Computer Science 448
Innovating Across Technology, Business, and Marketplaces
Fall 2023


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CLASS SCHEDULE

DATE READINGS SPEAKER/LECTURER NOTES
Introduction
Wen 09/06 JP Singh
Role of the CTO
Mon 09/11 7 Steps: How to Hire a CTO for Your Startup
The Many Roles of a Startup CTO
What Does a Startup CTO Actually Do?
Startup CTO or Developer

Why Build a Startup?
Wen 09/13 Should You Really Be A Startup Entrepreneur?
Why Are You Doing a Startup?
10 Founders on What They Don't Tell You About Building a Startup
Why You Shouldn't Build Your Startup in Silicon Valley-And Where To Do It Instead
Optional reading: The Innovator's Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book That Will Change the Way You Do Business by Clayton M. Christensen
Crush It! Why Now is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion by Gary Vaynerchuk
What to build/Thinking about the Market/Competition
Mon 09/18 Startup KPIs and Balanced Scorecard
The Startup Scorecard
How to effectively determine your market size
How to Determine If There's a Market for Your Business Idea
Lean market research methods: a 4-step guide on how to do market research
Market Research Tips for Startups
Competitive Mindshare Maps
Guest Lecturer: Nader Al-Naji
Optional reading: The Art of the Start 2.0 by Guy Kawasaki
Demand: Creating What People Love Before They Know They Want It by Adrian J. Slywotzky
Defining the Vision, Mission, Strategy
Wen 09/20 The Mission Statement: The Basis for Startups' Strategic Planning
30 Inspiring Billion-Dollar Startup Company Mission Statements
How to define a mission and vision for your startup
The Biggest Startup Strategy Myth (and How to Deal With It)
Guest Lecturer: Zane Lackey Optional reading: Rework by Jason Fried
Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind by Al Ries
Raising money, and Financing Strategy
Mon 09/25 4 Reasons Why Your Startup Should Not Raise Capital
Ways to Raise Money: The Ultimate Guide to Raising Startup Capital
How the World Regulates Equity Crowdfunding
10 Terms You Must Know Before Raising Startup Capital
Getting Creative: 4 Ideas Generating Techniques
18 Best Idea Generation Techniques
19 Top Brainstorming Techniques to Generate Ideas for Every Situation
Guest Lecturer: Keller Renaudo-Cliffton from Zipline
Optional reading: Venture Deals by Brad Feld
Wen 09/27 Financing Options: Convertible Debt
Title III Crowdfunding Became Legal on May 16: What It Does and What's Still Lacking
It's time to Rethink the Startup Pitch Deck (Here's a Start)
Guest Lecturer: Deepika Bodapati
Incorporation and Setting Things Up Right
Mon 10/02 Choose Your Business Structure
Incorporating a Startup
Co-founder Equity Split: A New Framework to Objectively Divide Startup Ownership and Get Back to Building a Business
Defining the Offering
Wen 10/04 The Lean Startup Methodology
Why the Lean Startup Changes Everything
6 things wrong with the 'Lean Startup' model (and what to do about it)
Lean Start-Up, and How It Almost Killed Our Company
Six Keys to Building New Markets by Unleashing Disruptive Innovation
Business Model Canvas: A Complete Guide
Guest Lecturer: Albert Wenger from Union Square Ventures Optional reading: The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Ries
Running Lean: Iterate From Plan A to a Plan That Works by Ash Maurya
Lean Analytics by Alistair Croll
Building the Offering
Mon 10/09 Why Some Startups Say the Cloud is a Waste of Money
A View of Cloud Computing
What are the pros and cons of the waterfall and agile/scrum project management approach?
New research turns the agile vs waterfall debate on its head

Optional reading: The Startup Owner's Manual: The Step-by-Step Guide for Building a Great Company by Steve Blank
Business Model Generation by Alexander Osterwalder
Hiring, Talent, and Culture
Wen 10/11 How to hire the best people you've ever worked with
Whom should you hire at a Startup? (Attitude over Aptitude)
How Netflix Reinvented HR
Why the Annual Performance Review is going extinct
The Measure of a Man
80% of Your Culture is Your Founder
Guest Lecturer: Peter Fenton from Benchmark Capital Optional reading: Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh
Execution: Prioritization, Planning, Data driven, Pricing, Costs, Revenue Models
Mon 10/23 Peanut Butter Manifesto
Checklist Manifesto
How to Prioritize Feature Building on Your Startup
How to Use Data to Plan Your Startup Budget
4 Steps to Launching a Data-Driven Startup
The complete guide to A/B testing​
Guest Lecturer: Dan Levin Optional reading: Scott Galloway blog
Happiness & the Gorilla
Wed 10/25 Pricing Your Product
Startup Pricing 101
Cost Structure Block in Business Model Canvas
The 10 Most Popular Startup Revenue Models
Guest Lecturer: Dan Levin
Distribution: Customer/User Acquisition. Brand.
Mon 10/30 A Complete Guide to Customer Acquisition for Startups
Customer Acquisition Strategy for Startups: 23 Techniques to Win New Customers
8 Components of Branding Your Startup
Guest Lecturer: John Hennessy from Alphabet Optional reading: Traction by Gabriel Weinberg
Intellectual Property
Wed 11/01 What Start-ups Need to Know About Intellectual Property
Patent Strategies of Technology Startups
Patenting Software
Bitlaw
Mon 11/06 Startup Resources
Provisional Application for Patent
Copyright Strategies for Start-Up Companies
Trademarking Principles for Startups: A Brand Managers Guide
Guest Lecturer: Zach Cherian from Iconiq
Mon 11/08
Mon 11/13 Guest Lecturer: Diane Greene, ex VMware, ex Google
Mon 11/15
Mon 11/20 Guest Lecturer: Kelsey Szot from Adept