Continued Operations Revised Syllabus Spring 2020

CSCE 590 - 001

From Innovation to Startup in Computing

Spring 2020

Instructor: Csilla Farkas

Office: Horizon II, 2253

Office Hours: Tuesdays 11:45 am – 1:15 pm, Thursdays 2:30 – 4:00 pm, by email any time or by phone by appointment

Telephone: (803)576-5762

E-mail: farkas@cse.sc.edu

Class times: Tuesday, Thursday 1:15 pm – 2:30 pm

Class homepage: http://cse.sc.edu/~farkas/csce590/csce590.htm

Final exam date: May 5, 2020 12:30 pm – 3:00 pm

Academic Bulletin Description

Challenges and opportunities to become an entrepreneur in computing. Innovative practices, collaboration, research, and state-of-the-art development. Business, legal, and human aspects.

Full Course Description

The course investigates the rapidly changing field of computing innovation and entrepreneurship. Launching a successful start-up company requires more than solid technical capabilities. Students will learn to identify technology paradigm shift, build business plans, understand legal constraints, and build a winning team. Students will meet with leaders of computing industry, learn about local resources that are available for a business start-up and will be encouraged to present their ideas to potential investors. In addition to regular lectures, the course is based on guest lectures by computing innovators and domain experts.

Prerequisites

Upper division status or graduate students.

Course Materials

Required textbook:

1. T. N. Duening, R. A. Hisrich, M. A. Lechter, Technology Entrepreneurship: Taking Innovation to the Marketplace, Academic Press; 2 edition, 2014, ISBN-10: 012420175X, ISBN-13: 978-0124201750.

2. Online resources

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, undergraduate students will be able to:

1. Identify technology areas ready for innovation
2. Describe and apply the five pillars of entrepreneurship
3. Develop a business plan and marketing strategy that attract investors
4. Validate business plan
5. Describe legal and regulatory requirements and incorporate them in the business plan

By the end of this course, graduate students will also be able to:

6. Identify funding sources for startup
7. Describe technical novelties of the startup’s product

Course Assignments: (All Students)

• Homework assignments: (40 points) there will be 8-10 homework assignments during the semester.  Homework assignments will be based on reading assignments and course discussions.
• Group Project: (50 points) there will be a group project to identify a startup idea, build a business plan around it, and develop marketing ideas. Students will form teams to apply the knowledge to perform the activities needed to launch a startup. The type of startup will be selected by each group. Cancelled the training on and the use of the Startupwind platform to accommodate the lost week of the extended spring break.
• Final project report (10 points) instead of a startup competition, each group will submit a final project report. The structure of the final report will be distributed via dropbox.
• Cancelled Startup competition: (20 points) groups will present their design to external evaluators at the end of the semester. Each presentation will be evaluated based on the novelty of the concept, feasibility of the proposed business plan, and the ability of the group to convince evaluators about the success of the project.

Course Assignments: (Graduate Students Only)

In addition to the assignments for all students (above), graduate students need to perform additional assignments, listed below:

• Homework assignments: (10 points) there will be 2 homework assignments for graduate students only to identify innovative problems and applied research focused funding sources.
• Cancelled Customer experience planning project component: (10 points) develop a plan to demonstrate the planned product of the startup to the potential customers.

Assignments are always due on the announced day and time. There will be a late submission penalty of 10%/day after the due date for homework and project assignments unless it is approved by the instructor.  

Grading:

Undergraduate students will have 100 possible points. Final grade will be assigned based on the percentage of points achieved by the students as follows.

Final grade:      A = ≥ 90% C = 70-74%

(undergraduates) B+= 85-89% D+= 65-69%

B = 80-84% D = 60-64%

C+= 75-79%  F = < 60%

Graduate students will have 120 possible points. Final grade will be assigned based on the percentage of points achieved by the students as follows.

Final grade:      A = ≥ 90% C = 70-74%

(graduates) B+= 85-89% D+= 65-69%

B = 80-84% D = 60-64%

C+= 75-79%  F = < 60%

Attendance

Attendance is expected at all class sessions.  In accordance with USC’s Attendance Policy, absence from more than 10 percent of the scheduled class sessions (more than two absences), whether excused or unexcused, is excessive and the instructor may exact a letter grade penalty for such absences. It is of particular importance that a student who anticipates absences in excess of 10 percent of the scheduled class sessions receives prior approval from the instructor before the last day to change schedule as published in the academic and refund calendars on the registrar’s Web site. See http://registrar.sc.edu/

Academic Integrity

You are expected to practice the highest possible standards of academic integrity. Any deviation from this expectation will result in a minimum academic penalty of your failing the assignment and will result in additional disciplinary measures including referring you to the Office of Academic Integrity. Violations of the University's Honor Code include, but are not limited to, plagiarism, cheating, falsification, complicity, and any other form of academic misrepresentation. For more information, see https://www.sa.sc.edu/academicintegrity/

Accommodating Disabilities

Reasonable accommodations are available for students with a documented disability. If you have a disability and may need accommodations to fully participate in this class, contact the Student Disability Resource Center:  803-777-6142, TDD 803-777-6744, email sasds@mailbox.sc.edu, or stop by LeConte College Room 112A. All accommodations must be approved through the Office of Student Disability Services.   See https://www.sa.sc.edu/sds/.

Diversity

In order to learn, we must be open to the views of people different that ourselves. In this time we share together over the semester, please honor the uniqueness of your fellow classmates and appreciate the opportunity we have to learn from one another. Please respect each other’s opinions and refrain from personal attacks or demeaning comments of any kind. Finally, remember to keep confidential all issues of a personal or professional nature that are discussed in class.

Tentative Course Schedule

Week 1: Technology trends and opportunities

Week 2: Five pillars of technology entrepreneurship: 1) value creation, 2) the lean startup, 3) customer discovery and validation, 4) business model canvas, 5) entrepreneurial method

Week 3: Guest speaker of industry leader. Discussion on innovative idea generation and venture types

Week 4: Guest speaker of industry leader. Discussion on idea sources and idea generation process

Week 5: Review best computing startups of 2018 and 2019 – find the paradigm shift

Week 6: Technology innovation areas – Student presentations

Week 7: Seven habits and four principles of highly effective technology entrepreneurs, leadership styles, and common mistakes entrepreneurs make

Week 8: Product planning: idea generation process, idea validation

Week 9: Opportunity assessment and market analysis

Week 10: Guest speaker on legal considerations: intellectual property, record keeping, trade secret, patent, copyright, trademarks

Week 11: Business plan and management team development. Cancelled: training on and the use of the Startupwind platform.

Week 12: Obtaining funds: capital sources, fundraising tools and techniques. Guest lecture on startup support at UofSC Incubator and SC Department of Commerce

Week 13: Launching the startup: market positioning, market penetration strategy, contingency plan

Week 14: Pitching group startups, in-class evaluation

Modified: Week 15: Cancelled: External competition and assessment