HTE413
Finance for Entrepreneurs
Faculty
Abdullah Al-Shaksy
Co-Founder & CEO at Phaze Ventures
Course length
Duration
Total hours
Credits
Language
Course type
Fee for single course
Fee for degree students
Skills you’ll learn
Overview
“Finance for Entrepreneurs” is the art and science of turning a great idea into a well-funded and financially sustainable business. It’s understanding the cost, sources, and best uses of money. It’s the ability to craft a compelling pitch and secure the right terms for your business. So, if you are serious about building a successful business and looking for practical insights to navigate the world of finance, this course is for you!
Learning highlights
- The key objective of “Finance for Entrepreneurs” is to equip aspiring founders with the skills necessary to navigate the world of finance and successfully fundraise for their business. By the end of the course, students will be able to understand key metrics, choose the right sources of funding, negotiate terms effectively, while also learning about legal and governance issues post-financing.
Course outline
15 classes
Intro to “Finance for Entrepreneurs”
Class overview, expectations, introductions, current finance landscape
Pre-Financing
Incorporating, bootstrapping, founder agreements, financial modeling recap
Financial Management
Key financial metrics, managing runway, scenario planning, cap tables
External Sources of Funding Part I
Equity funding, SAFEs, Convertible Notes
External Sources of Funding Part II
Debt, Grants, ICOs, Crowdfunding
Getting Funded
Key Milestones for Angel/Seed/A+ rounds, choosing the right source of finance
Practical Matters
Pitching investors, creating a data room, due diligence, what investors are looking for
Legal Matters
Term sheets, closing documents, ESOP
Post-Financing
Board Governance, stakeholder management, reporting, audit, tax
In-Class Group Assignment
Evaluate and critique a financing strategy case study
Exit Strategies
M&A, secondary market sales, IPOs, winding down
Leveraging Tools and External Resources
ChatGPT, Pitchbook, Carta, Captable.io, Advisors, Fractional CFOs, Accelerators
Class Activity
Peer-review and feedback on individual projects
Class Discussion
Course recap, Q&A, story time
Final Test
Case study with multiple choice
Prerequisites
A business idea for your team project or a classmate with a viable business idea.
Note: there will be no time for ideation before you start your team project. Please come prepared with a teammate or an idea.
Methodology
This course is built around unlocking new information and theory during lectures. Then, as homework, you will use this new knowledge to progress and iterate your project and build a pitch and data room for your startup. Students are expected to work on their projects after each class; there will also be an in-class peer-review session prior to the final submission deadline.
The course will also expose students to real-world case studies to give them a broader set of experiences to draw from, and there will be in-class opportunities to learn from each other through discussions, Q&A, and group work participation. All of these activities will contribute to the student’s final grade.
The resulting work will be a valid, market ready financing strategy for the student’s individual project with a pitch and an investor ready data room to go alongside it.
Grading
Abdullah Al-Shaksy is the Co-founder and CEO at Phaze Ventures, Oman’s first private venture capital firm. Founded in 2018 and later backed by the largest intuitions in the country, Phaze Ventures was established accelerate the transformation of the region’s economies through global early stage investments and strategic partnerships.
Abdullah has over 10 years of experience investing in public and private equities, and is an active member of multiple technology startup boards including US-based maritime SaaS startup Voyager, France-based Geoscience software startup Spotlight Earth, Oman-based data science consultancy PhazeRo, Chairman of the Board at Oman-based SaaS and IoT transport startup eMushrif, advisor to Canadian-based blockchain and DEFI data provider Fluidefi, and a board observer at Canadian-based Nanotech startup Interface Fluidics.
See full profileApply for this course
Finance for Entrepreneurs
by Abdullah Al-Shaksy
Total hours
45 Hours
Dates
Jul 10 - Jul 28, 2023
Fee for single course
€1500
Fee for degree students
€750
How to secure your spot
Complete the form below to kickstart your application
Schedule your Harbour.Space interview
If successful, get ready to join us on campus
FAQ
Will I receive a certificate after completion?
Yes. Upon completion of the course, you will receive a certificate signed by the director of the program your course belonged to.
Do I need a visa?
This depends on your case. Please check with the Spanish or Thai consulate in your country of residence about visa requirements. We will do our part to provide you with the necessary documents, such as the Certificate of Enrollment.
Can I get a discount?
Yes. The easiest way to enroll in a course at a discounted price is to register for multiple courses. Registering for multiple courses will reduce the cost per individual course. Please ask the Admissions Office for more information about the other kinds of discounts we offer and what you can do to receive one.