Seminar: Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship (F)
Course content
High technology entrepreneurship forms an important component in entrepreneurial capitalism in which entrepreneurs along with a number of other actors seek to create value through radical, rather than incremental innovation in terms of the development and - in particular - the practical application of new technologies and new business models. The internet, laptops, social media, smart phones, electric (EV) cars and most recently mRNA-vaccines (Covid-19) are all examples of technologies being commercialized through high technology entrepreneurship. High technology entrepreneurship is also a significant driver of economic growth, research & development, employment and capital investments. The management of high growth venture has emerged as an integral but distinct discipline in corporate management and strategy, in which the focus is on outcomes rather than processes.
High technology entrepreneurship involves assessing opportunities and risk in many dimensions, and obtaining financing is often an essential aspect. Timing in relation to maturity of technology and value creation opportunities are key factors in raising and using capital as is valuation and the proper design of incentives.
Emphasis will be placed on current practices and mechanics. Although the seminar will take a practical approach to the topic area, students may choose to develop papers using a more theoretical approach. Regulation and public policy issues will be discussed as appropriate. Students are to submit commitment papers for approval by the instructor and are encouraged to work freely developing project papers related to the topic.
Some themes which might be of interest and form the basis for exam papers:
- Idea generation and rapid prototyping
- Opportunity assessment and testing
- Managing the entrepreneurial venture
- Stages and timing of venture financing, milestones, platform or company?
- Valuation and risk assessment using the venture capital method, discounted cash flows and real options
- Conflicts of interest and alignment of incentives
- Build to exit or long-term ownership and financial returns
- The role of family firms in high growth ventures
- Venture capital as an ownership and governance model
- Various exit routes such as trade sales, IPOs or private equity
- Sustainability and high technology entrepreneurship
- Regulation of technologies and venture capital and the potential benefits and costs of regulation
- Effects of high technology entrepreneurship on the economy and the wider society
- Strategies for promoting high technology entrepreneurship
The course is a part of the financial line, signified by (F)
The seminar is primarily for students at the MSc of Economics.
In addition to the learning outcome specified in the Master curriculum the student is after completing the seminar expected to be able to:
- identify key issues, structure and present arguments and
complete a timely analysis of an issue using appropriate tools and
methodologies while providing practical recommendations for either
public policy or business purposes within the parameters set by the
formal requirement for seminars.
- Students are expected to work freely and independently towards analyzing the issues related to their papers with a practical application and recommendation for action in mind. Identifying and applying appropriate litterature, actual businesses and other sources are seen as being an integral part of the learning outcome, as is the ability to effectively communicate such findings orally as well as in writen form.
At the seminar the student is trained independently to
- identify and clarify a problem,
- seek and select relevant literatur,
- write a academic paper,
- present and discuss own paper with the other students at the
seminar.
The aim of the presentations is, that the student uses the
presentation as an opportunity to practice oral skills and to
receive feedback. The presentations is not a part of the exam and
will not be assessed.
Mandatory activities in the seminar:
- Kick-off meeting
- Finding literatur and defining the project
- Writing process of the seminar paper
- Presentation of own project and paper
- Giving constructive feedback to another student´s paper
- Actively participating in discussions at the presentations and
other meetings.
There is no weekly teaching/lecturing and the student cannot expect
guidance from the teacher. If the teacher gives a few introduction
lectures or gives the opportunity for guidance, this as well as
other expectations are clarified at the kickoff meeting.
Process:
It is strongly recommended that you think about and search for a
topic before the semester begins, as there is only a few weeks from
the kick-off meeting to the submission of the project description/
agreement paper.
The seminar project paper must be uploaded in Absalon before the
presentations, as the opponents and the other seminar participants
have to read and comment on the paper. It is important that you
upload a paper that is so finalized as possible due to the fact
that the value of feedback and comments at the presentation is
strongly associated with the skill level of the seminar paper.
After the presentations, you can with a few corrections improve the
seminar paper by including the feedback and comments emerged during
the presentations. It is NOT intended that you rewrite or begin the
writing of the full project AFTER the presentation has taken
place.
