Entrepreneurship and Finance, taught by Merton Finkler and Gary Vaughan, seeks to both study entrepreneurs and begin to learn what it takes to be an entrepreneur. The first portion of the course provides fundamental background regarding the role entrepreneurs play in an economy, the entrepreneurial mindset, business models, financial statements, and business plans. The second portion features a number of guest experts who will describe their careers and highlight key aspects related to entrepreneurship. The third portion focuses on entrepreneurial finance and includes discussion of angel investors and venture capital. Throughout the course, students will work in teams to develop entrepreneurial enterprises for which the next step would be implementation planning.
The course structure will be delivered as a combination of lectures, discussions, case studies, site visits, and presentations of student projects. Two students will lead the discussion of each case study. The course will rely heavily on the expertise of invited speakers (e.g., Lawrence alumni, Wisconsin entrepreneurs). Each invited expert will describe her or his experience and participate in case study discussion.
One cannot really learn about entrepreneurship without attempting to be one. Although there will not be sufficient time to test the waters, the primary course objective is to have groups of students develop business plans for potential entrepreneurial initiatives.
Next offered in 2014-15.
