1updatedAug31st2015

FacultyofAppliedScience&SauderSchoolofBusiness
UniversityofBritishColumbia

APSC486/496D/COMM466NEWVENTUREDESIGN
FallSpring2015/2016Tuesday69:30pm,RoomAngusHA009

Thiscourseisaninterdisciplinary(traditionallyEngineeringCommerce,andmorebroadlyacross
UBC,startingin2013)projectbasedcoursethathastheprimarygoalofprovidingstudentsofboth
facultieswithknowledgeandpracticalexperiencerelatedtotheformationofanentrepreneurial
enterprise,basedonthedevelopmentofanewproductorprocess.Workinginteams,theendtarget
inthecourseistoproduceaviableproductprototypeandthenecessarybusinessplantoensureits
successinthemarketplace.

Thecourseis6creditsandwillencompasstheentireschoolyear.StudentsfromtheSauderSchool
ofBusinesswhotakethiscoursecanobtainequivalentcoursecreditforCommerce468(3)and497
(3).StudentsfromAppliedSciencecanobtaincreditforanapplicableprojectcoursewithintheir
Departmentforexample:IGENgetcreditforAPSC430,ECEmaygetcredittowardsELEC49xor
CPEN49x(seePh.Kruchten),MECHmaygetcreditforsomeofMECH457(seeA.Hodgson),etc.
OtherUBCstudentsareregisteredthroughoneofthesetwocodesAPSC486orCOMM466,once
acceptedintothecourse.

Whatbookwillweuse?
Thereisaformaltextbookforthecourse.
Blank,SteveandDorf,Bob:TheStartupOwner'sManual:TheStepByStepGuidefor
BuildingaGreatCompany,K&SRanchPress,2012(Note:itisavailableinepubformat
for$9.00)

Optionalreadingwewillusetoolsfromtheseinclassactivities:
Osterwalder,Alexander,andYvesPigneur.BusinessModelGeneration:AHandbookfor
Visionaries,GameChangers,andChallengers:Wiley,2010.ISBN:9780470876411
Manybusinessstudentswillhaveseenthis.ItisalsointheSauderLamlibrary.Wewill
crossreferencethisextensively.Therearealsofreeresourcesonline.
Youcandownloadthefirst72pagesforfreefromhttp://www.businessmodelgeneration.com/book

Osterwalder,Alexander,andYvesPigneur:ValuePropositionDesign,2014
Fitzpatrick,Rob:TheMomTest:howtotalktocustomersandlearnifyourbusinessisa
goodideawheneveryoneislyingtoyou.

Forproductdesign:
Ulrich,KarlT,andStevenD.Eppinger,ProductDesignandDevelopment,McGrawHill,
2008.

Otherassignedreadingsandprojecthandoutswillbeprovidedtostudentteamsasnecessary.

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Howwillthiscoursebetaught?
Thiscoursewillbeacombinationofbothlectureinstructionanddedicatedlabtimeinwhich
studentteamswilladvancetheirnewventureconcepttowardmarketintroduction.Lectureswill
drawuponknowledgefromboththeengineeringandcommercedisciplines.Projectswillbe
conductedinateamlearningformat.DedicatedclasstimeisscheduledforTuesday6:009:30pm
eachweek.Lecturesessionsareinterspersedthroughoutthetermandsignificantclasstimeisalso
proportionedforlabwork(seecalendarscheduleatendofthedocument).Consultationwithcourse
instructorscanbedoneduringscheduledlabhoursorbyappointment.Thiscourserequires
significantindependenteffortandeffectiveteammanagementskills.

Thepremiseofthecourseisthatyouwilldevelophypothesesrelatingtopotentialcustomers,their
problemsandhowyoumightsolvethese.Youwillruntestsonthesehypothesesandvalidate,kill
orpivottodevelopabusinessmodel,whichislesslikelytofail.Thisprocesswillalsohelpyou
identifythespecificationsforyourminimumviableproductsothatyoudonotwastetimebuilding
featuresthatpeopledonotcareaboutorwillnotpayfor.

