Sho rt Description of the Course
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In this course students will evaluate against commercial criteria a
prototype commercially oriented web site. This will be, where
possible, a site designed and implemented by the student; otherwise
a site chosen in consultation with teaching staff. The study centres on
what would be required for the development and commercial
exploitation of the system designed, and the creation and
presentation of a business plan, informed by the system developed,
treating the latter as a prototype for a new project. This is set against
the general context of business practice: entrepreneurialism,
intellectual property, company creation, raising of funding, market
assessment, product development, marketing, etc.; as well as
relevant aspects of the contemporary cultural and philosophical study
of such practices. The course will be based on study of online
resources, with discussion in lecture/seminars, and will be relatively
self-directed.
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At the end of this course students will be able to demonstrate:
- Appraisal of the main issues involved in setting up a commerce system.
- A commercial evaluation of a web-site and prototype system.
- Ability to evaluate a design in a practice and commercial context.
- Understanding of the issues of digital design in a business context.
- Understanding of the general issues involved in setting up an enterprise.
- Ability to formulate and evaluate a professional business plan.
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A commercial evaluation study of an existing system (50%);
Commercial evaluation study. This task is to examine
the business context of the system in question. You
will need to look at user needs, requirements,
aspirations and expectations for the design of the
system; the marketability of any products involved;
the general business environment into which the
system will be commercialized; likely availability of
venture capital; other possible sources of funding; etc.
This study forms the background against which a
specific business plan will be developed. Written work
(approx. 2000-word submissions) will be assessed on the
basis of the insights gained and the professional-ism of the
conduct of the interviews/surveys and the write up. (50%)
Due Date:
Friday 22nd April 2006
3:00 pm
The Postgraduate Office
Alison House.
Business plan (50%)
Business plan. The prototype will have only introduced
the complexities involved in developing a fully
functional interactive system. Clearly such
develop-ment can be a major team exercise, involving
programmers, software engineers, graphic designers,
and marketing experts. You are however well placed
to articulate what would be required to take the
prototype to the next stage, as a robust online
system. Using any insights gained from the previous
tasks, and following the numerous business plan
guides available on the web and elsewhere, construct
a business plan for the further development of your
system. The purpose of the business plan may be to
raise venture capital for a new company that will begin
life with the design and development of the proposed
system, or in some other relevant way to pursue the
commercialisation of the system, based on the
evaluation study. The work will be assessed on the
basis of the professionalism and persuasiveness of
the documentation. (50%)
Due Date:
Friday 1st May 2006
3:00 pm
Postgraduate Office
Alison House.
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Day:
Wednesday
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Time:
between 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm
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Location:
Common Room
Alison House
School of Arts, Culture and Environment,
The University of Edinburgh,
12 Nicolson Square, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
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First Session Details
| Session 1 (21/02/06) |
| Topic: |
Course Introduction, The Internet Gift Society, The Alternative of Entrepreneurship, and Team Formation |
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| Speakers: |
- John Lee: 2:00-2:15(Introduction)
- Richard Coyne: 2:15-4:00 pm( internet gift society)
- Mike Clouser: 4:30-6:00 pm (Focus on the Internet & its startups, Team Formation) |
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| Required Readings: |
Course Syllabus
Google History
Google Culture |
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| Required Website Reviews: |
- Google.com
- Salesforce.com/
- Thebestdesigns.com/58.shtml
- Frontend-multimedia.com/
- Breathewords.com/
- Cd-box.ch/
- Futurefarm.nl/
- Incopel.biz/
- Thrave.com/
- The Digital Marketplace Course Website
- Edinburgh-Stanford Link Website
- Getting Started as an Entrepreneur: A Guide for Students. |
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| Optional Readings: |
- Byers, Section II, Chapter 12: The New Enterprise Organization. pp. 259-286
- Barnatt, C. Cyber Business, Mindsets for a Wired Age. (book).
- Gilles & Calliau. How the Web Was Born (book)
- Bono, Edward. Six Thinking Hats (book)
- Wallace & Erickson. Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire. (book)
- Gates, Bill. The Road Ahead (book)
- Sproull, L, and Kiesler, S. Connections: New Ways of Working in the Networked Organization.
