• Demonstrate your understanding of information technologies in terms of how they are designed and how they function in a range of public and private sector settings.
• Define, understand, critique and apply at least one perspective of a business model.
• Employ a framework to assess and improve the strategy and competitive advantage of an Internet venture.
• Understand several fundamental concepts of IT product management
• Engage actively in a classroom discussion to examine and question theories and examples.
• Demonstrate your ability to work with a team to apply these theories to existing and new ventures and to concisely and persuasively present a critique.

Today’s economic landscape is shaped by innovative Internet companies that successfully exploit business models and strategies. These business models adhere to predictable and generalizable patterns and theories. This course teaches you those patterns and theories, illustrated by contemporary examples, so you can design your own Internet business and critique the business models of existing Internet companies. We will also relate business models, economics, and strategies directly to information technologies. Some business models only work with some kinds of technologies.

Every week we will discuss one theory, and one example from my experience with Internet startups in Silicon Valley. We will also study two full cases and two mini-cases during the course. However, this is not a lecture course. Instead, we will examine and question these ideas through discussion, debate, and team exercises. I encourage you to offer your own experiences and wisdom, although no prior experience in Internet startups is necessary.

These theories include the pricing of information goods, the sharing economy, the network effect, the Lean Startup Method, and metrics for managing an Internet venture. Concepts around information technology include the Internet of things, agile software development, stages of product management, types of business- and consumer-oriented software applications, and cloud computing.

Because the Internet is now pervasive in almost every venture in almost every part of the world, the theories in this class are not just helpful for those considering careers in technology-focused firms. They are relevant and impactful for every type of business, from companies that sell solar lanterns in Tanzania to government entities attempting to improve constituency services. Moreover, these concepts do not just apply to entrepreneurs considering a new venture. They are also useful to product managers and marketers within large firms who are constructing or analyzing a new product offering.

The Preliminary Assignment asks you to arrive in the first class with a diagram of a given venture’s business model canvas (readings will help you complete this). For the Mid-term Assignment, you will form teams with your classmates to critique the business model and strategy of an existing business. In the last class, as part of the comprehensive review, you and your team will present the business model and strategy for a new Internet venture. In the final written example, you will apply the theories from the course to a new example.

Preparation for each class consists of readings and videos of contemporary examples (from a few years to a few days old!), as well as chapters from strategy-focused books.

Preliminary Assignment: To help students get maximum value from ISUP courses, instructors provide a reading or a small number of readings or video clips to be read or viewed before the start of classes with a related task scheduled for class 1 in order to 'jump-start' the learning process.

The timetable is available on http://

Cases*:

Dropbox by Thomas R. Eisenmann; Michael Pao; Lauren Barley. Harvard Business Publishing.

Palm (A): The Debate on Licensing Palm's OS (1997) by Kevin Boudreau; Ramon Casadesus-Masanell; Jordan Mitchell. Harvard Business Publishing.

Palm (B): 2001 by Ramon Casadesus-Masanell; Kevin Boudreau; Jordan Mitchell. Harvard Business Publishing.

Binnj on the Apple iPad, 2011, by Derrick Neufeld; Ken Mark. Harvard Business Publishing.

Books and Articles:

Osterwalder, A., Pigneur, Y., Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers, John Wiley & Sons, 2010. Only chapter 1 required, which is provided as a free PDF on the authors’ website, www.businessmodelgeneration.com

Maurya, A. (2012). Running Lean: Iterate from Plan A to a Plan That Works: O'Reilly Media.*

Anderson, Chris. (2009). Free: The Future of a Radical Idea. Hachette Book Group.*

Porter, M. and J. Heppelmann (2014) “How Smart, Connected Products Are Transforming Competition” Harvard Business Review, November 2014.

Blank, S. (2013). Why the lean start-up changes everything. Harvard Business Review, 91(5), 63-72.

Sarasvathy, S. “What makes entrepreneurs entrepreneurial?” Free from the author’s website, effectuation.org

*requires purchase.