Eachteamwillkeepablogthroughoutthecourseandallstudentsarerequiredtocontribute
actively.ThisishowyourProfessorsandindustrymentorswillknowwhatyouaredoing.Itmakes
consultationsandfeedbackmuchquicker.Youwillnothavetimetoverbalizeyourupdates.

OnLabevenings,youshouldplantospendthefullandallottedclasshoursmeetingwithyourteam.
YourassignedtimewiththeProfessorscouldbeearly,midorlateintheevening,butasyouareall
scheduledtobetogetheratthistimethenitiswellsuitedtomakingprogresstogether.

Howwillmygradebedetermined?
Term1assignments:

Lab2

5%

Lab3

5%

Presentationatendofterm1

20%

Term2assignments:
Initialbusinessplan

10%

Initialprototypeandtechnicalreport

10%

Individualpaper(bookreport)

10%

Finalprototype&engineeringdocumentation

15%

Finalbusinessplan&gotomarketdoc

15%

Finalpresentation

10%

TOTAL

100%

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Participationandstudentcontributiontotheirteamisarequirementforsuccessinthiscourse.
Intragroupevaluationswillbeconductedfourtimesduringthecourseyourpeerswithinyour
teamwillassessthelevelofcontributionofeachmember.Feedbackfromthefirst3peer
assessmentswillbeprovidedtostudentssotheymaycontinueorimprovetheircontribution,as
appropriate.Thefinalassessmentwillnotgodirectlytostudentsbutbeconsideredbythe
Professorsasaninputtogradingdecisions.Poorpeerevaluationmayaffectyourindividualgrade
significantly(uptoafailinggradepossibility),relativetothegradeofthegroup.Ifallgroup
memberscontributeequallythenthereshouldbenoneedforadjustments,butlowinvolvementor
freeridingbehaviourwillbepenalized,aswellasincompleteorinadequatefeedback.Wetakethis
seriouslyasthecourseispredominantlygroupbased.However,historically,wehavemade
relativelyfewadjustments.
Attendance:
Attendanceisexpectedatallclasses.Classesarescheduledfrom69.30pmandthisshouldbeyour
priorityonTuesdays.Therewillbeasigninsheetforallclasses.Overthetwotermseachstudent
willbeallowedonefreepassforanypurpose.Otherwise,unlessitistorepresenttheNVDclass
atapreapprovedcompetition,orforanillnessaccompaniedbyadoctorsnote,studentsmissing
classwilllose5%fromtheirfinalgrade,foreachoccurrence.
Professionalbehaviour:
Treatthisasabusinessmeeting.Inclass,youshouldhaveyourphonesonsilentandputaway.
Laptopsshouldbeclosedunlessyouarespecificallyusingthemforaclasspurpose.Youshould
arrivetostartontimeandshouldrefrainfromwalkinginandoutwewilltakeformalbreaks.
Studentsareexpectedtobeactivelyinvolved.Youshouldlooktoaddvaluetotheclass
conversation.
Teams:
Themajorityofcourserequirementsarecompletedinteams.Teamswillbeselfselectedattheend
ofclass3thoughwedorequireabalanceofengineeringandbusinessstudentsinagroup.Ifthere
areanyproblemsinthegroup(e.g.,freeriders,groupmembersbeingchronicallylate,etc.)the
groupmembersshouldfirsttrytoresolvetheissuethemselvesandiftheproblemisnotsufficiently
resolved,onlythenshouldthegroupmakeoneoftheinstructorsawareoftheissue.Eachteamwill
sign,submitandadheretoateamagreement.Moreinformationonthiswillfollow.

