BUS 219 — Startup Escape Velocity: From Early Idea to Mainstream Success
Quarter: Winter
Instructor(s): Bret Waters
Date(s): Jan 20—Mar 10
Class Recording Available: No
Class Meeting Day: Tuesdays
Class Meeting Time: 7:00—8:50 pm (PT)
Tuition: $625
Refund Deadline: Jan 22
Unit(s): 1
Status: Open
Quarter: Winter
Day: Tuesdays
Duration: 8 weeks
Time: 7:00—8:50 pm (PT)
Date(s): Jan 20—Mar 10
Unit(s): 1
Tuition: $625
Refund Deadline: Jan 22
Instructor(s): Bret Waters
Recording Available: No
Status: Open
Borrowing from physics to make an analogy, "escape velocity" is the momentum required for a startup to get from early traction to mainstream success. It entails crossing the chasm between attracting a niche customer base and expanding a business, which requires keen insight, adaptability, and a robust strategy. This course explores case studies of startups that have faced these challenges head-on and successfully navigated their growth trajectories. Zoom, Venmo, and Zapier all went from a small group of initial customers to millions of mainstream customers with remarkable capital efficiency. We'll examine the tactics these companies have employed to achieve mass market success and the lessons entrepreneurs can learn from their achievements. Through in-depth analysis, students will learn the strategies and patterns that facilitate such transitions, including how new AI tools can accelerate this process.
The primary focus of the course is on commercial ventures, but the core principles also apply to nonprofits, NGOs, and other impact-first ventures.
This course is geared toward those who have taken BUS 217: "Accelerate Your Startup Idea" or a comparable course.
BRET WATERS
Entrepreneur and Silicon Valley Investor
Bret Waters has founded three venture-funded startup companies, built teams, and run the companies through successful exits. He is a former member of Stanford’s Graduate School of Education Advisory Council. He works with social entrepreneurs from around the world at the Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship and is the author of a new book, The Launch Path: Getting from a Startup Idea to a Launch-Ready Venture. Waters received an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern. Textbooks for this course:
(Optional) Bruce Cleveland , Traversing the Traction Gap (ISBN 978-1635766240)
(Optional) Geoffrey A. Moore , Crossing the Chasm, 3rd Edition (ISBN 978-0062292988)
(Optional) Bret Waters, The Launch Path (ISBN 979-8989090402)
(Optional) Geoffrey A. Moore , Crossing the Chasm, 3rd Edition (ISBN 978-0062292988)
(Optional) Bret Waters, The Launch Path (ISBN 979-8989090402)