Suggested literature:
Seelig, Tina (2012). A Crash Course on Creativity. Harper and Collins, New York
Ries, Eric (2011). The Lean Start Up. Penguin Random House, UK
Mullins, John W. (2006). The New Business Road Test. FT Prentice Hall
Osterwalder, Alexander & Pigneur, Yves (2010). Business Model Generation. John Wiley & Sons
Drucker, Peter F. (1985 or later). Innovation & Entrepreneurship. Elsevier
Baumol, J. William & Litan, Robert E. & Schramm, Carl J. (2007) Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism and the Economics of Growth and Prosperity. Yale University Press
Thomsen, Steen & Conyon, Martin (2012). Corporate Governance – Mechanisms and Systems. DJØF Publishing
Andersen, Thomas K. (2015 or later). Private Equity – Transactions, Contracts and Regulation. DJØF Publishing
Suggested supplimentary literature: Standard textbooks on management, strategy, corporate finance, accounting, and valuation. Financial newspapers/platforms such as Børsen, Wall Street Journal and Financial Times. Social media platforms.
it is highly recommended that students have some grounding in finance and related topics such as governance and management at the B.Sc or M.Sc. level. Among the B.Sc. courses; “Corporate Finance & Incentives”, “Strategic Management” and “Business Economics”.
BSc in Economics or similar
Schedule of the seminar Fall 2022:
- Kick-off meeting:
September 8, 15:15-17:00
- Extra meetings / introductory teaching / guidance:
September 15, 15:15-17:00
- Deadline for submission of commitment paper / project
description:
September 29, at 10:00 (am)
- Deadline for uploading a seminar assignment paper in Absalon:
November 3, at 10:00 (am)
- Presentations:
November 17, at 10:00 (am)
- Exam date: 20 December at 10.00 (am) - latest uploading of
Seminar paper to the Digital Exam portal for assessment.
NB: The seminar was formerly called: Entrepreneurial Finance and
Technology Ventures
All information regarding the seminar is communicated through
Absalon including venue. So it is very important that you by
yourself logon to Absalon and read the information already when you
are registered at the seminar.
Informal oral feedback will be provided on a continuos basis
during class discussions – individually and collectively, prior to
classes, during class breaks and following classes.
Students may also email the instructor for feedback on their papers
within reason.
Peer feedback will be an important component, given the seminar
form.
For enrolled students: More information about registration, schedule, rules etc. can be found at Master (UK) and Master (DK).
More information about seminars is available at Seminars (UK) and Seminars (DK).
Read about the study programme and curricula at MSc in Economics
- ECTS
- 7,5 ECTS
- Type of assessment
-
Written examination
- Type of assessment details
- A seminar paper in English that meets the formal requirements
for written papers stated in the curriculum of the Master programme
and at KUNet for seminars.
__ - Aid
- All aids allowed
for the seminar paper.
The teacher defines the aids that must be used for the presentations.
__
- Marking scale
- 7-point grading scale
- Censorship form
- External censorship
__
Criteria for exam assessment
Students are assessed on the extent to which they master the learning outcome for the seminar and can make use of the knowledge, skills and competencies listed in the learning outcomes in the Curriculum of the Master programme.
To receive the top grade, the student must with no or only a few minor weaknesses be able to demonstrate an excellent performance displaying a high level of command of all aspects of the relevant material.
- Category
- Hours
- Project work
- 186
- Seminar
- 20
- English
- 206
Kursusinformation
- Language
- English
- Course number
- AØKK08420U
- ECTS
- 7,5 ECTS
- Programme level
- Full Degree Master
- Duration
-
1 semester
- Placement
- Autumn
- Schedulegroup
-
and venue:
Go to "Remarks"
Exam and re-sits: Go to "Exam" - Capacity
- Max. number of classes: 2 / Max. students in each class: 16
- Studyboard
- Department of Economics, Study Council
Contracting department
- Department of Economics
Contracting faculty
- Faculty of Social Sciences
Course Coordinator
- Søren Hovgaard (16-7a76796c753577356f767d6e6868796b476c6a767535727c356b72)
Teacher
Søren (Peter) Hovgaard (soren.p.hovgaard@econ.ku.dk)
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