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UOABN BUS113

EXAM WORKSHOP

Facilitator: Anita Huang

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Disclaimer

• Content changes every year
• Always rely on your own materials from Canvas and Laura from this current year
• Last year was the first time this course has been run

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Outline

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Module 4: Legal Tools

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Module 9: Designing and Managing Operational Processes for Scale

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Module 2: Funding Scalable Ventures

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Module 7: Managing and Protecting Customers

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Module 8: Managing and Developing Talent

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Exam Paper Walkthrough

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Module 2: Funding Scalable Ventures

Tutor: Bhagjot Singh

Why scalable ventures need funding

• High R&D costs before any revenue, often with proprietary technology
• Rapid customer acquisition to validate the model and attract investment
• A top-tier team needs competitive salaries and equity
• Winner-takes-all markets reward speed
• Traction creates buzz and growth, but needs large funding to sustain that growth

Why banks usually do not lend to start-ups

Risk

• Over 90% of start-ups fail (figure from the teaching team)
• Little collateral: an early-stage start-up offers a vision and a prototype

Time and size

• Products can take years to reach the market
• Banks are unwilling to wait that long for interest and repayments
• Scalable ventures need very large amounts of capital

Funding across growth stages

Problem-solution fit

Bootstrapping or grants. Goal: learning.

Product-market fit

Initial external funding to build a real product and reach early customers. Goal: fail early.

Scale-up

Significant external funding for hiring, infrastructure and customer acquisition. Goal: growth.

Six-stage view

Pre-seed (test), seed (prototype), early (MVP), growth (scale), expansion (profits), exit (cash in).

The investor's view

Judging risk

• Founding team and relevant experience
• Traction and technical feasibility
• Market potential
• Unique value proposition

Earning returns

• Exit: selling the company or stakes
• Dividends: semi-annual payments
• IPO: selling shares on the stock market
• Synergies: access to technology or products

The entrepreneur's view

Term sheet

• Offering terms: money offered and share received
• Voting rights
• Board seat
• Liquidation preference: who is paid first on a sale
• Investor commitment: how long they stay involved

Non-financial value add

• Personal alignment of values
• Operational support, including follow-on funding
• Strategic advice
• Social support: mentoring, networks, reputation

Debt versus equity

Equity: selling an ownership stake to investors

• For:
• no repayment
• value add
• larger capital
• Against:
• shared ownership
• control and profits
• conflict risk
• slow process

Debt: borrowing money

• For:
• keep ownership and profits
• often tax deductible
• quick access with good credit or security
• Against:
• interest payments strain cash flow
• security puts assets at risk
• no value add

Choosing a funding source

Early, scalable ventures

• Bootstrapping limits growth speed
• Venture capital, a form of private equity, gives growth capital and value add but costs control
• Banks rarely lend at this stage

Growing and profitable ventures

• Debt becomes the preferred option
• Owners keep control and profits
• Interest payments and security are the trade-offs

Fitting funding into TEE+

In each part

• Topic: name the funding concept and what it applies to
• Explanation: define it, name the framework, explain the key parts, with references
• Example: apply the definition to the case's stage, finances and goals
• Analysis: explain how and why, then link to the question

Possible wordings (illustrative)

• Advise the founders on debt or equity
• Evaluate an investor's term sheet
• Explain why the venture needs external funding at its stage

Applied: 'With no collateral, equity avoids repayments but shares control.'

Pitfalls and checklist

• Listing theory without applying it to the case
• Ignoring the growth stage when recommending funding
• Treating banks and venture capital as interchangeable
• Overlooking non-financial value add and control
• Checklist: identify the stage, name the funding type, weigh benefit and risk, then recommend

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Module 4: Legal Tools

Tutor: Davi Mendes Verdolin Ferreira

The basics

What is a contract?

• A legally enforceable agreement between two or more legal persons�

What is an agrement?

• Offer in clear and certain terms + acceptance on those terms = agreement�

What is an offer?

• A willingness to enter into a legal agreement (NOT a request of information, indication of willingness to negotiate, or advertisement)

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Invitations to treat vs offers

An invitation to treat is:

• An invitation of offers, with room for negotiation
• A request of information, lacking certainty

An offer is:

• Clear and specific in its terms, with NO room for negotiation
• Demonstrative of a willingness to be bound by it
• Certainty of conduct/words

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The lifespan of an offer, acceptance, and communication

Offers generally remain open to acceptance uness:

• Lapsed through passage of time (lapse of time period OR reasonable time)
• Revoked by the oferror (can be done anytime until acceptance, but must be communicated)
• Express rejection by the offeree (concludes the life of the offer)
• Counter offer by offeree

