Entrepreneurship in Theory and Praxis (1091): Brian Chesky didn't come from the hotel business (AirBnB). Travis Kalanick didn't come from transportation (Uber). Reed Hastings didn't come from the movie business (Netflix). More often than not, industries are disrupted from the outside. This is where the theory and practice of entrepreneurship meet to create wild opportunities, paradigm shifts in consumer behavior, and fundamental market dislocations or outright disruptions. It is also where unchecked behavior, growth at all costs, the pressures of venture capital or public markets to scale, scale, scale - create negative externalities, unintended consequences, regulatory capture, and a new class of trillion dollar enterprises and hundred-billionaire individuals that seemingly sit above nation-states and the rule of law. How do founders get there? How do you take a foundation in law or business, computer science, design, or even the arts, and strike out on your own? What makes for a good venture-backed idea or a bootstrapped one? How do you go from idea to MVP (minimum viable product), from MVP to Seed, to Series A, and then scale beyond that? How do you do it sustainably, that is, sustain yourself, respect the commonwealth, and stay true to the rule of law? What does a hard pivot look like, and what do you do when things go wrong, as they inevitably do? (And what does this jargon even mean?) Times are good, capital is cheap and you're a darling of the press - but what happens when venture dries up as it did just after the "Nuclear Winter in Crypto" or the "Netflix Correction" in the media industries, and you have a startup that has to do layoffs and live to fight another day? Finally, how might a solid understanding of these issues be relevant to you as a trusted advisor or aid you in your own entrepreneurial pursuits? These questions are at the heart of this course. Phase one of this course (Weeks 1-3) will start by first exploring the idea of entrepreneurship, the "why" of starting a new company, and the classic research and analysis that should go into one of the most important decisions in a first time founder's life -- leaving a stable job or career path and betting on yourself and an unproven idea. We will reflect on the myth of the "self made founder?" and delve into who gets to be a founder in the first instance. We will discuss founder "personality" and behavior versus corporate soldiers. Individualism and bureaucracy. Believe it or not, there are pros and cons to both. We will do GTAM exercises ("Global Total Addressable Market"), creating competitive and "SWOT" analyses, finding "Blue Ocean" ideas and opportunities versus copying others (though copying and being second in market is very often a winning path). We will look at differentiation and competitive edge through business practice and growth as well as legal protections. Finally, in this first phase, we will examine ethics and culture, and how to build a startup with integrity and governance in mind from day one, looking at a previous era of "build fast and break things," "fake it till you make it," or "don't ask for permission, ask for forgiveness" in the Valley and the externalities we have inherited from this culture. In the second phase of the course (Weeks 3-6), we will move from theory to practice. We'll look at the basics, common forms of incorporation to be ready for angel and/or VC investment, as well as common mistakes in laying the proper foundation to grow. We'll look at building out founding teams and equitable ways of creating incentive programs whether through equity, salary or other non-financial incentives. Getting healthcare and payroll running is no small feat! More importantly, we'll get your company going - this could be an existing, or new but real startup, or a theoretical one for class purposes only - but we will build out your 3 year business plan, financial model, success metrics and milestones (KPIs or "Key Performance Indicators"). And, as with the first phase, we will end with how to establish this course with integrity and governance in mind, which means building out a board and advisory circle that will help you grow, and also provide a system of checks and balances along the way. We will use various industries at the front or tail end of a tectonic plate shift, principally this semester focusing on the impact of technology and tech giants on the entertainment industries, but we will also use case studies from Tesla to WeWork and Theranos in examining outsiders disrupting traditional or highly regulated industries with a frequent disregard for governance, ethics, regulation, and the rule of law. We will explore why the rule of law is frequently seen as antagonistic to entrepreneurship, versus existential or symbiotic to it. The class is led by a Stanford Law alumni and former Ninth Circuit clerk and technology lawyer who threw it all away when the love of starting companies, win or lose, took hold. In each two-hour class, we will have: hands on interactive discussion from previously assigned readings; a guest speaker that will be relevant to the topic at hand; time to look forward and ask questions on the upcoming class assignment and reading; and, throughout the semester, time for in-class presentations by the students on their on-going projects. We will have a range of guests that may include: founders, VCs, technologists, strategists, board members, and entrepreneurs in non-traditional VC-backed businesses (music, CPG, restaurants, etc) join us to discuss the interplay between the creative idea at the core of a startup and the business of actually growing a startup, and ultimate challenge of doing it effectively and ethically. Elements used in grading: Attendance, class participation, and a series of projects assigned throughout the course as part of developing and pitching a startup (that can be group, solo and or with co-founders not in the class but enrolled in another school or department at Stanford). The final project, in lieu of a paper or exam, is a company pitch deck and a 3 year business plan. There will be an optional class 'kickoff' dinner on or around the first week of classes, and an optional class 'wrap-out' dinner on or around the end of classes, these will be outside of regular class times, and attendance will not be required, though welcomed.