Course Overview

There are certain points in a venture’s development where entrepreneurs need the most help: certainly at startup; but very often, entrepreneurs run into major challenges when they try to grow. Therefore, mentors need to be prepared to work with entrepreneurs at this stage, to help them assess growth opportunities; learn how to manage cash for growth; and develop the required organizational capabilities. Tools for Growth is a unique, hands-on course, developed in partnership with London Business School, under the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Program. The various modules of this course team faculty with entrepreneur participants to apply the tools taught. In the process thy help entrepreneur participant with developing action plans to address growth challenges.

Objectives

Graduates are expected to mentor and run short-duration courses for growth-stage entrepreneurs, helping them address key issues and build organizations to scale. They will be able to add advanced programs to institutional offerings, particularly around business modeling. They should be able to work on the following topics:
•    Discovering and assessing opportunities for growth
•    Managing cash for growth
•    Developing a growth mindset
•    Developing the organizational capabilities for growth
•    Developing and refining your business model
•    Evaluating opportunities for acquisition

Course Structure:

The Mentor Development Courses are the most intense courses offered in entrepreneurship education. They are designed specifically to enable participants to work effectively with entrepreneurs, and to produce concrete results. Courses therefore include much more than classroom work, and cover several modules:

Module 1 – Tools For Growth, classroom work, 3 days
Module 2 – On ground mentoring and support by NEN Consultants, to help execute plan (6 months)
Module 3 – Dry Run Workshop, managed by NEN Education, co-taught by 4 – 5 participants for students
Module 4 – Resource Bureau, to help recruit entrepreneurs for a workshop taught by Graduate

Tools for Growth culminates in a workshop that is organized and taught, or co-taught, by the Graduate for a minimum of five entrepreneurs.

Faculty

John W Mullins Associate Professor of Management Practice in Entrepreneurship, London Business School

Business School Prof. John Mullins brings to his teaching and research 20 years of executive experience in high-growth firms. He founded two ventures, one of which he took public. His two defining books for entrepreneurs, The New Business Road Test and Getting to Plan B, have received rave reviews; INC, America’s top entrepreneurship magazine, has listed Getting to Plan B as one of the best books for business owners. Prof. Mullins’s research has won him national and international awards from the Young Presidents’ Organization, Marketing Science Institute and the Richard D. Irwin Foundation. He earned his MBA at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and his PhD in Marketing from the University of Minnesota.

* Not all courses are offered every year please check the NEN Faculty Development Course Calendar 2012/2013 for the availability of this course. Additionally, you may write to , or sign up on nenonline.org for the latest course updates.