ENG-SCI TBD
Taking ES30 recommended, but not required.
Kent Bennett, Josh Lerner
Description: Entrepreneurial businesses, particularly those involving advanced scientific and engineering elements, face daunting challenges while raising money. First, the financing structures used are frequently complex, with terminology that obscures rather than clarifies their basic features. Second, many founders do not understand the strategic tradeoffs associated with funding businesses through bootstrapping, customer financing, angels, and/or venture capital. Finally, financing markets change rapidly over time and vary across industries, frequently leading to inflated expectations and disappointments. This class will shed light on this challenging territory, highlighting how great startups are funded. While primarily intended for aspiring entrepreneurs, it should also be of interest to students who seek to be involved with funding entrepreneurial firms, whether in a role at a venture firm, investment bank, or incubator. As such, it will seek to get “inside the shoes” of both entrepreneurs and financiers, understanding both their concerns and the ways in which commonly used financial instruments do and do not address them. The curriculum will build on the curricula of two popular and well-established Harvard Business School classes, “Entrepreneurial Finance” and “Venture Capital and Private Equity.” The curriculum will include case studies, lectures, and panels with practitioner guests.