Byers talks about how a great business plan can be developed. He uses Sahlman's alignment model to explain that an opportunity has to be in alignment with resources, people and context for deals to get completed.

Transcript



Written in 1997 from a professor at Harvard, called "How to Write a Great Business Plan." And I love the tag line it says, "Which information belongs and which doesn't may surprise you." It's very short. You can order it from Harvard Business School or just borrowed it from someone who has taken one of our classes because certainly in my class it's a sign along with the textbook and Randy's book. And this is just a pictorial diagram of it, and without a lot of time here. It just shows that some people might think that the business plan only is important about that is getting a deal done. It is just getting something, some money out of some investors to make something happen. In fact, it's a set of questions that have to be answered so the whole ecosystem of a venture has to be in alignment. The opportunity has to be in alignment with resources and people in the context we talked about the economic environment and so forth - regulatory environment with the deal. When they are in alignment the deals will get done. It has nothing to do with whether the business plan is super-polished or spiffy or anything like that. 

1. Difference Between an Idea and an Opportunity
2. Why do Ventures Require Dynamic Leaders?
3. Role of Context in High-Tech Venturing
4. Market Positioning and the Importance of Partnerships
5. Purpose of a Business Plan
6. Importance of Cash Flow
7. What are the Essentials of the Venture Finance Process?
8. Characteristics of Entrepreneurs
9. Role of Ethics in High-Tech Entrepreneurship

Tom Byers lectures on Entrepreneurship for Stanford University students, January 18, 2006. Tom Byers is a professor at Stanford University where he focuses on high-technology entrepreneurship education. He is founder and a faculty director of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP), which serves as the entrepreneurship center for the engineering school. STVP includes the Mayfield Fellows work/study program, Educators Corner website of teaching resources, and global Roundtable on Entrepreneurship Education conferences.Tom is also a faculty director of the AEA/Stanford Executive Institute, a general management program for technology executives. Tom is co-author of the textbook called "Technology Ventures: From Idea to Enterprise" (McGraw-Hill, 2005). Tom also holds a visiting professor appointment at the London Business School and University College London. In this Stanford lecture, he talks about the role of context in high-tech venturing, market positioning and the importance of partnerships and the purpose of a business plan.



Related Links: www.stanford.edu

Last Updated: Wed, Oct 4, 2006



Course Details:

- Entrepreneurial Thought Leader Speaker Series

- Stanford University's Entrepreneurship Corner (ecorner)



Original Course Name: Entrepreneurial Thought Leader Speaker Series