COURSE NUMBER: EWMBA295T-1

COURSE TITLE: Customer Development in High Tech Enterprise

UNITS OF CREDIT: 2 Units

INSTRUCTOR: Steve Blank and Rob Majteles

E-MAIL ADDRESS: blank@haas.berkeley.edu or Rob Matjeles

CLASS WEB PAGE LOCATION (HTTP URL):

MEETING DAY(S)/TIME: Monday, 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

PREREQUISITE(S): EWMBA295A or permission by instructor

CLASS FORMAT: Seminar

REQUIRED READINGS:

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE: 
Students will be graded on class attendance and participation, as well as on the plan and presentation. The course will combine lectures, readings, case materials and regular class involvement by entrepreneurs and business professionals. Well-prepared and intellectually engaged students are essential for the class to succeed.

ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:
This course is about how to successfully organize sales, marketing and business development in a startup. (For the purpose of this course, a "startup" can either be a new venture, or an existing company entering a new market. Both must solve a common set of issues: Where is our market? Who are our customers? How do we build the right team? How do we scale sales?) These issues are at the heart of the "Customer Development" process covered in this course.

This class provides insight and concrete lessons into what is it that makes some startups successful and leaves others selling off their furniture. The course is built around the premise that startups that survive the first few tough years do not follow the traditional product-centric launch model. Through trial and error, hiring and firing, successful startups all invent a new, parallel process to product development for sales, marketing and business development. In particular, startups that succeed and thrive invent and live by a process of customer learning and discovery called "Customer Development."

The Customer Development process for launching a new product into a new market are the antithesis of the well-honed Product Management rules observed by large companies. Indeed, following Product Management rules are a recipe for failure when it comes to a startup in a new market.

The "Customer Development" process is now being adopted by leading Silicon Valley venture capital firms to successfully organize sales, marketing and business development for their portfolio companies.

This course describes the "Customer Development" model in detail; it will challenge your perception of the traditional sales, marketing and business development roles and leave you with a new way to view and organize these roles.

Requirements:
Understanding the fundamentals of writing a business plan (covered in Entrepreneurship 295A) would be helpful.

The main requirement for the course will be the development of a written sales, marketing and business development (Customer Development) operating plan. Students will work together, in teams of at four, to develop a Customer Discovery, Validation and Creation model (i.e., a plan for market research, an initial sales strategy, and demand creation activities) for a startup. This plan will cover understanding customer needs and matching them with product features, research product distribution channels, create a sales roadmap for early customers, and a demand creation and sales plan for mainstream customers. It will also include detailed sales and marketing checkpoints and financial projections and an oral presentation of that plan.

Students will be graded on class attendance and participation, as well as on the plan and presentation.

The course will combine lectures, readings, case materials and regular class involvement by entrepreneurs and business professionals. Well-prepared and intellectually engaged students are essential for the class to succeed. The plans will be presented in class, and subject to class discussion, the team will submit a self critique of their approach and the changes they would anticipate encountering upon implementation.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:
Robert J. Majteles: Rob is the founder and managing partner of Treehouse Capital LLC, an investment firm focused on making growth investments in mid- and late-stage micro-cap public technology companies. Prior to launching Treehouse, Rob was a successful CEO of three different high tech companies. Prior to leading these companies, Rob was a merchant banker and a mergers and acquisitions attorney. Majteles received a law degree from Stanford University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University.

Currently, Rob is on the Board of Directors of Adept Technology, Inc. http://www.adept.com (OTCBB: ADTK), a leading manufacturer of flexible automation for the semiconductor, life sciences, electronics and automotive industries; Artisoft, Inc. http://www.artisoft.com (NASDAQ:ASFT), a leading provider of software-based telephone systems; World Heart Corporation http://www.worldheart.com (OTCBB: WHRTF, TSX: WHT), a medical device company focused on the development and commercialization of pulsatile ventricular assist devices; Unify Corporation http://www.unify.com (OTCBB: UNFY.OB), a provider of software production solutions that help companies deliver robust and reliable web and business applications; and BigFix, Inc. www.bigfix.com a developer of software for automating hardware and software maintenance. In addition, Rob is a Lecturer at the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley and is a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Head-Royce School, Oakland, California.

Steve Blank is a “retired” serial entrepreneur and private investor. Steve has been a founder or participant in eight Silicon Valley startups since 1978. Steve’s last company E.piphany (NASDQ: EPNY) started in his living room in 1996.

Steve’s other startups include two semiconductor companies (Zilog and MIPS Computers), a workstation company (Convergent Technologies), a supercomputer firm (Ardent), a computer peripheral supplier (SuperMac), a military intelligence systems supplier (ESL) and a video game company (Rocket Science Games). These startups resulted in five IPO’s, and three very deep craters. Steve’s operational roles have spanned the gamut from CEO to VP of Marketing.

Steve is currently writing a book about the methodology of sales and marketing in high-tech startups and is lecturing at the Haas School at U.C. Berkeley in the entrepreneurship program.

Steve serves as a director on the boards of three high-technology companies: Macrovision (NASDAQ: MVSN) and Immersion (NASDAQ: IMMR) as well as a bioinformatics/drug discovery company, Pharmix, and the advisory board of CafePress. In addition, he serves on the board of Audubon California and the Pescadero Conservation Alliance.