I have been a fan of Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter since 1987 when I was first taught his famous 5 forces model and read his seminal 1980 book Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors which has been reprinted numerous times. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Porter, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porter%27s_five_forces_analysis, www.amazon.ca/Competitive-Strategy-Techniques-Industries-Competitors/dp/0684841487 and youexec.com/book-summaries/competitive-strategy-by-michael-porter)

Linked here is a 70' presentation by Michael Porter from 2015 in which he eloquently covers all the key issues related to business strategy: He describes strategy as competing to be unique, to chose to do things differently as a differentiator or cost leader.  As part of the strategy, the value proposition involves which customers you serve (recognizing that you can't serve them all well and profitably), their need (or perhaps Job-To-Be-Done) and your pricing strategy (or perhaps business model). He goes on to argue that the business strategy should not be a secret but instead be a widely known and shared foundation to help drive decision making on what new avenues to pursue as well as how to make the inherent trade-offs that arise.

Michael Porter's thinking fits well with my entrepreneurial/intrapreneurial emphasis on "Magic" which encompasses doing something differently and business plans which I see as a written manifestation of the business strategy. (no-magic-no-business-opportunity.html  and to-draft-a-business-plan-or-not.html)

The display, details and delivery.

Here's the handout and full PowerPoint with notes and links (video to follow)

www.dropbox.com/sh/g57q7wdckqsn9xv/AAAZWg1LIQGl0Kk5-ugCbbz3a?dl=0

​Rubrics for grading reports and presentations:

the Financial Toolkit for Entrepreneurs, this is an eight-part series that provides an introduction to budgeting, forecasting and fundraising for early-stage entrepreneurs as well as project managers or intrapreneurs working on new projects within an established firm.

The 8 videos and 2 slide sets can be found at:
drive.google.com/drive/folders/1nT7cWMVVqqGLhRR0zHU9x17kf_jLLIS4?usp=sharing

The full course requires between 100-120 minutes to complete.

A. Basic accounting review  26 slides/18.5’
B. Value of budgets and forecasts 14 slides/6.0’
C. Budgeting I: activity-grounded modeling 26 slides/14.0’
D. Budgeting II: assumptions and sensitivity  12 slides/6.2’

E. Longer-term forecasts  13 slides/6.8’
F. Risk and net present value 18 slides/12.0’
G. Fundraising sources and process  11 slides/5.5’
H. Investment  15 slides/8.5’

Additional and optional readings to explore further include:
A
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/financial-statements.asp
https://bench.co/blog/accounting/financial-statements/?blog=e6
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_F6a0ddbjtI
https://www.pwc.com/jm/en/research-publications/pdf/basic-understanding-of-a-companys-financials.pdf
B
https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/modeling/what-is-financial-modeling/
https://startup-buzz.com/how-to-create-successful-financial-models-for-startups/ - 10' read
C
https://go.ey.com/2rRNbzs - 42 minute read - some of which can just be scanned
https://blog.close.com/sales-forecasting-strategies -10 minute read
https://www.businessknowhow.com/startup/salesprojection.htm
D
https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/modeling/what-is-financial-modeling/
https://oakbusinessconsultant.com/mistakes-that-startups-make-in-a-financial-model/
E
https://www.liveplan.com/blog/the-best-way-to-forecast-sales-and-revenue/
https://www.zenbusiness.com/blog/accurate-sales-projection/
F
https://hbr.org/2014/11/a-refresher-on-net-present-value
G
https://www.thebalancesmb.com/sources-of-business-start-up-money-2948109
H
https://www.rocketspace.com/tech-startups/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-startup-fundraising-process  (2,500 words)
https://www.slideshare.net/RichardBayney/calculating-riskadjusted-npv-enpv-the-right-way
http://hexagoninnovating.weebly.com/1/post/2016/04/white-paper-establishing-ownership-ip-rights-and-governance.html (35 minute)
https://www.thebalancesmb.com/how-financial-modeling-helps-startups-4684250

Enjoy the course?
I would very much appreciate your feedback either by
1) Completing the survey under CONTACT US/ FEEDBACK
2) Completing the same survey at www.surveymonkey.com/r/NWH8NMC
3) Emailing duncanjones@hexagon-innovating.ca

You can also add a comment below.
​Thank you,
Duncan Jones

Here is a great 8' video outlining some of the key factors for successful social entrepreneurship, by Barcelona-based venture capitalist Lluís Pareras. I especially like #1.

Also included is Michael Porter's 2013, 16.5' TED talk entitled, "Why business can be good at solving social problems" in which he too argues that businesses generates the majority of resources through profit and that profit allows the solution to scale. Indeed businesses actually generate profits from solving social problems. 

Here are some additional resources related to Sally Osberg & Roger Martin's excellent book: Getting Beyond Better.
My Amazon.ca review:
The sub-title explains the focus of this must-read book well, "how social entrepreneurship works." In "Getting Beyond Better," the authors describe the task faced by social entrepreneurs. It is one of identifying a stable but inherently unjust equilibrium, and developing a solution to "forge a new stable equilibrium that unleashes value for society, releases trapped potential or alleviates suffering" for "a marginalized or disenfranchised segment that has little power to drive political change and limited capacity to pay the cost of an initiative to change." In order to accomplish this task, they outline a number of practical and actionable approaches grounded in for-profit entrepreneurship. This includes obtaining a full understanding of the situation and identifying incentives and levers that provide more value at the same cost or the same value at a lower cost. With numerous detailed examples, the authors outline seven ways this can be approached.
 
https://hbr.org/2015/10/how-social-entrepreneurs-make-change-happen 8' read
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-D5TFVzM8vE 2015 4' video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSazyG6asu8  2016 4' video

A simple case and a corresponding challenge were developed to teach the core criteria required to evaluate an R&D-focused biotechnology company from an investment perspective. Examination of the technology, the commercial opportunity and various financial aspects provides the basis for such an evaluation.