university of texas

UT Austin Campus-wide Cofounder Speed Date 9/29 6 PM @ McCombs School of Business

UT Austin Campus-wide Cofounder Speed Date 9/29 6 PM @ McCombs

Being run by Dr. Harlan Beverly, McCombs lecturer of Lean Startup Essentials (MAN 338) at UT Austin (open to students campus-wide)
Join a Student Startup
-or- Find a Cofounder
  RSVP Required

  • Who:   Any UT Austin full-time student interested in joining a student startup or finding a cofounder
  • Where:   McCombs School of Business, CBA 3.304
  • When:    Thursday, Sept. 29 from 6 PM – 9 PM
  • What:    Students will meet in a speed-date format for five minutes each.  Students with a skill looking to join a startup (part of the RSVP process) will circle through the students with ideas looking for cofounders. Each student will be given a stack of 20 business cards with their name, email and EITHER their startup idea or their skill. Matches will be made at the option of the student.  Learn more at http://bit.ly/utcofounder  

Harlan Teaching “Lean Startup Essentials” at the University of Texas Austin – Spring 2016

This coming semester, I will be teaching Lean Startup Essentials!   The 2-3:30pm section (section 2) still has seats open.  
NOTE: THIS COURSE IS OPEN TO ALL UT STUDENTS ( from any College, not just McCombs School of Business )!
LEAN STARTUP ESSENTIALS (MAN 337) – SPRING 2015
 Tuesdays & Thursdays from    2pm-3:30 in CBA 4.344

If you are a UT Student, you can login with this link to register:

https://utdirect.utexas.edu/apps/registrar/course_schedule/20162/results/?ccyys=20162&search_type_main=INSTR&instr_last_name=Beverly&instr_first_initial=H&x=34&y=20

Want to know what this course is all about?   
First, hear what some students had to say:
  “great class”
  “awesome teacher”
  “course was awesome”
  “most practical class … at UT”
  “unique content and very useful”

Okay, interested?  Here’s the course description:

This course uses the “Lean Startup” concept as a canvas to give students the essential knowledge needed to either start their own business or join a startup and be a major contributor.  In addition to learning about entrepreneurship, the legal aspects of starting a business, and the life and experience of working at a startup, students will get hands-on skills they can use in any startup or to start their own business.  Every student will practice these skills in-class by building a real startup business (based on a pre-set collection of products and services).  This course focuses on the “Lean Startup” methodology, but will also cover the traditional new venture development and the entrepreneurial process (problem identification, innovation, business plans, fund raising, launching, and managing a startup). This course will also cover the essential knowledge derived from entrepreneurship research covering proven keys to success as well as scientific research about what it takes in an individual and group to succeed in entrepreneurship.  The final project is one of the pre-set business ideas, up, running, and operating in the build-measure-learn cycle that is the core of the “Lean Startup” methodology.

Prerequisites: None.

Need more?  Here’s a link to the syllabus for this Spring: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B19bmn5A18VtMTVONVpoSFl4TFU/view?usp=sharing 

Got a question, email me!
harlan.beverly@mccombs.utexas  (and dot edu of course)

Austin Technology Incubator SEAL team Presentation

Occasionally, I am invited to speak at The University of Texas or at the Austin Technology Incubator (part of U.T.).  I love giving talks, guest lecturing, or speaking, and this weeks topic was for the SEAL program on “Startup Sales & Marketing”… an expertise of mine.  I usually just “wing it”, but today I brought slides.  And here they are attached below for your convenience and reference!

If you have ever wanted a 1-stop reference for Sales & Marketing advice at a Startup, I hope you enjoy theses slides.  Feel free to share with reference to the author (Harlan T Beverly) and my blog (tytusblog.blogspot.com).

Enjoy the Slides -> Click Here!

Summary from my Entrepreneurship Speech at The University of Texas: Austin Technology Incubator

Sometimes I wish I had a little camera the followed me around taping some of my ranting/speeches.  Would certainly save time having to type anything up!  Usually I speak about either Marketing or Entrepreneurship; so when I was asked to speak on “What it’s like to be an Entrepreneur” at The University of Texas: Austin Technology Incubator I thought I knew just what to say…. but after some thought I realized, the usual crap people say about Entrepreneurship is just flat wrong.  Hard work WILL NOT win the day.  An awesome idea is NOT the way to success.  What is needed is 1 skill: Sales.

I began this speech saying that I wasn’t going to say the usual stuff about Entrepreneurship.  Yes, you’ll be poor for a bit, and yes, you’ll work hard, etc.  But in truth to be a successful entrepreneur all of that barely matters; what matters is:

  1. Sales (your ability to sell product/service/and STOCK).  
  2. Presentation/Showmanship (your ability to present ideas and put the best foot forward; even when sometimes “THERE IS NO FOOT”.
  3. Persistence (your ability to NOT QUIT, even when everyone around you [especially potential investors] make it seem hopeless.
Theses skills can all be learned and practiced, and here are a few “Sales books” that I think are really, really good:
Sales Dogs: A great intro to sales and YOUR personality for sales.
Sales Bible: Amazingly good book filled with tactics and skills you NEED to learn to be good at sales:
I also went into great detail about the organization of VC funds (their management structure and decision making process), and also some small bit about my Laser-beam-Shotgun approach to fundraising!
More on those topics soon.