Forging and Funding Healthcare Startups (HCAK-627-0) The objective of the course is to educate students on the complex challenges of forging, building and investing in innovative early stage companies in the health care industry. The course will review the different segments within health care each with their own unique challenges; medical devices, health care services (including digital heath) and life sciences. Students will be introduced to early stage health care companies from each of the segments and learn first hand from the founder/CEO the challenges they face. Students will be placed on teams and each team will be tasked with making investment decisions among these companies as well as recommending courses of action to the founders who face important decisions. The objective is to provide each student with a first-hand appreciation of the obstacles faced by early stage health care companies and to give students an opportunity to make and defend decisions both as a founder and investor . Students will be introduced to MATTER, the leading health care incubator located in Chicago where at least one of the classes will be held. Readings will include industry literature and company backgrounds. Guest speakers will include venture capitalists and the CEOs of early stage health care companies. Assignments will include investment memos, recommended courses of action and a final team report. Completion of STRT-431-0 is recommended prior to enrolling in this course.
NUVention: Medical Innovation II (HCAK-616-0) **HCAK-615 can be a one-quarter course but is designed ideally as a two-quarter sequence in conjunction with HCAK-616**
NUvention Medical is designed as a two-term course to provide students with real-world experience as an innovator and entrepreneur in the rapidly evolving fields of health care devices and heath technology. Taught by a team of experienced healthcare entrepreneurs, innovators, and medical practitioners, the overall course goal is to develop an in-depth business plan, investor presentation, and viable product prototype for a new medical startup firm. To navigate the complex healthcare landscape, students form cross-disciplinary teams (including at least one student from Kellogg, Feinberg, McCormick, and Pritzker) to conceive of and identify an innovative new healthcare product and work to evaluate the opportunity with support from leading industry guest lecturers and direct mentoring from experience faculty advisors.
In the fall term, COVID-permitting, student teams will shadow healthcare practitioners in the hospital to explore unmet market needs, work to understand important market opportunities from a risk-based perspective, use design thinking principles to conceive of an innovative product with a convincing value proposition, and explore many of the challenges facing health care including the regulatory and reimbursement environment. Teams then pitch their initial idea to active healthcare investors. In the winter term, the teams will work in depth to validate their customer and stakeholder assumptions, explore different revenue models, clearly understand the regulatory and reimbursement challenges and opportunities, define sales and distribution channels, and identify sources of capital. Each team is required to develop a full investor presentation backed up by a business plan and a viable prototype. Both the fall pitch and final winter investor presentation will be made to a group of experienced health care executives and investors.
After the fall term, students will be given the choice of whether or not to continue into the winter term, and the faculty will decide which ideas are eligible to advance based on their business potential. All students with acceptable attendance and level of effort in the fall term will be permitted to continue whether their pitch idea advances or not, possibly necessitating some team modifications. Readings include text, industry articles and a few cases. Classes are held at the Law School (primarily fall), KGH (primarily winter), and the Ford design center. A number of classes will have healthcare industry leaders as guest speakers. Students are evaluated on the basis of both team and individual assignments with team assignments more heavily weighted. Grades will be awarded for each term separately.
Permission from the student's school faculty representative is required to register. Students must complete the fall (I) quarter (HCAK 615) in order to be eligible for the winter (II) quarter (HCAK 616), and will earn 1.0 credit for each term completed. Students in the 2 Year Full Time program and the Evening & Weekend program must have completed one full year. Students in the 1 Year program need to have completed the summer quarter.
NUVention: Medical Innovation I (HCAK-615-0) **HCAK-615 can be a one-quarter course but is designed ideally as a two-quarter sequence in conjunction with HCAK-616**
NUvention Medical is designed as a two-term course to provide students with real-world experience as an innovator and entrepreneur in the rapidly evolving fields of health care devices and heath technology. Taught by a team of experienced healthcare entrepreneurs, innovators, and medical practitioners, the overall course goal is to develop an in-depth business plan, investor presentation, and viable product prototype for a new medical startup firm. To navigate the complex healthcare landscape, students form cross-disciplinary teams (including at least one student from Kellogg, Feinberg, McCormick, and Pritzker) to conceive of and identify an innovative new healthcare product and work to evaluate the opportunity with support from leading industry guest lecturers and direct mentoring from experience faculty advisors.
In the fall term, COVID-permitting, student teams will shadow healthcare practitioners in the hospital to explore unmet market needs, work to understand important market opportunities from a risk-based perspective, use design thinking principles to conceive of an innovative product with a convincing value proposition, and explore many of the challenges facing health care including the regulatory and reimbursement environment. Teams then pitch their initial idea to active healthcare investors. In the winter term, the teams will work in depth to validate their customer and stakeholder assumptions, explore different revenue models, clearly understand the regulatory and reimbursement challenges and opportunities, define sales and distribution channels, and identify sources of capital. Each team is required to develop a full investor presentation backed up by a business plan and a viable prototype. Both the fall pitch and final winter investor presentation will be made to a group of experienced health care executives and investors.
After the fall term, students will be given the choice of whether or not to continue into the winter term, and the faculty will decide which ideas are eligible to advance based on their business potential. All students with acceptable attendance and level of effort in the fall term will be permitted to continue whether their pitch idea advances or not, possibly necessitating some team modifications. Readings include text, industry articles and a few cases. Classes are held at the Law School (primarily fall), KGH (primarily winter), and the Ford design center. A number of classes will have healthcare industry leaders as guest speakers. Students are evaluated on the basis of both team and individual assignments with team assignments more heavily weighted. Grades will be awarded for each term separately.
Permission from the student's school faculty representative is required to register. Students must complete the fall (I) quarter (HCAK 615) in order to be eligible for the winter (II) quarter (HCAK 616), and will earn 1.0 credit for each term completed. Students in the 2 Year Full Time program and the Evening & Weekend program must have completed one full year. Students in the 1 Year program need to have completed the summer quarter.
Field Study (HCAK-498-0) Field Studies include those opportunities outside of the regular curriculum in which a student is working with an outside company or non-profit organization to address a real-world business challenge for course credit under the oversight of a faculty member. This course is for 1 credit unit.
Please note: Professor Pete McNerney also oversees Healthcare Entrepreneurship projects under this course title.