SMLP - Southern Management Leadership Program

SMLP470 Fundamentals of Entrepreneurial Ventures (3 Credits)

Learn the processes and skills needed to launch and manage start-up ventures, including technology startups. Assess the feasibility of a startup ventures, as well as how to apply best practices for planning, launching, and managing new companies by using real-world examples and in-depth case studies. Discuss a wide range of issues of importance and concern to entrepreneurs and learn to recognize opportunity, assess the skills and talents of successful entrepreneurs, and learn models and approaches that help navigate uncertainty.

Restriction: Restricted to students in the Southern Management Leadership Program.

Credit Only Granted for: HLMN470, SMLP470, ENES460 or BMGT461.

Formerly: HLMN470.

Additional Information: SMLP470 may not count toward any BMGT major or minor degree.

SMLP471 Entrepreneurial Finance (3 Credits)

Examine the elements of entrepreneurial finance, develop and analyze financial statements, focusing on technology-based startup ventures and the early stages of company development. Address key questions that challenge all entrepreneurs: how much money can and should be raised; when it should be raised and from whom; how to define a reasonable valuation of a company; and how to structure funding, develop employment contracts, and make exit decisions. Analyze the variety of financing models across a venture's life cycle, with an aim to understanding the incentives of each type of investor and the relative costs and benefits of each source of funding.

Restriction: Restricted to students in the Southern Management Leadership Program.

Credit Only Granted for: HLMN471, SMLP471, ENES466 or BMGT365.

Formerly: HLMN471.

Additional Information: SMLP471 may not count toward any BMGT major or minor degree.

SMLP472 Strategies for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (3 Credits)

Understand the process of technological change; the ways that firms come up with innovations; the strategies that firms use to benefit from innovation; and how to create new value not only through new products or services, but with novel technologies, business concepts, organizing structures, transaction/financing mechanisms, distribution channels, and market segmentation. Challenge students to think about how to create value and build a productive business organization with available resources (e.g. intelligence, insight, energy, initiative and personal relationships).

Restriction: Restricted to students in the Southern Management Leadership Program.

Credit Only Granted for: HLMN472, SMLP472, BMGT467, or ENES463.

Formerly: HLMN472.

Additional Information: SMLP472 may not count toward any BMGT major or minor degree.

SMLP473 Consulting in Tech Entrepreneurship (3 Credits)

Apply the entrepreneurship/business principles learned in the classroom to real-world consulting projects. Gain practical experience by solving actual business situations and by dealing with ambiguity and uncertainty inherent in fast-moving technical organizations. Develop key skills in negotiation, group dynamics, organization, and planning.

Restriction: Restricted to students in the Southern Management Leadership Program.

Credit Only Granted for: HLMN473 or SMLP473.

Formerly: HLMN473.

Additional Information: HLMN473 may not count toward any BMGT major or minor degree.

SMLP474 Essentials of Negotiations and Marketing for Entrepreneurs (3 Credits)

Building on the innovation and entrepreneurship knowledge acquired in previous SMLP courses, this team-taught course will equip students with the experience to conduct successful negotiations and bring an innovation to market. In the first half of this course, you will learn more about your individual negotiation style and practice the skills and techniques essential to a successful negotiation. You will then apply some of those skills, along with the human-centered mindset cultivated in previous SMLP courses, to introduce an existing product to the marketplace by identifying the promotion, distribution, and pricing tactics that meet the preferences of the intended target market. The course will conclude with a live presentation of your comprehensive go-to-market strategy to a panel of real investors, followed by a mock negotiation for an investment in bringing that product to market.

Restriction: Must be in the Southern Management Leadership Program.