Download fin 394 14-venture captl fellows prog -nolen

Fin 394.14
Man 385.14
Venture Fellows Program
Fall Semester 2009
Class Time: Tuesday 6:30-9:00, MSB Conference Room
Professor: Jim Nolen
Office: GSB 4.126G
Phone: 471-5798 office
699-1803 cell
E-mail: [email protected]
Course Description:
The program involves a practicum (internship) with a commercial firm or other organization operating in
the private equity market and weekly lectures. The practicum is arranged with local venture capital or
buyout firms, Austin Technology Incubator (ATI), Clean Energy Incubator (CEI), or an agent or advisor in
the private equity market. Students are not limited to local organizations if the responsibilities of the
practicum allow for remote completion of assignments to the satisfaction of the partner firm and the
professor. The weekly lecturers are provided by McCombs faculty or guest lecturers and cover topics
related to identifying investment opportunities, researching industries, screening business plans,
negotiating and structuring investments, managing portfolio companies, raising capital for a fund or
exiting investments. The lecture schedule for the fall and previous spring semester is included in this
syllabus. The course is student led in which the officers and director of venture fellows help select
lecture topics and speakers, match internships with venture fellow student’s interests, and interview
and select the succeeding venture fellows class in the fall of each year.
Course Objectives:
The primary objective of the course is to introduce students to cross-functional concepts important to
the investment decision-making process and management of business enterprises. Students are also
provided with an opportunity to apply these concepts in actual investment decisions and management
of businesses.
The course provides the student with an opportunity to integrate and apply the concepts from the
major functional areas in business. Because the content varies each semester (later stage private
equity in the fall and earlier stage venture capital in the spring), the course may be taken multiple times.
Course Requirements:
The practicum activities typically require a minimum of 10 hours per week internship at a partner firm
and are based on a schedule set by the students and the sponsor firm. The weekly lecture is typically
scheduled for 2-3 hours and will meet this semester in the 6th floor MSB conference room starting at
6:30 each Tuesday evening during the fall semester. Students are expected to actively participate in the
practicum that they registered for and to attend the weekly lectures. A course packet is produced in the
spring semester of readings that will also pertain to the fall semester course as well.
The number of students admitted to the practicum is limited by the number of sponsoring firms for the
practicum, typically 15-20 positions per semester. First year MBAs are invited to apply to the Venture
Fellows program and are selected by the current second-year Venture Fellows through a competitive
format that includes interviews and a case analysis. Once selected in the fall semester, new Venture
Fellows will begin their practicum in the following spring semester (second semester of their first year)
and will continue the practicum in the fall semester (first semester of their second year).
Grading Policy:
Grading for the course is based on an evaluation of each student’s activities in the practicum this is
completed at the end of the semester by managers at the sponsoring firm and a presentation or written
report on the activities of the student’s practicum. The presentation or report provides students with
the opportunity to share with classmates and to demonstrate mastery of concepts that have been
covered in the weekly lectures. The Venture Fellow’s Director will also provide a peer review of each
Fellows’ attendance at weekly lectures and other Venture Fellow’s activities including recruiting and
screening new fellows, community outreach programs and fellowship activities.
PRIVATE EQUITY
FALL 2009
Date
1-Sep-09
8-Sep-09
15-Sep-09
22-Sep-09
29-Sep-09
Topic
Private Equity
Overview - Fund
Structures,
Candidate Selection,
Operations, and
Incentives
Private Equity Fund
Raising/Transaction
Execution
Venture Fellows
Recruiting Evening
Capital Markets Leveraged Finance,
Mezzanine Debt, and
Private Placements
Expertise
Diversification;
Target Capital
Structure; Hedging
Commodity Risk;
Problem
Investments;
Strategies for Growth
Title
Firm
Robert Parrino
Professor of Finance
McCombs School
of Business
Jack Cardwell
Partner
Blue Sage
Jim Nolen, Moderator:
Speakers
Professor
Jeff Tusa
Lathrop Smith
Mccombs School
Hunt PE Group
Focus Strategies
Devon Russell
Managing Director
Madison Capital
Funding LLC
Jason Downie
(former VF)
Partner
HM Capital
Partners
Chief Executive
Officer
Homeaway
MIDTERMS
6-Oct-09
13-Oct-09
Speaker
Growing and
Operating a PEBacked Business
Brian Sharples
20-Oct-09
Financial Modeling
Ryan Foley (Former VF)
Vice President
Westlake
Securities
27-Oct-09
Restructuring
Brian Cejka & Chris
Sears (Former VF)
Managing Director,
Vice President
Alvarez Marsal
3-Nov-09
Sector Focused PE
David Miller
Partner & CoFounder
ENCAP
10-Nov-09
Key Terms for VC
Investing
Matt Lyons
Partner
Andrews Kurth
17-Nov-09
Mock Term Sheet
Negotiation
Andrews Kurth
Partners & VCs
Andrews Kurth
24-Nov-09
TBD
Thanksgiving Week
1-Dec-09
Risk Management
Tom Meredith
Founder & General
Partner, Former
CFO: Dell & MOT
Meritage Capital,
L.P.; MFI
Venture Capital
Spring Semester 2009
28-Jan-09
VC from the Entreprenuer's Perspective
/ Seeking Funding
Joe Liemandt, CEO,
Founder of Trilogy Software
4-Feb-09
Angel Investing
Jamie Rhodes, Perceptive Sciences; CTAN
11-Feb-09
How to Evaluate Potential Investments
Rudy Garza, G51 Capital
18-Feb-09
VC: The Fund Raising Process and
Managing LPs
Jay Campion, Access Venture Partners
25-Feb-09
Roles and Responsibilites at a VC Firm
Charlie Dean, Silverton Partners
4-Mar-09
Sweat Equity: How Sweet Is It?
Clayton Christopher, Sweet Leaf Tea Founder
25-Mar-09
Governing & Working w/ Portfolio
Companies in VC Investing
Bill Wood, Silverton Partners
2-Apr-09
Kauffman Fellowship
Stephen Straus, Texas Ventures
9-Apr-09
War Stores and other Ramblings with
the Admiral
Admiral B.R. Inman, Limestone Ventures
16-Apr-09
Forming an Emerging Company / Legal
Aspects of Entrepreneurship
Matt Lyons, Andrews Kurth
23-Apr-09
Founders Formation Negotiation
Andrews Kurth
30-Apr-09
Structuring the Cap Table and related
Issues
Tom Ball, Austin Ventures
7-May-09
Exit Strategies
Robert Parrino, Professor of Finance,
McCombs School of Business