Technology Entrepreneurship Workshop

Register now for this program!

Location: Arizona State University - Tempe Arizona
Dates: April 20 - May 18, 2009
Time: Five Monday Evenings at 6:00-9:45pm
Program Fee: $995


Wach a video introduction to this program.

Program Overview

Do you have a technology venture that you've been thinking about, but don't know where to begin? Do you have the desire to launch your own venture and be your own boss?

This 20-hour Technology Entrepreneurship Workshop (TEW) is designed to help you overcome any fears or doubts you may have about launching your own technology venture. Each of the five workshop sessions is packed with practical, hands-on tools that you can use immediately to plan and execute the technology venture you've been envisioning!

Program Objectives

This workshop will introduce you to technology entrepreneurship and the processes involved in launching and operating a venture. Understanding new venture creation as a collection of logical decisions and systems will be the focus. Each TEW participant will be exposed to the process of creating a new venture idea, examining market feasibility, testing financial models, and preparing a go-to-market strategy. Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:

  • Envision yourself as an entrepreneur and develop an awareness of your strengths and weaknesses
  • Think about business opportunities as they pertain to your background and technical strengths
  • Understand the accounting cycle and cash management
  • Prepare pro forma financial statements
  • Understand how to network and negotiate for business advantage
  • Understand the role of intellectual property in the creation of a technology venture
  • Identify sources of capital for new ventures in the Valley area
  • Identify other resources to assist entrepreneurs and new ventures in the Valley area

As a result of participating fully in the five sessions of this Technology Entrepreneurship Workshop you WILL achieve the following as outcomes:

  1. A fully developed and investor-grade business plan
  2. A fully developed investor grade financial plan
  3. An equity structure and capitalization table for your venture
  4. A well conceived business model and go-to-market strategy
  5. An invitation to apply to the Arizona Technology Investor Forum
Program Sections:

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Faculty

Tom Duening, PhD

The TEW is led by Dr. Thomas Duening, Director of the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering Entrepreneurial Programs Office. Dr. Duening is also the founder and director of the Arizona Technology Investor Forum (ATIF). ATIF is the most active technology investing group in the State of Arizona. Dr. Duening is also a senior advisor to TEKcelerate, a Valley-based technology venture fund and he is a founder and senior partner in an international outsourcing venture. You can also see Dr. Duening's highly acclaimed articles in the Phoenix Biz Journal;

Dr. Duening, a 1991 graduate of the University of Minnesota, has been involved in teaching entrepreneurship to undergraduate and graduate students since 1992. He began his higher education career as the assistant dean for the University of Houston's College of Business Administration. There, he helped to co-found the Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. That unit is now the top ranked undergraduate entrepreneurship center in the United States. Following his 9-year stint as assistant dean, Dr. Duening founded several companies of his own. His first company, U.S. Learning Systems was acquired by Edgia.com in 1999. The firm is a top provider of e-learning content for corporate compliance management.

Dr. Duening left Edgia in 2002 to launch the Applied Management Sciences Institute (AMSI). The organization was created to develop educational products for students in the management sciences. As part of this firm, Dr. Duening co-wrote three management and business textbooks, which now enjoy wide circulation in the U.S. and abroad. Dr. Duening also co-wrote two trade books: Managing Einsteins and Always Think Big. The books were published by McGraw-Hill and Dearborn trade, respectively.

After taking a management buy-out from AMSI, Dr. Duening founded INSYTE Business Research Group and launched a project to study business process outsourcing. The result of this effort was two trade books: Business Process Outsourcing: The Competitive Advantage, and The Essentials of Business Process Outsourcing. Both of these books were published by John Wiley & Sons in 2004 and 2005.

As he was conducting the research for these books, Dr. Duening co-founded INSYTE InfoLabs, Pvt., Ltd., an outsourcing firm based in Bangalore, India. The firm provides outsourcing services to a range of Fortune 500 companies, enabling them to reduce their cost structure and improve their competitive positioning.

