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William P. Sutter, Jr.
William P. Sutter, Jr.

FINANCE; ENTREPRENEURSHIP & INNOVATION
Senior Lecturer of Finance

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Professor William P. Sutter, jr. is a Senior Lecturer of Finance and a member of Kellogg's Larry and Carol Levy Institute for Entrepreneurial Practice. He teaches The Human Element of Private Equity  (ENTR 926), Entrepreneurship & New Venture Formation (ENTR 462), and  NUvention Medical Innovation (HEMA 915).

Professor Sutter is also the Managing Partner of Hopewell Ventures, a $106 million venture capital fund with an investment focus on high-growth companies located in the Midwest. Since commencing operation in 2004, Hopewell has completed fifteen investments ranging from medical device manufacturers to alternative media companies.

Before becoming a founder of Hopewell, Professor Sutter was a Senior Managing Director of Mesirow Financial's Private Equity division. During his 17-year tenure, capital under management grew to $300 million, and his successful track record comprised investments in 29 portfolio companies, including four that completed an IPO. He started his career as an investment banker with the Corporate Finance department of Smith Barney.

Professor Sutter graduated from Yale University with a B.A. degree in Economics and recieved his M.B.A. from Stanford University. His interests include scuba diving, military history, and blues guitar.

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Full-Time / Part-Time MBA
Entrepreneurship & New Venture Formulation (ENTR-462-0)

This course counts toward the following majors: Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Management & Strategy

In this course student teams write and present business plans for new ventures. The emphasis of this intensively interactive and uniquely structured course is on applying concepts and techniques studied in various functional areas to the new venture development environment. In preparing the business plan, students learn to screen for effective venture ideas, identify and define the fundamental issues relevant to the new venture, identify the venture's market niche and define its business strategy, and determine what type of financing should be raised--how, when, by whom and how much. A solid understanding of business basics is required. Actual business plans are used to address these issues. Prerequisites: All core courses or second-year status.

The Human Element in Private Equity Investing (ENTR-926-0)

This course counts toward the following majors: Entrepreneurship & Innovation

This advanced course in private equity focuses on the many interpersonal issues facing the professional investor. Individual psychology and group behavior play a critical role in determining the ultimate success or failure of an investment, yet the human element is often mismanaged or overlooked in favor of financial analysis and market studies. A major portion of this course covers the relationship between the investor and the entrepreneur after the initial financing - motivation and compensation, the role of the board of directors, performance evaluation and accountability. Additional topics include fund-raising, deal negotiation and due diligence investigation. This course is designed for students who are seriously considering a career in the private equity business or who desire a deeper understanding of the investor/entrepreneur relationship. The course builds on the fundamental skills of deal analysis, valuation and negotiation, which are taught with a quantitative emphasis in other private equity or venture capital courses offered at the Kellogg School.

Medical Innovation II: Developing Biomedical Products from Patient to Market (formerly BIOT-916-0) (HEMA-916-0)

This course counts toward the following majors: Biotechnology Management, Health Enterprise Management

Medical Innovation is a two-quarter sequence focused on the creation of innovations for the health industry. Students, guided by faculty and physicians from Kellogg and the Northwestern law, medical and engineering schools work in teams to develop medical products. Students experience the entire innovation life cycle from ideation to prototyping, legal protection, market sizing and business plan development. At the end of the course, the teams present their business plans to a panel of venture capitalists with the goal of securing funding and possible formation of a start-up. Key deliverables in this class include: “elevator pitch” to request prototype/pilot funding, prototype development, provisional patent application, FDA 510/K application and business plan presentation to venture capitalists. To enroll in this course, permission from the instructor is required before registration. Students must take both the fall and winter quarter courses, in sequence, and will earn 2.0 credits after successfully completing both courses.