does everyone in the team get the same grade?
No. Individual participation and contribution is also considered. You will get to grade your
team members on their contribution.
• What kind of feedback can I expect?
Continual feedback weekly and online via LaunchPad Central. Substandard quality work
will be immediately brought to your attention.
• Can I take this class Pass/No Credit?
No. Letter grade only.


ENGR 190D Application Form
This application is how we choose the students who make it into the class. We’re
interested in your background and why you want to take the class.

Who are you?
1. First Name, Last Name

2. Student ID Number

3. Email Address

4. Phone Number

What are you studying?

1. Undergraduate School, Major and Graduation Year

2. Do you have any non-academic work experience? If so, what?

3. What unique talent or expertise do you bring to the class?

Why This Class?
1. How did you hear about this course?

2. Why do you want to take this class?

Team/Company Idea?
1. Who are the members of your team, and what’s the idea?

2. Why is this the best idea you can come with?

Why You?
If there was one spot left in the class and we were choosing between you and
another applicant, tell us why you should be the person in the class? Your team?


ENGR190D: Creating Market-Tested Startups

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