In 2004, Dr. Duening accepted a position with Arizona State University's Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering as Director of the school's Entrepreneurial Programs Office. In this role, Dr. Duening teaches courses in Technology Entrepreneurship to engineers at the graduate and undergraduate levels. He has also recently co-authored a new textbook titled: Technology Entrepreneurship: Value Creation, Value Protection, and Value Capture.

Dr. Duening's ongoing research is in the areas of innovation, competitiveness, and entrepreneurship, including entrepreneurship education. He is often a featured speaker at campus and community events, and he has consulted with large multinational corporations on their innovation and Intrapreneurship activities.

Course Schedule

The workshop is divided into 5 weekly evening sessions that run from 6PM to 9:45PM. The schedule was designed to accommodate fully employed technology professionals who want to explore their entrepreneurship options in private and without affecting their employment.

Participants will develop a complete business plan for their venture concept by the time they have completed the workshop. Sessions are organized according to the following agenda:

Session 1: Feasibility Analysis and Business Planning
  • Discover the type of venture that is right for "you"
  • Learn how to analyze the potential market for your technology venture
  • Develop a business model that is suited to your market and concept
  • Develop a business plan outline, and begin the data gathering process
  • Create a go-to-market strategy for your venture
  • Learn the 5 things that every entrepreneur MUST do prior to launching

Session 2: Legal Form, Equity Allocation, and Intellectual Property
  • Establish a legal form for your enterprise
  • Determine an appropriate equity allocation for founders and others
  • Develop an incentive laden vesting schedule for founders
  • Create a board of advisors and an incentive plan for board members
  • Develop, protect, and manage your intellectual property
  • Determine whether to expand IP or accelerate market development

Session 3: Financial Analysis & Business Modeling
  • Develop three year financial forecast for your venture
  • Learn how to run various "what if" scenarios
  • Develop summary financials that you can share with interested stakeholders
  • Estimate the amount of capital required to launch and operate your venture
  • Learn how to develop a defensible set of assumptions to back up your financial plan
  • Examine the cost structure of your business
  • Explore a variety of business models and revenue strategies

Session 4: Valuation, Deal Structuring, and Fund Raising
  • Learn how to place a credible value on your venture
  • Learn how to increase the "perceived value" of your venture
  • Discover the Seven Key Things investors look for in a startup technology venture
  • Explore technology venture presentations that resulted in successful funding

Session 5: Presenting to Potential Investors
  • Develop your "elevator pitch"
  • Learn the 5 Key Presentation Techniques that will make your presentation a winner
  • Practice your elevator pitch and get feedback from your fellow participants
  • Develop a 10-minute investor pitch and present to actual angel investors
  • Get feedback that will prepare you for successful fund raising and venture launch
Program Deliverables

As a result of participating fully in the five sessions of this Technology Entrepreneurship Workshop you WILL achieve the following:

  1. A fully developed and investor-grade business plan
  2. A fully developed investor grade financial plan
  3. An equity structure and capitalization table for your venture
  4. A well conceived business model and go-to-market strategy
  5. An invitation to apply to the Arizona Technology Investor Forum
  6. An invitation to apply to the TEKcelerate technology venture fund
Program Fee

$995 (includes training, materials, textbook, and project coaching).

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Register for this course

Registration, Refunds and Cancellations

Should you register and then need to cancel, please note that there is a cancellation fee. The rate of the fee is determined by how far in advance of the program/module start date the written request for cancellation is received (please see below). Written requests for cancellation may be received via either mail or fax.

  • Within two weeks - 50% of program fee
  • Once program starts - no refund

Transfer to another program or module is subject to a $200 administrative fee if made within six weeks of the program/module start date. Registrants who do not attend and do not cancel are subject to the complete fee. Participant substitutes may be made by submitting in advance a written request. The Center reserves the right to change instructors or cancel or reschedule a program in the event of insufficient enrollment or unforeseen circumstances.

To cancel or transfer this course, please send request via email to jose.quiroga@asu.edu or fax (480) 965-8653

For more information contact:

Octavio Heredia
Associate Director, Extended Education
asu.cpd@asu.edu