MAI622: AI Entrepreneurship

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MAI622: AI Entrepreneurship - Course Topics

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Module 1: Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and AI
Topic 1.1 Key Concepts of Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Learning Objective:
  • Understand the requirements of MAI622.
  • Understand the key challenges of becoming an entrepreneur.
  • Recognize and describe key concepts and terminology related to the nexus of innovation, research and start-ups.
Readings:
Videos:
Topic 1.2 Technological Innovation Ecosystems
Learning objective:
  • Understand and analyze the concept of Innovation Ecosystems and the relationship between Research, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship.
  • Become familiar with the historical evolution of AI Technology.
Readings:
Videos:
Topic 1.3 Teams and Ideas: team formation, idea selection and development
Learning Objective:
  • Form your teams of 3-4 people and brainstorm on the idea each team will work on.
  • Be familiar with online resources for entrepreneurship, start-ups and innovation.
  • Be familiar with some basic collaboration, communication, and ideation tools: Trello, Slack, SimpleMind.
  • Understand the value of mentorship and seek a mentor.
  • Familiarity with the C4E Makerspace and the Thinker Makerspace of CYENS Center of Excellence..
  • Understand the exploitation routes that you can take with your idea.
  • Understand the value of prototyping your idea.
  • Identify, define, describe, design and assess ideas for your startup.
  • Understand the Sprint methodology of how to solve problems and test new ideas in five days.
Readings:
Additional Readings:
Team formation and roles Tools for Ideation, Coordination, Prototyping and Execution How to get ideas? Techniques for selecting ideas Lists of open problems seeking innovative solutions
Videos: How to evaluate ideas and brainstorm about them?
Topic 1.4 From invention to commercial product: Disclosure, Novelty, Competition, Risk
Learning objective:
  • Understand, describe and apply the key stages of turning an invention (or idea) into a commercial product (or company). In particular:
    • Disclosure and confidentiality. Non-disclosure agreements.
    • Novelty and prior art.
    • Competition and market potential.
    • Risk assessment.
  • Understand the exploitation routes that you can take with your idea.
  • Identify, define, describe, design and assess ideas for your startup.
  • Understand Intellectual Property (IP) issues.
  • Identify how to record and protect your IP.
  • Understand the purpose an value of prototyping your idea.
  • Ways to protect your idea: Licensing, Copyrights, Patents, Trademarks, Design registration.
  • Patenting strategies.
Readings:
Videos:
Module 2: Business Modeling
Topic 2.1 Business Model Canvas
Learning Objective:
  • Understand the concept of Business Model and its key constituents.
  • Recognize and apply the Business Model Canvas methodology to develop a business model.
  • Understand, recognize and explain the concepts of multi-sided markets, platforms, SaaS, the Gig economy and the “attention” economy, and network effects.
  • Understand and explain the Business Model Canvas methodology.
  • Understand innovative Business Model Patterns and apply them to your idea.
  • Appraise techniques to help you design Business Models.
  • Understand the significance of Business Models.
  • Understand, analyse and apply Freemium, Bait & Hook and Open Business Models.
Readings: Additional Readings:
  • The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon. Brad Stone, Corgi, 2014.
  • Platform Revolution: How Networked Markets Are Transforming the Economy and How to Make Them Work for You Geoffrey G. Parker, Marshall W. Van Alstyne, Sangeet Paul Choudary. W. W. Norton & Company, 2016.
  • The Platform Economy by Jennifer L. Schenker, Medium (Jan. 2019).
  • The Passion Economy and the Future of Work by Li Jin, Andreessen and Horowitz (Oct. 2019).
Videos: Additional Videos:
Topic 2.2 Mission Statement
Learning Objective: Understand how to prepare a mission statement for your company and create meaningful mission statements.
Videos: Evaluating ideas
Topic 2.3 AI Companies
Learning Objective:
  • Understand the opportunities arising because of the advances in AI technology.
  • Understand and explain the particular characteristics and challenges of AI companies.
  • Recognize and describe some key concepts, terminology you need to know and questions you need to ask, to be able to take advantage of machine learning and AI for the benefit of your business.
Readings:
  • Ash Fontana, "The AI-First Company: How to Compete and Win with Artificial Intelligence." Penguin, 2021.
  • Kai-Fu Lee and Chen Qiufan, "AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future." Currency, 2021.