IndividualAssignment
Thisassignmentrequiressignificanttimewithrespecttoreadingabookcenteredin
entrepreneurship.StudentsmustchooseabooktoreviewduringNovemberandaftertitleapproval
isobtainedprovideacriticalanalysisofthebooksvaluetoentrepreneurs.Afullerbriefingwillbe
forthcomingonthecoursesite.Thesubmissionisdue,Feb23rd2016.

Blogs
Teamblogsarethemandatorymechanismusedbystudentstodocumentandcommunicatetheir
teamsprogress.Eachstudentisrequiredtocontributetotheteamblog.Detailsforblogsignup
willbeprovidedalongwithaspecifiedsingleformat.Thecontentoftheblogshouldincludeatleast

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oneupdatefromeachteammemberineachiterationoftheprojectbetweenlabreviews,identifying
theirpersonalactivityplanandoutput,andhowitfitswiththeteamprogram.Additionally,team
memberareencouragedtocontributeadditionalposts,suchas:a)mypersonalactivityplanforthe
weekb)learningreflectionsontheweek.Inparta)studentsshouldbelayingouttheirforwardplan
atthestartofaweek,clearlynotingtheirpersonalresponsibilitiesandhowthisfitswithoverall
teamgoals.Towardstheendoftheweektheyshouldincludeawriteupofwhattheyactuallydid
andmovetopartb),reflectionsonlearningfromtheweek.Thiscanbeabouttechnicalorteam
processoracademiccontent.Dontlooktopadthismakeitsuccinctanduseful.Pointformis
fine.Visualsaregoodconsiderapastingaphotoofyourwhiteboarddiscussionsaroundakey
issue,etc.Embeddingimages,andslidedocstoviewwithintheblogratherthanasdownloadshelps
usabilityforeveryone.Notallstudentswillnecessarilyposteveryweek,butyoushouldaimtobe
proactive.Thinkofthisasaliving,collectivejournalthatishelpfulasarecordforallteam
members.

Conferencesandcompetitions
Anumberofbusinessplancompetitionshavebeenidentified.Teamswillbeprovidedinformation
regardingthesecompetitionsandareencouragedtothinkaboutinvolvementandparticipation.
Somefundingisavailablethroughthecourseendowmenttosupportstudentparticipationin
conferences.Fundingdecisionswillbemadeonacasebycasebasis.

FinancialEndowment
ThecoursehasreceivedafinancialendowmentfromKenSpencer.Thisfundinghasenabledusto
provideeachstudentteamwithabudgetof$2,000.00tobeusedindevelopingaproductprototype
andconductingnecessarymarketresearch.Additionalfundswillalsobeprovidedtofacilitate
studentparticipationinbusinessplancompetitions.Theprocessforaccessingthesefundswillbe
explainedintheearlystagesofthecourse.Practically,thisseedfundingwillgetyoustarted,but
youshouldthinkintermsofleveragingthistowinprizemoneyatinitialcompetitionssothatyou
canthenenterandtraveltoadditionalcompetitions.

CourseWebsite
Wewillbeusingaprivatecoursebloghttp://blogs.ubc.ca/comm466apsc486newventuredesign/
integratedwithConnect.YouwillgetautoenrolledsothatafterfirstaccessingConnectyoucan
thensimplygototheblogexceptforassignmentsubmissionandthegradebook.Coursematerials,
classpreparationbriefingnotes,andcommunicationsfromProfessorstoallstudentswillbe
managedinthecourseblog.
Onhttp://nvd.ubc.caandhttp://design.engineering.ubc.ca/designcourses/newventuredesign/we
maintainapublicfaceofthecoursewithsomehistoryandpastprojects.
Thee@ubcwebsite:[email protected],
informationandlinkstoexternalevents.Wedirectallsuchinformationtothissiteratherthan
duplicating,andsoyouareencouragedtocheckitregularly,and/orsubscribetotherelevanttwitter
feed.

