Autumn | Engineering 140C

Overview

Key Course Information

Course Objectives
To learn leadership and management skills for the successful growth of young technology companies by creating a fast-paced and effective learning environment. To complete the third and final phase of the nine-month Mayfield Fellows Program.
Admission
Limited to Mayfield Fellows. Please see the MFP website for more information.
Credit
2 or 3 units
Some Important Administrative Details
  • If you expect to miss a class, please let the teaching assistant know ahead of time via e-mail. It will be your responsibility to find out from your classmates or the teaching assistant what material was covered, what additional assignments were made, and to obtain any handouts you may have missed.
  • You are expected to be prepared for every session. It is our practice to spread participation over the class; we may call upon you. It is never our intention to embarrass anyone — if you are not prepared, let one of us know before class and we will not call on you.
  • Given the pace of this course, we will do all that we can to use class time effectively and ask you to do the same. This includes starting and ending on time. The teaching assistant will take attendance in the first five minutes of the class and we will always end on time.
  • Feel free to discuss the course and your learning progress with the instructors at any time. We are always happy to discuss items of interest. The teaching assistant is also available for questions you have about any issue.
  • Students are encouraged to provide feedback about the course (content, teaching, web pages, etc.) by contacting the teaching staff.

Course Description

Leadership of Technology Ventures is focused on developing an understanding of the issues and techniques for growing emerging technology companies. This distinguishes the course from those which focus on business plan writing and the actual formation of a venture (e.g., MS&E 273 — Technology Venture Formation). The course takes participants through a range of issues faced by management in building a new enterprise. These include product and market strategy, venture financing and cash flow management, culture and team building, innovation and creativity, real-time decision making, and the overall challenges of managing growth and handling adversity. E140C allows Mayfield Fellows to debrief their summer work experiences with each other, using frameworks and tools from the previous E140 courses. It also provides closure to the Mayfield Fellows program itself.
Prerequisites
E140A and E140B
Admission
All students requesting admission to E140C must be previously selected Mayfield Fellows. Please see the MFP site for more information. Sorry, no auditors can be accommodated in E140C.
Approach
Several methods of instruction are utilized: lectures, case discussions, as well as individual, group, and guest presentations. This course incorporates both individual and group efforts. Individual students make presentations on their summer experiences, and the resulting discussion is facilitated by an additional student.

Course Materials

Required Readings
Optional Readings
  • TBD
STVP Stanford Management Science and Engineering