  • Cade Metz, “The Genius Makers: The Mavericks Who Brought A.I. to Google, Facebook, and the World.” Random House Business, 2021.
  • Eric Topol, “Deep Medicine: How Artificial Intelligence Can Make Healthcare Human Again.” Basic Books, 2019.
Videos:
  • Is there any space for more e-commerce or gig-economy startups? An interesting presentation by James Mi, Founding Partner of Lightspeed China Partners (LCP), a leading China-focused early-stage venture capital firm (2018). Entrepreneurship and VC Investments in China, YouTube, 2018.
  • What about platforms for matching students with tutors and delivery of tutoring over the Internet? Check the interview of Cindy Mi, founder and CEO of VIPKID, with the Y Combinator (2019).
Module 3: Disciplined Entrepreneurship
Introduction to 24 Steps
Topic 3.1 Disciplined Entrepreneurship: Overview of 24 Steps
Learning Objective:
  • Understand and explain the 24 steps of the Disciplined Entrepreneurship concept.
  • Download, review, read, and become familiar with the Disciplined Entrepreneurship Workbook Worksheets.
  • Understand and apply some principles on how to work in a group, pursuing an entrepreneurial idea.
Readings:
Videos:
Theme 1: Who is your customer?
Topic 3.2 Steps 1, 2, 3: Market Segmentation
Learning Objective:
  • Understand, explain, and implement the Steps 1-3 of the DE methodology:
    • Market Segmentation
    • Beachhead Market Selection
    • Building End-User Profiles
  • Understand the importance of customer understanding in the entrepreneurial pursuit.
  • Understand, explain and implement market analysis.
  • Know how to do market segmentation.
Readings: Additional Readings: “UX for Lean Startups.” Laura Klein, O’Reilly, 2013.
Videos:
Topic 3.3 Steps 4, 5: Beachhead Market Analysis and End User Profiling.
Learning Objective: :
  • Understand, explain, and implement the Steps 4, 5 of the DE methodology:
    • Total Addressable Market (TAM) Size for the Beachhead Market
    • Persona for the Beachhead Market
    • Building End-User Profiles
  • Understand the concept of and identify your beachhead market.
  • Understand the concept of the Total Addressable Market (TAM) and calculate the TAM size of your beachhead market.
  • Build and analyze an end-user profile.
  • Create the persona for your Beachhead Market.
    • Readings:
    Videos:
    Topic 3.4 Lean Product Methodology Overview.
    Learning Objective:
    • Review the Lean Product Methodology
    • Understand the concept of Value Proposition and learn how Lean Methodology addresses Market Segmentation and identifies underserved customer needs.
    • Get ready to define your Persona.
    Readings:
    • Chapters 1-3 (Determine your Target Customer), 4 (Identify Underserved Customer Needs). The Lean Product Playbook, Dan Olsen. Wiley, 2015.
    Videos:
    Theme 2: What can you do for your Customer?
    Topic 3.5 Steps 6, 7: From Use Case to Product Specification.
    Learning Objective:
    • Understand, explain, and implement the Steps 6, 7 of the DE methodology:
      • Full Life Cycle Use Case
      • High-Level Product Specification
    • Be able to develop a full life cycle use case for your product.
    • Produce a high-level product specification.
    Readings and Resources:
    • Chapters 6, 7. Disciplined Entrepreneurship by Bill Aulet, Wiley 2013.
    Videos:
    Topic 3.6 Step 8: Value Proposition.
    Learning Objective:
    • Understand, explain, and implement Step 8 of the DE methodology: Quantify the Value Proposition
    • Quantify your value proposition.
    • Define the Core of your value proposition.
    Readings and Resources:
    Videos:
    Theme 1: Who is your customers?
    Topic 3.7 Step 9: Identify your next 10 customers.
    Learning Objective:
    • Understand, explain, and implement Step 9 of the DE methodology.
    • Identify at least 10 potential customers, besides your Persona, who fit the End User Profile.
    • Understand and apply methodologies for exploring customer needs.
    • Understand and apply Lean methodologies for defining your value proposition.
    • One-to-one mentoring about your idea.
    Readings:
    Theme 2: What can you do for your Customer?
    Topic 3.8 Steps 10, 11: Definition of Core and Competitive Position
    Learning Objective:
    • Understand, explain, and implement the Steps 10, 11 of the DE methodology:
      • Define your Core
      • Chart your Competitive Position
    Readings and Resources:
    • Chapters 10, 11. Disciplined Entrepreneurship by Bill Aulet, Wiley 2013.