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Venue
ThedefaultvenueisDL009(externalentranceisbehindandbelowWhiteSpot,nexttoSauder),
butsomeoftheclasseswilltakeplaceinKaiser2020.
Labspace
All team have access to dedicated lab space in the Ken Spencer lab, McLeod 458. Access is
controlledbyafob.Detailswillbegivenaroundthe2ndclass.

ContactInformation?

Inweeks1to3,whenemailingoneoftheProfessorsyoushouldroutinelyccalloftheother
Professorsinvolvedinthiscourse.Typically,oneofuswillrespondtoanyoneenquiry.Afterweek
3,teamswillbeformed,andeachteamwillbeassignedtoapairofProfs.Inthefirstinstancea
teamshouldemailbothoftheirassignedleadprofs,andalsoccallofyourteammates.Pleasetitle
youremailheadersclearly:NVD:,teamnumber,andbriefsubjecttopic.Thebestapproaches
involvelinkingtoapostinyourteamblog.Iftheinstructorssupervisingyourteamthinkthatitis
appropriatetoconnectoneoftheotherfourProfsthentheywillmakethatconnection.Pleasedonot
routinelysendnotestoallProfsonceteamsareformed,norpolltheprofsinparallel.

Instructors:allinstructorswillbereachedifyouuse:[email protected]

PaulCubbon
PhilippeKruchten
[email protected]
[email protected]
(604)8273199emailpreferred
(604)8275654

BlairSimonite
TonyHodgson
[email protected]
[email protected]
(604)7234788
(604)8223240

JonasAltman
TamaraEtmannski
[email protected]
[email protected]
(604)6715395
(604)8273045

6updatedAug31st2015

CLASSSCHEDULE

Legend:HA=HenryAngusbuilding,andDL=DavidLambasement(belowHenryAngus)
KAIS=Kaiserbuilding,2332mainmall,room2020+2030
AllclassesonTuesdayfrom6pm.Keepyourscheduleopenuntil9:30.
TERM1

Classweek
anddate

Topics

Venue

week1
Sept8

Introtocourse
Activitiesrelatingtoteamformation

Kaiser2020

week2
Sept15

BusinessModelCanvas
CustomerDiscovery
IdeationProcess
Googlepatentsasresearch

DL009/005

week3
Sept22

ValuePropositionCanvas
Teamformation

DL009/005

week4
Sept29

LAB1:initialventureideas

DL009/005

week5
Oct6

Marketresearch:secondaryandprimary

DL009/005

Week6
Oct13

BusinessModels
Maps(3)oncustomerinsights

DL009/005

Week7
Oct20

LAB2:secondroundofventureideas

DL009/005

week8
Oct27

Prototyping
IntrotomanagingIntellectualProperty(IP)

DL009/005

week9
Nov3

LAB3:finalroundofventureideas

DL009/005

week10
Nov10

Productdesign,fabrication,manufacturing
Technologyroadmaps

DL009/005

week11
Nov17

Gotomarketplan
CompleteRHSofbusinessmodelcanvas

DL009/005

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week12
Nov24

LAB4:nailingdownyourventure

Term1presentations

DL009/005

week13
Dec1

Teambuilding
introtovideoproduction

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TERM2

Week14
Jan5

LAB5

Week15
Jan12

Financialprojections:revenue,costs,drivers

Week16
Jan19

Presentationskills

Kaiser2020

Week17
Jan26

Financialprojections:canvasLHS,costsandrevenue
projections

Week18
Feb2

LAB6:prototype

Week19
Feb9

NVDalumniguestandroundtable

Winterbreak

noclassonFeb17

Week20
Feb23

LAB7:prototype

Week21
Mar1

Valuations,captables.

Week22
Mar8

Elevatorpitchandvideopresentations

Week13
Mar15

Projectfair

Week24
Mar22

Funding:governmentgrants,angelinvestors,venture
capital

Kaiser2020

Week25
Mar29

LAB8:Finalpresentation

Week26
Apr5

Openhouse

Kaiser2020