Principles of Business Management Semester 2

Enrollment Message

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Course Description

Students hear a lot of contradictory advice in life. On one hand, they may hear something like “Follow your dreams. Pursue your passion and the money will come!” On the other hand, they may hear something completely opposite, like “Most startups fail! It’s much safer to get a safe, steady job.” So which side is right? Given the massive changes to the economy and society, the skills of entrepreneurship are going to be critical in building a lasting career. The entrepreneurial mindset of searching for opportunities, creating value, and solving pain points will always be valuable. And this mindset applies not just to starting a business, but in any organization that someone is a part of - school, established companies, or non-profits. In this course, students will explore how to use this mindset to create the next world-class startup.

• Counts as a directed elective or elective for all diplomas

Course Goals

Upon completion of the course, students will…

• define what a co-founding team is and describe the typical roles and responsibilities of key founding members (CEO, CTO, Product, support, CFO, CMO, Sales, board/advisors).
• describe ways of researching and networking to find and build a co-founding team.
• understand the methods that businesses use to recruit, train, and develop human resources.
• outline the components of a company’s culture and describe ways as the founder to create and foster a startup’s culture.
• evaluate the company Coinbase and describe its challenges in building a team to meet its growth.
• describe the strategies for marketing a startup on a limited budget.
• compare the challenges of marketing a startup versus marketing established products.
• describe social media and online marketing.
• acquire information to guide business decision-making.
• evaluate the startup company Spotify and describe how it used marketing strategies to grow its business.
• describe the key components of a startup pitch deck (problem/solution, vision, timing).
• describe the key components of a startup pitch deck (financials, total addressable market, competition, uses of funds).
• identify and define the key numbers and terms that an investor will expect in a pitch deck.
• create a pitch deck of a fictional company.
• evaluate the pitch deck of the asteroid mining company Deep Space Industries.
• evaluate the pros and cons of traditional sources of funding for a startup, including self-funding, family/friends, loans, venture capital).
• discuss relatively newer forms of raising capital, such as incubators, accelerators, and crowdfunding.
• define key terms related to raising capital for a startup (valuation, pre/post-money, series A, B, C, rounds).
• describe the challenges and opportunities of working with a venture capital investor.
• evaluate the company VIPKid and its multiple rounds of fundraising.
• describe social/impact/non-profit entrepreneurship and ventures.
• differentiate between the serial entrepreneur and the entrepreneur focused on building a lifetime company.
• select a harvesting strategy that matches the entrepreneur's desired goals regarding the business venture.
• re-evaluate career possibilities as an entrepreneur and working within a startup vs. a large company.
• examine the history of Amazon and its growth from a startup to a global technology giant.

Indiana Academic Standards

• Next Level Programs of Study Competencies

Units of Instruction

• Unit 6 Building a Team
• Unit 7 Marketing a Startup
• Unit 8 Writing a Pitch Deck
• Unit 9 Raising Capital
• Unit 10 Possibilities and Opportunities

Grading/Evaluation

Indiana Online does not assign letter grades, grant credit for courses, nor issue transcripts or diplomas. A final score reported as a percentage of total points earned will be sent to students upon completion of a course. Your school of record can also access this score within the Student Information System, Genius. The final score will be shown as a percentage in Canvas and Genius. The student’s school of record will determine the letter grade based on their specific grading scale.

Students must complete at least 70% of the course and take all parts of the final exam(s) to have a score reported to their school of record. Failure to meet these requirements will result in a score of 0 reported to the school of record.

Assessments

Online assessments consist of formative and summative assessments represented by computer-graded multiple choice, teacher-graded writing assignments including hands-on projects, model building and other forms of authentic assessments. The course includes the following assessments_

• 16 Discussions
• 15 Assignments
• 7 Quizzes

The assessments for this course are weighted as follows_

Teacher Contact Response Time

Students can use email or the private message system within Genius or Canvas to access highly qualified teachers when they need teacher assistance. Students will also receive feedback on their work inside Canvas. The Teacher Information page of their course may describe additional communication options.

The teacher will respond to student inquiries (email, text, call) within one business day. Assignments will be graded and posted within two business days.

Expectations for Academic Conduct 

Student Handbook 

It is your responsibility to read the student handbook to understand all aspects of taking an online course including expectations for academic conduct. Contact your teacher if you have any questions. 

Assistance for Students with Accommodations

Indiana Online supports an inclusive learning environment for all students. If there are aspects of the instruction or design of this course that hinder your full participation, such as inaccessible web content, or the use of non-captioned videos and podcasts, reasonable accommodations can be arranged.

Technology

Technology Requirements 

Students will require a computer device with headphones, a microphone, webcam, up-to-date Chrome Web Browser, and access to YouTube. Please review the Indiana Online’s Technology Requirements.

Technical Skills Needed 

Basic technology skills necessary to locate and share information and files as well as interact with others in a Learning Management System (LMS), include the ability to

• download, edit, save, convert, and upload files
• download and install software
• use a messaging service similar to email
• communicate with others in online discussion or message boards, following basic rules of netiquette
• open attachments shared in messages
• create, save, and submit files in commonly used word processing program formats and as a PDF
• save a file as a .pdf
• copy and paste and format text using your mouse, keyboard, or an html editor’s toolbar menu
• insert images or links into a file
• search for information within a document using Ctrl+F or Command+F keyboard shortcuts
• work in multiple browser windows and tabs simultaneously
• activate a microphone or webcam on your device, and record and upload or link audio and/or video files
• use presentation and graphics programs
• follow an online pacing guide or calendar of due dates
• use spell-check, citation editors, and tools commonly provided in word processing tool menus
• create and maintain usernames and passwords

Technical Questions?  Please contact the Indiana Online Helpdesk.