    • The Startup Scorecard for product opportunity evaluation.
    Videos:
    Theme 3: How does your customer acquire your product?
    Topic 3.9 Steps 12, 13: How does your Customer Acquire your Product?
    Learning Objective: :
    • Be able to determine the Customer's Decision-Making Unit (DMU) (Step 12).
    • Be able to design and perform the process to acquire a paying customer (Step 13).
    • Undertake the sales process (Step 18).
    • Identify follow-up markets and estimate their size (Step 14).
    • Understand how to reach customers and build your brand.
    Readings:
    Videos:
    Theme 6: How do you scale your business?
    Topic 3.10 Step 14: TAM Calculation for Follow-on Markets
    Learning Objective: :
    • Identify follow-up markets and estimate their size (Step 14).
    Readings:
    Videos:
    Theme 4: How do you make money off your product?
    Topic 3.11 Steps 15, 16, 17: Business Model, Pricing Framework, LTV Calculation
    Learning Objective: :
    • Understand the significance of Business Models.
    • Explore and develop Pricing Frameworks.
    • Evaluate the Lifetime Value of an Acquired Customer.
    Readings:
    Theme 3: How does your customer acquire your product?
    Topic 3.12 Step 18: Sales Process
    Learning Objective:
    • Understand, Explain, Plan and Undertake the sales process (Step 18).
    • Review experiences regarding sales and marketing for startups.
    • Understand the concept of up-selling and analyze how to expand from the beachhead to adjacent markets.
    Readings:
    Videos:
    Theme 4: How do you make money off your product?
    Topic 3.13 Step 19: Cost of Customer Acquisition
    Learning Objective: :
    • Calculate the Cost of Customer Acquisition (COCA).
    Readings:
    • Chapters 19. Disciplined Entrepreneurship, Bill Aulet, Wiley 2013.
    Videos:
    Theme 5: How do you design and build your product?
    Topic 3.14 Steps 20, 21: Identifying and Testing Key Assumptions
    Learning Objective: :
    • Identify and test key assumptions driving your product design.
    • Understand and explain the key concepts of the Lean Startup Methodology.
    • Produce specifications of your Minimum Viable Product (MVP).
    • Plan the development of your Minimum Viable Product (MVP) prototype.
    Readings:
    Videos:
    Topic 3.15 Steps 22, 23: Minimum Viable Business Product
    Learning Objective: :
    • Define the Minimum Viable Business Product (MVBP).
    • Test and Evaluate the MVP and the MVBP with Customers.
    • Apply Pivoting to Improve Product-Market Fit.
    Readings:
    • Chapters 22, 23. Disciplined Entrepreneurship, Bill Aulet, Wiley 2013.
    Videos:
    Topic 3.16 Lean Startup and Lean AI Methodologies
    Learning Objective:
    • Review the Lean Product Methodology
    • Get ready to define your Persona.
    Readings:
    • Chapters 1-3 (Determine your Target Customer), 4 (Identify Underserved Customer Needs). The Lean Product Playbook, Dan Olsen. Wiley, 2015.
    • Chapters 9 (Test your MVP with Customers), 10 (Iterate and Pivot to Improve Product-Market Fit). The Lean Product Playbook, Dan Olsen. Wiley, 2015.
    Videos:
    Theme 6: How do you scale your business?
    Topic 3.17 Scaling your Business
    Learning Objective: : Learn, explain and implement the development of a Product Plan.
    Readings:
    • Chapter 24. Disciplined Entrepreneurship, Bill Aulet, Wiley 2013.
    Videos:
    • Growth by Alex Schultz, , How to Start a Startup?, Y Combinator.
    Module 4: Pitching and Fund-Raising
    Topic 4.1 Pitching
    Learning Objective:
    • Prepare and deliver pitches to investors.
    Videos:
    Topic 4.2 Start-up Financing and Fundraising.
    Learning Objective: :
    • Describe and explain the different types of funding for a new company.
    • Understand the terminology of funding and the series of funding.
    • Identify sources of funding for your startup.
    Readings:
    Videos:
    Pitch Day! Final Team Presentations
    Time and Venue: TBA. PAS01 Building, Room B101 ("Walk-in" Lab).