p.s. My timetable doesn't look that ridiculous. Most of the business modules are quite light in terms of hours and FSP was not reflected here, so it looks like a decent semester.
Anyways, the reviews for modules taken are as follows!
BSP2005 Asian Business Environment
Thoughts before: Really keen to learn more about how the business environment in Asia and how companies can thrive in such an environment. Hopefully, I can get to understand how to do business in Asia, which would help if I want to do a startup (know how to scale to the rest of Asia), or even in a company (how to access and thrive in other Asian markets).
General overview: This module is really interesting and gives a great perspective to the Asian business environment (as the name suggests). It introduces different angles to look at businesses and how it can thrive in the countries it does businesses in. These include PEST (political, economic, social, technological) factors and how various factors gel together to aid/hinder the growth of a business.
Format: This module consists of a 1X 2hrs lecture (which is webcasted = less commitment), and 1X 1hrs tutorial. Grading consists of tutorial participation (10%), 2 case presentations during tutorial timing (10% + 25%), and a final exam (55%).
My opinion: The case presentation was good as you get to work in teams to study the environment of a real business and suggest strategic directions moving forward (Strategy consulting kind of work). Teams would present their ideas and analysis to the tutorial classes, but the TA which grades your work and asks questions seem to have a fixed answer in their minds. But between your presentations, you basically have nothing to do (workload is great). Lectures were insightful and filled with real examples which gave detailed context but could have been slightly more organized. Finals was basically a 100 MCQs which seems easy, but very tricky.
Difficulty: Medium
Grade obtained: A-
MNO2009 Entrepreneurship
Thoughts before: Really want to understand the best way to think as an entrepreneur and how to identify business opportunities through the various framework.
General overview: Module gives a framework to understand how a startup should be structured, and how it can be lean and effective. The first half of the module is very theoretical but it does shed some lights on how to structure a startup for success. It shares some ideas on identifying opportunities, and how VCs might select a startup based on their traction and performance. The second half focused more on developing a business idea and pitching the idea to the professor as well as a group of VCs (real industry professionals) for a taste of how the real pitching would be like. It was rather interesting to experience doing so, although not much relevance to the first half.
Format: Classes was made up with 1X 2hrs lecture (No webcast) and 1X 1hrs tutorial. Grades were determined based on an individual assignment (42.5%), a group assignment (42.5%) and class participation (15%).
My opinion: Good module that provides some framework to help structure a startup to perform better. The execution was not that great, but seeing that it is teaching about entrepreneurship, there is no easy way to execute it.
Difficulty: Easy-Medium
Grade obtained: B+
FIN3103 Financial Markets
Thoughts before: Understand the different components that make up the financial market and how to navigate it.
General overview: This class introduces the various aspects of the financial market and how it works. This includes a brief introduction to financial institutions and their role in the economy, as well as bank risk management to prevent their demise. It also includes an introduction to the debt market instruments, focusing on Singapore's debt market. In addition, the equity market is briefly explored with regards to its instruments and technicalities of the market (tick size, odd lot trading, taxes, margin trading, etc.). Lastly, the foreign exchange market and the derivatives market are also introduced.
Format: This module consists of 4 assessment components. Firstly, there are two closed book exams with no cheat sheet- term test (30%) and a final test (25%). There is also a group project (30%) where you work in groups to research and present an assigned topic related to the course in both a written report as well as a presentation. Finally, class participation takes up 15% of the overall grade.
My opinion: A decent introduction to the world of finance in terms of the different markets and how it is structured. Not too much math or technical background needed to navigate this class, hence I don't see much commitment for it. Quite a relaxing module to take, only requiring some effort for the tests and project when they are due.
Grade obtained: A-
FIN4122 Entrepreneurial Finance
Thoughts before: Understand how to value a startup and the factors to consider as CAPM and typical assessment criteria would not apply to startups.
General overview: A good class on how to navigate financially as a startup by understanding how startups are valued and how to make sure you don't run out of money. You get to understand how financing and valuation work from both the startup perspective and the VC's perspective. In terms of the startup perspective, you'll understand how to manage cash flow properly by paying attention to key metrics in business. In terms of the VC's perspective, you'll see how they choose companies and value them. More importantly, this class also explores the various considerations in a funding round, what they mean, and their implication for both a VC as well as a startup.
Format: 1 Group project (40%), 1 individual tests (30%), Class participation (30%)
My opinion: This was my favorite class of the semester and one of the most refreshing classes during my time as a business undergraduate. I was always interested in entrepreneurship and this class delivers fundamental concepts to navigate the world of financing. It brings a rare insight into the world of Venture Capital funds by putting students through a valuation process from identifying potential companies to fund, to doing due diligence, and finally building and negotiating a term sheet (offer to the startup). The class is split into groups who take on the role of startup and venture capitalist throughout the course, where they will get the opportunity to pitch, value and negotiate a contract. The final event would see two groups face off to negotiate the contract (Super tense and exciting - Venture Capital VS Startup), which could be really daunting. I loved the way in which the class was conducted, and the hands-on experience was unlike any other class.
Difficulty: Medium
Grade obtained: A+
Thoughts before: Mini thesis on predicting flight prices.
General overview: Essentially a thesis module, you can either choose a topic of interest and propose to a professor, or ask a professor to give you a topic to study. Since it is a mini-thesis of sorts, expectations are slightly lower, but the deliverables are more or less the same.
Format: It consists of two parts - class attendance (5%) which had 3 lectures throughout the whole semester and project assessment (95%). Project assessment consisted of working attitude (15%), research methodology (20%), project execution and achievement (20%), report writing (20%) and final oral presentation (20%). In other words, put in the effort and make sure your professor acknowledges your work and you'll be fine.
My opinion: I was pretty busy throughout the semester and did not put much effort into this so I'm quite happy with the grade and what I've done. I contacted a couple of professor with my research topic of interest and basically did my own work throughout the module. My topic was on developing an automated flight price scrapping program along with building a flight price prediction model based on millions of data points. Pretty flexible module to apply your ISE concepts!
Difficulty: Depends
Grade obtained: B+
NOTE: Field Service Project and System Design Project were done throughout year 4 and is in a seperate post
