The Business of Software
CSC 454/2527F

September-December 1997
Course Readings - Version 1 - 5 September 1997

Course texts
The following is to be purchased from Copywell, 185 College St.
(VV) Baecker, Ronald M. (1995). The Business of Software. Lecture Notes, $18.

The following are to be purchased from the U of T bookstore:
(BP) Rich, Stanley R. & Gumpert, David E. (1985). Business Plans That Win $$$: Lessons from the MIT Enterprise Forum. Harper & Row, paperback, $18.
(E) Brandt, Steven C. (1983, 1997). Entrepreneuring: The Ten Commandments for Building a Growth Company. Archipelago Publishing, $22.
(HTV) Bell, C. Gordon with McNamara, John E.. (1991). High-Tech Ventures: The Guide for Entrepreneurial Success. Addison-Wesley, $39.

Also buy from the U of T bookstore the course pack ($39), with assigned readings from:
(DI) Drucker, Peter F. (1985). The Discipline of Innovation. Harvard Business Review, May-June 1985, 67-72.
(F) Bergeron, Pierre G. (1985). Finance for Non-Financial Managers. Methuen Publications. (GC) Gumpert, David E. (Ed.) (1984). Growing Concerns: Building and Managing the Smaller Business. Harvard Business Review, John Wiley & Sons.
(IT) Moore, Geoffrey A. (1995). Inside the Tornado: Marketing Strategies from Silicon Valley's Cutting Edge. Harper Business.
(MB) Cusomano, Michael A. and Selby, Richard W. (1997). How Microsoft Builds Software. Communications of the ACM 40(6), June 1997, 53-61.
(MHT) Davidow, William H. (1986). Marketing High Technology. The Free Press.
(MI) Levitt, Theodore (1986). The Marketing Imagination. Expanded Edition, The Free Press, paperback.
(MM) Brooks, Frederick P., Jr. (1975, or 1995 revised edition). The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering. Addison-Wesley, paperback.
(MS) Cusomano, Michael A. and Selby, Richard W. (1995). Microsoft Secrets: How the World's Most Powerful Software Company Creates Technology, Shapes Markets, and Manages People. The Free Press.
(OP) Grove, Andrew B. (1996). Only the Paranoid Survive. Doubleday.
(RTM) McKenna, Regis (1985). The Regis Touch: Million-Dollar Advice from America's Top Marketing Consultant. Addison-Wesley, paperback.

Reading assignments (Due dates)
Underlining indicates course lecture notes, which appear in the course pack.
Roman face indicates that it is in one the three published texts (BP, E, and HTV) (to be purchased from the bookstore).
Italic face indicates that the reading is in the course pack.
15 September
VV Part I Innovation in The Software Industry
VV Part II Focus and Objectives: Defining and Planning the Business
BP Ch. 1 What Investors Look For -- and Look Out For, 1-23
BP Ch. 2 Judging a Book by Its Cover, 24-42
BP Ch. 3 What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?, 43-64
BP Ch. 4 What's the User Benefit and Other Marketing Issues, 65-87
BP Ch. 5 Selling and Supporting Your Product, 88-105
BP Ch. 6 Product Develop. and Manufacturing: Impact on Investment, 106-124
BP Ch. 7 What's the Management Team Like?, 125-145
BP Ch. 8 Those %&*#@! Financial Projections, 146-163
BP The Rich-Gumpert Evaluation System, 164-170
BP Ch. 9 Shopping For Funds, 171-191
BP Ch. 10 And Now It's Show Biz, 192-209

22 September
VV Part III Opportunity and Timing: Market and Product Planning E Ch. 1 First Commandment, ...Primary Participants..., 13-21
E Ch. 2 Second Commandment, Define the Business..., 23-28
E Ch. 3 Third Commandment, ...Operational Objectives..., 29-36
E Ch. 4 Fourth Commandment, ...Written Plan..., 37-76
E Ch. 5 Fifth Commandment, ...Proven Records of Success..., 77-86
E Ch. 6 Sixth Commandment, ...Performance...Standards..., 87-95
E Ch. 7 Seventh Commandment, ...Profitable Base..., 97-107
E Ch. 8 Eighth Commandment, ...Conserve Cash & Credit..., 109-115
E Ch. 9 Ninth Commandment, ...Detached Point of View..., 117-128
E Ch. 10 Tenth Commandment, Anticipate ... Change..., 129-142
E App. A How to Conduct an Industry Analysis, 145-153

29 September
HTV Ch. 3 The Business Plan: A Road Map and a Scorecard..., 34-58
DI The Discipline of Innovation, 67-72
OP Ch. 4 They're Everywhere, 53, 55-77
RT Ch. 2 Dynamic Positioning: ... New Marketing (part), 19-33
RT Ch. 3 Product Positioning: The Four Golden Rules, 37-49
MHT Ch. 2 The Winning Strategy (part), 12-32

6 October
VV Part IV Propriet. Technology & Capability: Research & Develop. MM Ch. 1 The Tar Pit, 3-9
MM Ch. 2 The Mythical Man-Month, 13-26
F Ch. 5 Profit Planning and Decisions (part), 91-98, 100-103

20 October
HTV Ch. 8 The Product (part), 186-199
MS Introduction (part), 1-13
MB How Microsoft Builds Software, 53-61

27 October
VV Part V Marketing and Sales of Software Services & Products HTV Ch. 9 Marketing and Sales, 201-250
RT Ch. 4 Market Positioning: Five Ways to Gain Recognition (part), 53-82
F Ch. 2 From Scorekeeping to Financ. Statements (part), 18-22, 31-43, 46-49

3 November
MI Ch. 4 Differentiation -- of Anything (part), 72-85
MI Ch. 6 Relationship Management (part), 111-119
IT Ch. 2 Crossing the Chasm Ñ And Beyond (part), 13-24

10 November
VV Part VI Cash: Financial Management and Financing HTV Ch. 4 Cash, Financeability, and Control, 59-84
F Ch. 3 Analyzing Changes in Financial Statements (part), 63-68
F Ch. 4 Interpreting Financ. Statements Through Ratio Analysis (part), 69-80

17 November
VV Part VII Leadership and Management
HTV Ch. 2 The People, 10-33
GC Ch. 16 A Small Business is Not a Little Big Business (part), 149-159
GC Ch. 32 Coping with Entrepreneurial Stress, 319-331

24 November
VV Part VIII Partnerships: Strategic Alliances, Mergers, & Acquisitions