DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE
CSC454/2527F: The Business of Software
January-April
2003
Course
Texts and
Course Notes - to be posted to course Web site
(VV) Baecker, Ronald M. (2003). The Business of Software.
Lecture Notes, posted to course Web site.
Required Texts
(EYS) Baird, Michael L. (June 2000), Engineering Your
Start-Up: A Guide for the High-Tech Entrepreneur. Professional
Publications, paperback available at U of T Bookstore (approx $40).
(HTS) Nesheim,
John L. (March 2000),
High Tech Start Up, Revised and Updated: The Complete Handbook
for Creating Successful New High Tech Companies. Simon &
Schuster, e-book available from Amazon.com
in Microsoft
Reader or Adobe
Reader formats, (US$14.99); or in hardcover from Chapters.ca
or Amazon.ca
($50.75).
Readings Package - available at Canadian Scholars Press Inc. ($35.95)
www.cspi.org,
Selections from...
(FIN)
Bergeron, Pierre G. (1985). Finance for Non-Financial Managers.
(MMM) Brooks, Frederick P., Jr. (1975, or 1995 revised edition). The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering. Addison-Wesley, paperback.
(SEC) 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.
(MIC) Cusomano, Michael A. and Selby, Richard W. (1997). How Microsoft Builds Software. Communications of the ACM 40(6), June 1997, 53-61.
(TEC) Davidow, William H. (1986). Marketing High Technology. The Free Press.
(APP) Downes, Larry and Mui, Chunka (1998). Unleashing the Killer App: Digital Strategies for Market Dominance,
(
(PAR) Grove, Andrew B. (1996). Only the Paranoid Survive. Doubleday.
(GRO) Gumpert, David E. (Ed.) (1984). Growing Concerns: Building and Managing the Smaller Business. Harvard Business Review, John Wiley & Sons.
(CAN) Jager, Rama Dev and Ortiz, Rafael (1997). In the Company of Giants: Candid Conversations with the Visionaries of the Digital World. McGraw-Hill.
(MAR) Levitt, Theodore (1986). The Marketing Imagination. Expanded Edition, The Free Press, paperback.
(REG) McKenna, Regis (1985). The Regis Touch: Million-Dollar Advice from America's Top Marketing Consultant. Addison-Wesley, paperback.
(CHA) Moore, Geoffrey A. (1991). Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Technology Products to Mainstream Customers. Harper Business.
(TOR) Moore, Geoffrey A. (1995). Inside the Tornado: Marketing Strategies from Silicon Valley's Cutting Edge. Harper Business.
(CUS)
Seybold, Patricia B. (1998). customers.com: How to Create Profitable Business
Strategies for the Internet and Beyond. Times Business, 1998.
Reading List: Assignments and Due Dates
Underlining indicates course lecture notes, which appear on the course Web site.
13 January
VV Part I Innovation in The Software Industry
VV Part II Focus and Objectives: Defining and Planning the Business
EYS
Ch. 7 Elements of a Successful
Start-up, 65-68 (Memorize – yes memorize! – the Brandt’s
Commandments [not word for word,
just the key
idea in each one])
EYS
HTS Ch. 3 The Process of Forming the Company, 23-30 (portion of chapter)
...Drucker’s sources of innovative opportunity
PAR Ch. 4 They're Everywhere, 53-77
...10X changes... strategic inflection points
APP Introduction, 3-10
... To Killer Apps
APP Part II Designing the Killer App. 73-77
...12 principles
APP Ch. 4 Reshaping the Landscape, 79-88, 101-109
...Customers, communities of value
20 January
VV
Part III
EYS
HTS Ch. 3 The Process of Forming the Company, 30 - 52 (portion of chapter)
EYS Ch. 11 Write Your Business Plan, 107 -120 (portion of chapter)
TEC Ch. 2 The Winning Strategy (part), 12-32
...Market segments and market share
27 January
TOR
...Via beachheads in niche markets
TOR Ch. 3 In the Bowling Alley (part), 27-43
...From niche market to niche market
CHA
CH.6 Define the
...The elevator test
CUS Setting the Stage, xiii-xx (skip Handbook section at end)
...Strategies for e-business success
CUS Amazon.com, 123-136
...A good case study
3 February
VV Part IV Proprietary Technology & Capability: Research & Develop.
MMM
...Adding people to late projects makes them later
SEC Introduction (part), 1-13
...How Big Bill does it
MIC How Microsoft Builds Software, 53-61
...The title says it
10 February
EYS Ch. 7 RE-READ!: Elements of a Successful
Start-up, 65-68 (Memorize – yes memorize! – the Brandt’s
Commandments
[not word for word, just the key idea
in each one])
EYS
17 February
Reading Week
24 February
VV Part V Marketing and Sales of Software Services & Products
REG
...Marketing principles
REG Ch.
4 Market Positioning:
...Marketing strategy
MAR Ch.
4 Differentiation -- of Anything
(part), 72-85
...The total product
3 March
MAR Ch.
6 Relationship Management (part), 111-119
...Effective relationships with customers
CAN
...A good case study
17 March
VV Part VI Cash: Financial Management and Financing
EYS Ch. 11 Write Your Business Plan, 120 -140 (portion of chapter)
FIN Ch.
5 Profit Planning and Decisions (part), 91-98, 100-103
...Variable and fixed costs, breakeven analysis
FIN Ch. 2 From Scorekeeping to Financial
Statements (part), 18-22, 31-43, 46-49
...Balance sheet, income statement, cash flow
GRO
Ch. 16 A Small Business is Not a Little Big Business
(part), 149-159
...Cash flow, breakeven analysis
24 March
VV Part VII Leadership and Management
TBA
31 March
VV Part VIII Partnerships: Strategic Alliances, Mergers, & Acquisitions
TBA