Internet Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice provides participants with both "theoretical" and "practical" exposure to entrepreneurial concepts in Internet-based organizations.

We teach "theory" through readings and presentations on electronic commerce, entrepreneurship, venture capital, new business formation, software development in Internet Time markets, security, Internet business models, and so forth.

We teach "practice" through an online entrepreneurship simulation called VCommerce. In VCommerce, students form companies, develop a stylized business plan, obtain virtual funding, and develop a web site advertising their products and services. Once constructed, these company sites are visited by a hundred or so volunteer users with virtual cash and a week to "spend" it at the site. These users also get the opportunity to review the business plans and "invest" in the companies of their choice. At the conclusion of the week, each company's performance is evaluated, a "virtual IPO" occurs, and both entrepreneurs and users find out how much they're worth, virtually speaking.

This sequence of business formation, planning, site implementation, evaluation by consumers and investors, and final valuation constitutes a single VCommerce "business cycle". Over the course of the semester, there will be at least three VCommerce business cycles, allowing students to work with different partners, replace a bad business model with a better one, refine or replace product ideas, and revise or expand company websites. VCommerce is designed to provide participants with practical, experiential insights into the basic skills of an entrepreneur, which include team formation, market understanding, and strategies for rapid business growth. VCommerce business plans are an interesting blend of "real-world" and "VCommerce world" data and information, which will give you practical experience using online resources for market and industry research.

Prerequisites

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Grading

Meeting place

The course will be broadcast from the Manoa Campus in Kuykendall Room 201. To locate Kuykendall 201, you can use the online University of Hawaii Campus Map. At 4pm on Friday, it may be possible to park in visitor parking behind Kennedy Theater. Take East-West Road to the guard shack, pay 3.00, then turn left. Visitor parking will be on your right and Kuykendall Hall is just a little further down the road on your left.