Acceptance must:

• Mirror the offer
• Be made by the intended offeree
• Be communicated

Legal enforceability

Protecting confidential information

Non disclosure agreements: contractual obligations may arise through

• Express contractual terms OR implied contractual terms

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Equity

Patents

Intellectual prop. law

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Module 7: Managing and Protecting Customers

Tutor: Ehansa De Silva

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Module 8: Managing and Developing Talent

Tutor: Ehansa De Silva

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Module 9: Designing and Managing Operational Processes for Scale

Tutor: Davi Mendes Verdolin Ferreira

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Productivity

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Productivity is important because:

• It saves costs, improving profits
• Reduces inventory, improving cash flow
• Reduces defects, improving customer satisfaction
• Reduces cycle time, improving efficiency

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Designing and Managing Processes

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Breakeven Analysis

What about supply chains?

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Management of Supply Chains

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Exam Paper Walkthrough

Tutor: Bhagjot Singh

Exam snapshot and approach routine

The exam

• 5 questions, 10 marks each, 300 words maximum
• Business Q1 to Q3: use TEE+
• Commercial law Q4 and Q5: use ILAC
• One case, KiwiBot, runs through every question

Routine for every question

• Read the case and the whole question
• Note the command words: define, explain, advise, analyse
• List each part and split the words between them
• Check each part is answered before moving on

Structure: TEE+ and ILAC

TEE+ for business questions

• Topic: tell the main idea and state the relevant theory
• Explanation: 2 to 3 referenced sentences from the textbooks
• Example: 1 to 2 sentences from the case
• Analysis (+): how and why, then link to the question (should have the most weight)

ILAC for law questions

• Issue: what legal question do the facts raise?
• Law: the rule and its authority
• Application: each party's facts in turn
• Conclusion: a clear, brief answer

Applying context and definitions

Definitions

• One or two sentences, referenced where required
• Name the framework you are using
• Use APA 7 in-text citations
• Stop there: the marks are in the analysis

Context

• Use the case's stage, customers, finances and goals
• Use the case's own vocabulary and phrasing
• Ask "so what for this business?" after every point

Weak: "The level approach keeps capacity constant."

Stronger: "For a seasonal toy start-up, producing steadily avoids costly peak hiring but raises storage costs."

Business questions Q1 to Q3

Q1: 2 internal and 2 external growth strategies

Sort internal and external first. Match each to the case. Pair every benefit with a risk.

Q2: Supply chain types

Define the four types briefly. Recommend one and justify it with case facts.

Q3: Total Product Concept

Define the layers, say which version you use, name the core benefit, give two reasons for New Zealand.

Common thread

Spend less time on theory, more on case-specific analysis and keep one clear answer.

Contract law: rules and cases

Offer

• Willingness to be bound, on clear and certain terms
• Not an offer: supplying information (Harvey v Facey [1893])
• Displays and adverts are invitations to treat (Pharmaceutical Society v Boots [1953]; Partridge v Crittenden (1968))

Acceptance and counter offers

• Acceptance must mirror the offer
• A counter offer ends the original offer (Hyde v Wrench (1840) 3 Beav 334, 49 ER 132)
• An added term is a counter offer (Cross v Davidson (1898))
• A mere inquiry is not (Stevenson Jaques & Co v McLean (1880))

Q4 and Q5: how I approached them

Q4: Unique Gifts and Munchkinz

• Test offer, acceptance and intended offeree for each party
• Unique Gifts changed the quantity (Pascoe Properties Ltd v Attorney-General [2014] NZCA 616 at [64])
• Munchkinz was not the intended offeree (McMahon v Gilberd & Co [1955] NZLR 1206)

Q5: BrainyPlay

• Was the original offer still open when it accepted?
• A rejected offer cannot be accepted unless renewed (Hyde v Wrench (1840) 3 Beav 334, 49 ER 132)
• Cite in APA 7 or the teaching team's style, and give a clear conclusion for each party

Common pitfalls

• Describing theory without applying it to the case
• Long definitions that leave no room for analysis
• Missing one part of a multi-part question
• Mixing up push and pull in promotion with push and pull in supply chains
• Citing texts or law inaccurately

Preparing for the exam

• Summarise each module's key frameworks on one page
• Practise past papers under timed conditions, within 300 words
• Rehearse TEE+ and ILAC until the structure is automatic
• Save one-sentence definitions you can access quickly
• Ask for feedback on a practice answer

Exam-day procedure

• Read the case and the question twice
• Use TEE+ for business and ILAC for law
• Apply every point in your response to the case
• Budget the 300 words across all parts
• Check that each part of the question has been answered

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Good Luck on your Exams!