Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (“ETA”) will give students frameworks and real world solutions to use if they decide to pursue an acquisition of and lead a company. The class will walk through the life cycle of a typical path toward finding and running a business including information on fund formation, raising capital, searching for a company, buying a business, leading that business and then ultimately selling it. Approximately half of the course will go through critical points leading up to buying a business, while the other half will address some of the key issues executives face while running a company (identifying metrics, communicating with a team, interviewing, handling HR issues, etc). Although the main focus will be on buying and running a business, the class is designed to be applicable to many other career paths including private equity, venture capital, entrepreneurship, and general management.
The class will utilize cases, assignments and or/ readings in each lecture along with speakers who will give real life techniques that they use to excel in the particular area that the class is structured around. Optional sessions before or after class offer excellent learning opportunities that complete assignments and in-class exercises.
We hope everyone comes fully prepared for lively discussion and debate. Attendance is mandatory and will be factored into the class participation grade. There will be cold calling to encourage a variety of perspectives and please be prepared for role playing, at any point in the class, as Professors Littell and Walker strongly believe in trying to make some of the concepts as applicable as possible. Grading here will be based primarily on the quality of the ideas with which you bring to class. Most class meetings will have guest speakers as “real life” entrepreneurs and investors are critical to the understanding of class material and frameworks. Active involvement and engagement with the guest speakers will be factored into the class participation grade.