- Hitlz, Starr Roxanne and Murray, Turoff. The Network Nation: Human Communication via Computer (book) |
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| Learning Outcomes: |
- Gain an understanding of the concept of "gift society" as a distinct form of economic activity.
- Form an appreciation of insights to be gained by viewing aspects of internet culture in this light.
- How to form a team under pressure and define roles
- How the course will be formatted |
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| Location Details: |
Common Room
Alison House
School of Arts, Culture and Environment,
The University of Edinburgh,
12 Nicolson Square, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK |
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| Online Resources: |
- Listen to STVP’s: Buzzsaw.com
- Listen to STVP’s: Who Should you Surround Yourself With?
- Listen to STVP’s: How the Internet Changes the World
- Listen to STVP’s: Technology and Social Responsibility
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2nd Session Details
| Session 2 (28/02/06) |
| Topic: |
Creative Intellectual Property, Internet Cash Systems, and Negotiation Skills. |
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| Speakers: |
- Alison M. Ross (Solicitor, Pinsent Masons):
Creative Intellectual Property 2:00-3:00 pm.
- Cameron Leask (Founder, Escrivo): Internet Cash
System 3:00-4:00 pm.
- Mike Clouser (Edinburgh-Stanford Link):
Negotiation 4:30-6:00 pm.
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| Required Readings: |
- Trust
- Security
- Privacy
- Intellectual Property
- Goverance
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| Optional Readings: |
- Byers, Section IV, Chapter 19: Presenting the Plan and Negotiating the Deal. pp. 423-434
- Byers, Section I, Chapter 4, Creating a Strategy, pp. 77-97
- Byers, Section IV, Chapter 20: Leading a Technology Venture to Success, pp. 437-454 |
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| Learning Outcomes: |
-Understand some of the issues involved in intellectual property law
-Gain insight into intellectual property strategy
-Learn basic negotiation skills
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| Location Details: |
Common Room
Alison House
School of Arts, Culture and Environment,
The University of Edinburgh,
12 Nicolson Square, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK |
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| Online Resources: |
- Listen to STVP on Difficult Negotiations
- Listen to STVP on Experimenting |
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3rd Session Details
| Session 3 (7/3/06) |
| Topic: |
Marketing: Innovation, Business Models, and Going Global. |
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| Speakers: |
-Sean Foote (Labrador Ventures): Business Models: 2:00 - 6.00pm
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| Required Readings: |
- MySQL case
- Business Models on the Web |
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| Required Website Reviews: |
- Craigslist.org
- Bitpass.com
- Ebay.com
- Ggoogle.com
- Paypal.com
- Mysql.com/
- Chebache.com
- Guitarmaster.com
- Designchapel.com/
- Mobettah.com.br/
- Zanotta.it/happenings/
- Idustryfilms.com/
- Baseconcept.com/
- Incopel.biz/
- Kylieminogue.it/
- Frontend-multimedia.com/ |
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| Optional Readings: |
- Byers, Section III, Chapter 11: Marketing. pp. 231-256
- Byers, Section I, Chapter 2: Opportunity and Business Summary. pp. 23-54
- Note on Market Research (Stanford University)
- Charles, C. and Brown, K. Multimedia Marketing for Design Firms (book)
- Stern, J. World Wide Web Marketing: Integrating into your Marketing Strategy (book)
- Moore, Geoffrey. Crossing the Chasm (book)
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| Learning Outcomes: |
- Learn how to explore and size a marketplace.
- Learn what a business model is and how to think creatively about one.
- Explore various business models that are specific to internet commerce.
- Analyze and critique business model types
- Deduct the implications of philosophy of community in design and business modeling.
- Learn how digital design can affect ecommerce potential, including word-of-mouth marketing. |
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| Location Details: |
Common Room
Alison House
School of Arts, Culture and Environment,
The University of Edinburgh,
12 Nicolson Square, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK |
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| Online Resources: |
- Elearning design challenge.
- Listen to STVP: How does Google Actually Make Money?
