ENTR 820 | Session 4 | Architectures of Service Innovation

Summary:

ENTR 502 | Session 4 | Value Proposition, Product Development, and the Customer

Summary:

The process of value proposition design focuses on discovering and creating unique benefits for customers by identifying the specific "jobs" they "hire" products to perform in their lives. Using tools like the Value Proposition Canvas, businesses can systematically map customer profiles—including their tasks, pains, and desired gains—against a value map to achieve precise product-market fit. To validate these assumptions effectively, entrepreneurs should build a Minimum Viable Business Product (MVBP), the simplest version of a product designed to test value and secure payment while initiating an iterative feedback loop. Techniques such as "concierging" allow teams to provide personalized, hands-on support to understand unique requirements and "fake it" behind the scenes without initially overspending on complex technology. Finally, a structured Product Plan ensures long-term success by outlining how to expand from an initial beachhead market into adjacent areas, balancing functional enhancements with high-quality releases to achieve a sustainable business model fit.

ENTR 820 | Session 3 | Innovation in Context: Driving Change and Market Evolution

Summary:

Innovation is propelled by a multifaceted interplay of contextual drivers, including financial pressures for efficiency, shifting demographic and market trends, and the rapid advancement of technologies such as AI and robotics. While businesses often innovate to meet rising consumer expectations, regulatory standards, or shorter product life cycles, highly risky and expensive ventures with no immediate return on investment—such as early space exploration—are typically pioneered by governments rather than private capital, which requires a proven business case. Effective innovation management requires understanding the diffusion process of new ideas, balancing the complexity and risks of new systems, and strategically aligning innovations with a firm's core competencies and 'imitability' to ensure long-term profitability. Ultimately, proactive managerial decision-making and the adoption of models like open innovation are essential for organisations to navigate maturing markets and sustain a competitive advantage in a changing global economy.

ENTR 502 | Session 3 | Venturing from Opportunity to Market Validation

Summary:

Successful entrepreneurship begins with identifying a viable market niche or a specific problem to solve, often rooted in personal passion or experienced pain points. Centring a business on customer needs—including functional, emotional, and social requirements—is critical for driving innovation, fostering loyalty, and sustaining long-term growth. Identifying these needs requires a combination of market research, analyzing existing data, soliciting direct feedback, and monitoring social media trends to understand the "who, what, and why" of consumer behaviour. Modern businesses can significantly enhance this process by leveraging machine learning and AI tools to automate routine tasks, perform sentiment analysis, and gain deeper consumer insights at scale. To stand out in competitive markets, founders must articulate a clear product vision and positioning statement that defines their unique benefit and differentiation from existing alternatives. Finally, adopting a Lean Startup approach—prioritising "validated learning" through the build-measure-learn feedback loop—allows entrepreneurs to iterate products rapidly and pivot when necessary to avoid wasting resources on solutions that do not meet market demand

FIN 588 | Session 5 | Roche's Acquisition of Genentech - 2026

In 2008, the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche proposed acquiring the remaining 44% of its fiercely independent biotech subsidiary, Genentech, offering $89 per share in a deal valued at approximately $100 billion.

This strategic move was designed to reduce operational overlap, secure unfettered access to Genentech's substantial free cash flow, and protect Roche's access to an innovative drug pipeline before a key licensing agreement expired in 2015.

However, the acquisition faced a significant valuation impasse when Genentech's special committee rejected the offer as inadequate, countered with a price of $112 to $115 per share, and refused to negotiate downward despite the burgeoning 2008 global financial crisis.

Roche's leadership, including Franz Humer and Severin Schwan, had to navigate the extreme difficulty of securing $44 billion in debt financing during a worldwide credit freeze while fearing that a hostile tender offer might alienate the star scientists and managers central to Genentech's success.

FIN 588 | Session 4 | CEO Compensation - Evidence from the field - 2022

Alex Edmans, Tom Gosling, Dirk Jenter

Summary:

We survey directors and investors on the objectives, constraints, and determinants of CEO pay. We find that directors face constraints beyond participation and incentives, and that pay matters not to finance consumption but to address CEOs' fairness concerns. 67% of directors would sacrifice shareholder value to avoid controversy, leading to lower levels and one-size-fits-all structures. Shareholders are the main source of constraints, suggesting that directors and investors disagree on how to maximize value. Intrinsic motivation and reputation are seen as stronger motivators than incentive pay. Even with strong portfolio incentives, flow pay responds to performance to fairly recognize the CEO's contribution.

ENTR 820 | Session 2 | Understanding Innovation Management

Innovation is far more than a "light bulb" moment of pure creativity; it is a disciplined management process that transforms ideas into tangible value through structured frameworks and integrated scientific, financial, and technical activities.

It encompasses dimensions beyond products, including process, business model, and service innovations, which often provide a more sustained competitive advantage because they are more difficult for competitors to copy.

To succeed, organizations must balance a portfolio of incremental, breakthrough, and radical innovations while fostering a cross-functional environment that integrates R&D, marketing, operations, and external partnerships.

Ultimately, effective innovation management—often conceptualized through models like the Innovation Pentathlon—requires aligning strategy, people, and culture to navigate the "messy" reality of feedback loops, dead ends, and environmental uncertainty.

ENTR 502 | Session 2 | Corporate Structures

A business entity is a legal designation that establishes a company's separate existence. Choosing the right structure is vital because it determines taxation, management frameworks, and the protection of personal assets.

Simple structures such as sole proprietorships and partnerships are relatively easy to form but often involve unlimited liability or lack long-term business continuity.

Conversely, Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) and corporations (C-corps and S-corps) provide greater liability protection, though they differ significantly in tax treatment, ranging from pass-through taxation to the "double taxation" faced by C-corporations.

The formation process generally involves registering with a Secretary of State, obtaining an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS, and ensuring foreign entity registration if the business operates outside its home state.

Furthermore, selecting a jurisdiction such as Delaware, Nevada, or Wyoming can offer additional strategic benefits, including enhanced privacy and more favorable tax laws.