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With the rise of artificial intelligence and online degrees as standard forms of higher education, how can we create an online MBA experience that fosters genuine peer-to-peer and student-to-instructor engagement, rigorous application of real-world scenarios, and authentic assessments?
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This course fills a crucial gap in the typical graduate business school curricula by focusing on early-stage companies rather than mature firms. It tracks an early-stage company’s lifecycle from a venture capital perspective: startup, growth, and maturity. To closely simulate the investment due diligence process, three real early-stage companies’ data were anonymized and uploaded to their “Data Room.”
Course assessments mirror common deliverables in the venture capitalist business world: strategy and business model analysis, market size evaluation, climate impact assessment, and financial model. The early stage of the course culminates with each deal team writing an investment memo and justifying their investment decision.
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As the course progresses, the companies continue to evolve; rather than wait years for a company to mature, the startups progress to growing and then mature firms. In Week 5, students receive a strategic report detailing potential decisions and their financial implications. Deal teams are tasked with selecting and defending their company’s strategic next move.
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To mirror the authentic demands of the workplace, the course’s learning design intentionally includes ambiguity, requiring critical thinking and decision-making without clear answers. Students consider complex and ambiguous investment decisions, but not without support. Foundational to Professor Kaul’s pedagogy is the formation of the Deal Team (student groups).
"The teaching faculty was incredibly effective in my opinion… They put care and attention into developing the narratives and the assignments, providing meaningful feedback, and allowing for engagin
"The Lifecycle of a Firm" was offered to students for the first time in Winter 2025 and received overwhelmingly positive feedback. Professor Kaul and Josh were commended for their expertise and passion in creating an engaging learning environment that connects course content with broader program topics. Students praised the course for successfully integrating strategy, finance,
Students agreed that the weekly content focus deepened their understanding of venture capital investment and valuation. They valued the course's real-world applicability, systematic approach, and dynamic discussions. Indeed, many stude
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As the first online MBA course created exclusively by the Ross Office of Digital Education and Ross faculty, “The Lifec
Collaborative Kindness
This team collaboration was guided by respect, open communication, and dedication to the project. All voices were heard, compromises were made, and hierarchy was diminished. This led to the development of a true kinship among team members, which was critical to the success of the course.
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