- STVP: Listen to audios on identifying opportunities. |
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4th session Details
| Session 4 (14/03/06) |
| Topic: |
Bootstrapping a Business |
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| Speakers: |
- Kenneth Hess: Bootstrap 2:00-6:00 pm |
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| Required Readings: |
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Bootstrap
by Kenneth Hess
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"Bootstrap Finance: The Art of Start-ups," Harvard Business Review, November-December 1992
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| Optional Readings: |
- Byers, Section II. Chapter 6: Risk, Return, and Product Design. pp. 123-148
- High Stakes, No Prisoners by Charles F. Ferguson
- Mullins, John. The New Business Road Test: What Entrepreneurs and Executives Should Do Before Writing a Business Plan (book)
- Neshiem, John. High Tech Startup (book)
- Sutton, Robert I. Weird Ideas that Work (book)
- Komisar, Randy. The Monk and The Riddle (book) |
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| Learning Outcomes: |
-Appreciate the difficulties encountered by entrepreneurs.
-Learn ways in which some entrepreneurs have overcome these difficulties.
- Explore bootstrapping strategies |
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| Location Details: |
Common Room
Alison House
School of Arts, Culture and Environment,
The University of Edinburgh,
12 Nicolson Square, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK |
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| Online Resources: |
- Listen to STVP's “Bootstrapping: Still a Great Way to Raise Money”
- Listen to STVP's “Education: The importance of Peers”
- Listen to STVP's Learning to Takes Risks (Google's Larry Page)
- The Surge of Social Entrepreneurship: Randy Komisar of STVP |
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5th Ses sion Details
| Session 5 (22/03/06) |
| Topic: |
C2C internet companies, Design, Usability, Project Scheduling and Business Planning. |
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| Speakers: |
- Jessica Hardwick (Founder & CEO, SwapThing): 2:00-6:00 pm
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| Required Readings: |
- "SQL case"
- Navigation
- Web Analytics
- Digital Markets
- Agents
- Auctions
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| Required Website Reviews: |
- Verisim.com
- User Vision
- Amazon.com
- Weather Bug
- Zappos.com
- Market Wire
- Plaxo.com |
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| Optional Readings: |
- Byers, Section II, Chapter 8: Creating New Ventures and the Business Plan, pp.167-183.
- Byers, Section I, Chapter 3: Building a Competitive Advantage, pp. 55-74
- Byers, Section IV, Chapter 17, The Financial Plan, pp. 363-387
- Mitchell, William J. E-topia
- Sanders, K. Digital Architect: A Common-Sense Guide to Using Computer Technology I Design Practice
- Forester, T. Computers in the Human Context: Information, Echnology, Productivity and People (book)
- Giddens, A. The Consequences of Modernity (book) |
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| Learning Outcomes: |
-Learn to see design and functionality from a user’s perspective.
-Learn the basics of project scheduling and costing.
-Develop skills in business planning. |
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| Location Details: |
Common Room
Alison House
School of Arts, Culture and Environment,
The University of Edinburgh,
12 Nicolson Square, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK |
| Online Resources: |
- Listen to STVP's Google's Larry Page on Search Engines.
- Listen to STVP: Google's Eric Schmidt on Creativity.
- Listen to STVP's: How Google Encourages Innovation.
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Optional Networking Session Details
| Optional Networking Session (23/03/06) |
| Topic: |
Networking Session |
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| Speakers: |
- Silicon Valley Guest Speaker: Jessica Hardwick, Founder and CEO, SwapThing
Palo Atlo, California, USA.
- Special Guest and Networking Guru: Lorna Pellet of Graduates for Growth. |
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| Learning Outcomes: |
-How to network strategically in a crowd
-How to give an “Elevator Pitch”
-How to introduce yourself to someone you don’t know
-Learn about business etiquette in social sessions
-How to build your personal brand
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| Location Details: |
Playfair Library
Old College
Central Area
University of Edinburgh
Edinburgh EH8 9YL.
- Map of Old College
- Map of Central Area
- Map of Edinburgh |
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| Online Resources: |
Details |
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