VALUE PROPOSITION, BUSINESS MODELS & BUSINESS PLAN
SPRING ELECTIVE COURSE
2012_13 Seminar
Professors:
- Frederic ISELIN (Phone: 01 39 67 74 46 ; [email protected])
- Bertrand LIMOGES (Phone: 01 40 76 99 16 ; [email protected])
Administrative coordination: Fabrice Graff (extension 72 20; [email protected])
OBJECTIVES
1. To understand the difficulties inherent in developing an entrepreneurial activity, which go far
beyond merely coming up with a good idea and raising funds. Indeed, this requires turning –
through intense analytical, planning and field work – the concept of an activity into a successful
economic reality.
2. To learn how to draw up a Business Plan. A viable opportunity is not enough to succeed. Above
all this opportunity should rest upon a competitive advantage (a value proposition) that is both
clear and sustainable in its environment, and is built on a relevant business model. It must also
be made into a full, detailed business plan enabling the entrepreneur to validate the opportunity
operationally as well as economically. This business plan is a required reference document in
order to gather the necessary funds, resources and agreements for its implementation.
3. To become familiar with the different types of value proposals and business plans; to know how
to analyze them and assess how relevant and how robust they are.
4. To be capable of carrying out a genuine and pertinent risk analysis for a project and infer the
consequences on the financial forecast (building the financial model and different possible
scenarios).
5. To know under what conditions the necessary resources – in particular financial resources - to
drawing up a business plan can be obtained, whether they come from the risk capital or from
the support company itself.
COURSE ORGANISATION AND PEDAGOGICAL METHODS
Pedagogical methods will be the following: presentation-debate by the professors (3 sessions), case or
Business Plan analysis (4 sessions) and testimony (1 session).
The class will be divided into 6 groups, each with a number. These groups will be made up in the weeks
leading up to the seminar.
Each group must complete, according to the schedule detailed below, 2 presentations of Business Plan or a
case analysis in front of the whole class.
EXPECTATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Attendance and punctuality:
We expect students to attend and participate actively in the sessions. We accept that you might
exceptionally be unable to attend a session, provided you send the professor prior email notification, and
that you are not scheduled to make a group presentation during the session in question.
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Pedagogical material:
We take for granted that you have read (and given some thought to) all documents (case, BP, technical
notes, chapter of the book) for any given session. But we only require in-depth preparation from students
who are scheduled to give a group presentation for the session in question.
Case presentations:
Two different groups will be scheduled to give a presentation in front of the class for each case relative to
sessions 2, 3 and 8. This presentation should be as professional as possible, as would be given by a consulting
firm. The breakdown of cases per team is given in the schedule below.
The presentation may, at your discretion, be given by one or several students from the group. It should not
exceed 15 minutes, therefore encouraging you to express your ideas in a concise manner and leaving enough
time for an in-class discussion. This presentation should include a clear analysis of the situation and of the
data, a summary, and a detailed recommendation (solution).
You must hand in a paper copy of the slides at the end of the session at the latest (or send them by email),
along with any notes you might wish to make.
EVALUATIONS
• In-class presentations: 60 %
• Attendance: 40 % (not attending a session welcoming a Guest Speaker will count double)
PROFESSORS
Frederic Iselin is affiliate Professor at HEC Paris and Director of HEC Entrepreneurship Center.
He holds a PhD in Management Science, an HEC Executive MBA and a Master’s degree in Innovation
Marketing. He teaches at HEC in the graduate, MBA, Executive MBA and Masters programs as well as at
Ecole Polytechnique.
Throughout his career he has spent fifteen years working in the field of new technologies, setting up and
managing two ground-breaking companies.
Frederic Iselin is also a certified mediator for the Paris Centre for mediation and arbitration (intercorporate conflicts), and works as an expert for Oseo Innovation. He also acts as a « business angel ».
He published « Entrepreneurs, managers, vendez-vous assez cher ? » (L’Harmattan, 2010), « Strategor »
(collective, Dunod 2009), and “Accompagner le créateur – la nouvelle donne de l’entreprise innovante »
(with T. Bruhat, Chiron, 2003).
Bertrand Limoges is a « Partner » at Innovation Capital, a venture capital fund managing €422m in IT, Life
Science and Cleantech. After graduating from the Paris Institute of Political Science (1996) and HEC (2000),
Bertrand Limoges started his career first as an industrial analyst, then as Investments Director for Viventures,
a Vivendi group investment fund. In this capacity, he funded and supported several innovating companies in
software and Internet sectors. Among other skills, he is specialized in the analysis of the competitive dynamic
in sectors related to information technology.
SCHEDULE AND PROGRAM
Thursday, May 16th - 1 – 1:30–4:40pm
Value Proposition (F. ISELIN)

Presentation based on a document available on F. ISELIN’s website

Reading for sessions 1 to 3: Why Business Models Matter (article J. MAGRETTA)
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Wednesday, May 17th - 2 – 9:40–11:50am
Which Business Model? (B. LIMOGES)
Preparation work:

Fuzzygame Presentation: group 1

Wonder Presentation: group 2.
Tuesday, May 28th - 3 – 1–3pm
Business Model and resource combination (B. LIMOGES)
Preparation work:

HR Net Presentation: group 3

STB Presentation: group 4
Thursday, May 30th - 4 – 1–3pm
Business Plan Design and Funding (F. ISELIN)

Presentation – debate based on a document available on F. ISELIN’s website

Reading: The HEC Business Plan Guide
Tuesday, June 4th - 5 – 1–4:10pm
Business-plan funding sources and financial engineering (B. LIMOGES)
Presentation based on a document available on F. ISELIN’s website
Wednesday, June 5th - 6 – 11-12:30am
Evaluation of the business plan for a new venture (F. ISELIN) and Guest Entrepreneur TBD
Reading: Risk analysis, application to Business Plan (note M. SANTI)
Thursday, June 6th - 7 – 1-3pm
Business Plan auditing (F. ISELIN)
Preparation work:

BP genOway Presentation ): groups 5

BP ZPMN Presentation: group 6
Tuesday, June 11th - 8 – 1-4:10pm
Selling your business plan to investors: Guest Entrepreneur TBD (+ F. Iselin)
The 6 topics to deal with are: “Market definition and analysis” (team 1), “Assets (incl. Team)” (team 2), ”Value
Proposition” (team3), “Business model” (team 4), “ Financials” (teams 5) and “Formal aspects” (teams 6).
Don’t go fishing for additional information; Use our Guest Speaker’s presentation as the only source.
Each Team will have to make a presentation (including BP’s Pros & Cons), in front of our Guest Speaker, including
recommendations to improve his BP. Don’t hesitate to be challenging!
None of the presentations should exceed 5’.
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