2122T2 Silicon Valley/Course

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Overview of Project Course

Synopsis

Silicon Valley is at the South Bay portion of Northern California. Palo Alto is it’s epicenter. This is the home to many of the world’s largest technology company (Apple, Google, Intel, HP, Oracle, Facebook, Airbnb) and most interesting startups. It is also where most venture capital investments look to for technology startups. How is it able to attain such success? Is this a case of the Matthew's effect? The successful breeds more success?

Stanford University plays a major role in the creation of these technology companies. In search for the same influence, many universities, including CMU, NUS and NTU, stake a presence in this dynamic environment. Cities try to emulate Silicon Valley's success. Las Vegas, Bangalore, Zhongguancu, and even Singapore. TSM Silicon Valley allows you to experience this culture in an immersive expedition. We plan to visit Stanford, some large technology companies and some interesting startups. There will be some time for sight seeing and cultural visits.

Bill Gates thinks that half of Silicon Valley startups are ‘silly’. Some technics believe students should drop out to start up. Some people think that Silicon Valley is not what it is known to be or in the era of decline. For example, there are views that the App culture is eroding the quality of software coming out of this area. So, why do you want to visit whatever is brewing in the Valley? In the dead winter holiday? If your answer is to learn why these ‘silly’ founders are tolerated and even encouraged, you are on the right track. Many people startup or rather start tinkering with ideas for the weirdest reasons. Let’s find a set of interesting companies to visit together and have fun doing it. Oh ya, hopefully, learn something, feel the mojo and be inspired.

Objectives

This course will help

• Introduce students to the entrepreneurship scene in the city to visit.
• Students to develop an understanding of the factors and ecosystem leading to a start-up.
• Inspire student entrepreneurs to start their own venture.
• Students understand how to start a technology company.
• Students to build relationships with the organisations we will visit.

Teams

• Students will form their own teams on first day of class.
• Student teams will need to source for organization to visits

Output and Assessment Summary

Students will be assessed on both in class and during the trip activities and conduct. The grade break down and project descriptions are listed below.

Grade breakdown

This course will be a pass/fail. To pass, you will need to get at least a B-. The grade breakdown is listed below.

No	Time Frame	Topics	Assessment Type	Weighting
1	Pre-Virtual Trip	Company sourcing	Team	20%
2		Plan trip	Individual	20%
3	Virtual Trip	Discussion and Presentation	Individual	20%
4		Virtual Trip role/helping others	Individual	20%
5		Reflection	Individual	10%
6	All	Wiki, Blog & Photos	Individual	10%

Assignment

Here are the assignments:

1. Pre Trip
   1. Teams are to source for organizations to visit. Research on the organization.
      1. Ecosystem: background, industry, culture, ecosystem, research universities, compare to Singapore, politics, aspiration, etc.
      2. The culture/trait could be connections (companies, country, customer focus), support environment (government, business, infrastructure, society, market maturity, reputation), personality/company culture (integrity, leadership, competitive, entrepreneurship, savvy, creative, innovative, dynamic, risk taking, commitment to technology, excellent communication, team spirit, fun seeking, etc.). Research on this by reading books, websites or interviews. Come up with examples of company events when this trait is vital to the company. Explore this trait in some of the organization we will visit.
      3. Organization: background, motivation, challenges, investments/employee stock ownership plan/intellectual property, strategy/business model/IPO, culture/personalities/politics/connections, etc. Students to prepare a company brief that is due before the trip.
      4. Organization and students to work on a mutually agreed problem statement, which will be beneficial to both our students and the companies
      5. SMU Library resources. You may contact XIA Wei <weixia@smu.edu.sg> if you need to get SMU library resources while doing your research.
   2. Individual will be assessed based on the quality of your contributions in the role you play, getting organization, helping out with the trip planning and execution.
2. During the Trip (if it happens)
   1. Teams will ask questions, when the opportunity presents itself. Each team will introduce their company, present the focus and recommend improvements. Each team will have a backup team to support them (taking photos, questions, follow up, etc)
   2. Individuals will keep a journal/blog/diary/tweet (with video, photo, links, etc.) on the discussion and company visits. Focus on learning points and reflections. Compile your journal in the individual reflection page.
3. Post Trip
   1. Reflection on your research
   2. Key takeaways (2) or learning points from the organization
   3. Quotes from presenter/senior management/owner/founder
   4. Recommendation on how the trip can be improved further

Academic Integrity

All acts of academic dishonesty (including, but not limited to, plagiarism, cheating, fabrication, facilitation of acts of academic dishonesty by others, unauthorized possession of exam questions, or tampering with the academic work of other students) are serious offences. All work (whether oral or written) submitted for purposes of assessment must be the student’s own work. Penalties for violation of the policy range from zero marks for the component assessment to expulsion, depending on the nature of the offense.

When in doubt, students should consult the instructors of the course. Details on the SMU Code of Academic Integrity may be accessed at http://www.smuscd.org/resources.html.

Classroom Planning

There will be several classroom meetings to organize the course, trip and research. Students will meet in classroom to present their research findings. The teams are required to update their progress using the wiki.

Course Schedule Summary

Class (Week)	Topics	Comments
1	Course introduction, team formation and organization assignment.	Roles, Teams and Organisation. Team and group photos.
2	Organization groupings for each team and trip planning	Trip itinerary and Organisation Grouping.
3	Inspiration from Guests!
6	Confirm visits.	Sector Research and Contact (reorganise grouping).
Week 8: Break.
11	Present organization and itinerary (first come first serve)	Itinerary confirmation
12	Present organization and itinerary (as needed)	Itinerary confirmation
16	Reconfirm itinerary with companies	Company brief due
17	Visit company and have fun.	Reflection