Winter 2008
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001 I think Josh is a great teacher. I really learned a lot about how to run a business. I think this class has been one of my favorite classes and will probably one of the most useful classes I've had at BYU. It probably isn't possible, but I think it would be helpful to have the class more than once a week. 001 Some of the ratings are a little off because this is the first time this class has been taught like this. Josh is new to teaching and I didn't know my standing in the class most of the time, but the trade off is that he REALLY KNOWS THIS STUFF. Despite what my ratings were I would recommend taking this class from Josh, his teaching skills can always improve but you would be hard pressed to find somebody who could give the perspective he has. 001 Great lectures, not the best homework assignments ever. Next time Josh teaches the class it'll be much better, because he'll already have the material put together. We kind of had to suffer through the development of the class... 001 It had it's 'beta' problems, but it was
very useful having a professor who had done what he taught.
Because I knew I was learning the real stuff, I gave more energy
to it. 001 I didn't know going into the class that it was going to be so much about tech venture start ups, but Josh made it clear from the beginning of the course. I could tell that Josh really wants us to be successful, which I appreciate. I felt lost sometimes as to how grades work, and found it hard to find inspiration to put in great effort. I probably would have gotten more out of the class if I had. Some of the metaphors and media at times may have been a little much for the BYU environment. But once again, I could tell Josh wants us to be successful, and it was interesting to hear from someone who had been through the process. I think once the course gets a little more organized, and if it could get toned down a little bit, it will be a great course. 001 This class was the best. I'm so glad BYU offers it. Josh needs to spend a little more time planning out homework and tests. However, I really loved this class and I'm happy I took it. 001 I feel like Josh knows much more about the subject than any BYU professor would. He is an excellent choice for the teacher of this class. He should be more respectful to students who don't get all the answers right, we are students afterall. Overall I am glad I took the course and I feel confident that I can succeed in a venture startup. I hope Josh will continue to teach at BYU. 001 best instructor I ever had at BYU in the 4 years I've been here, hands down. 001 Thanks for a great semester Josh! Your experience and knowledge that you've shared will undoubtedly help me in the future. Very practical and entertaining ta-boot! 001 A lot of the time I spent outside of class was really spent out of stress, not being able to sleep at night. I know I wasn't the only one with this issue. Josh can be a great teacher and the content of the class is amazing but Josh's levels of apathy and expecations are sometimes very hard to cope with. I'm sure this class will be very good in the future as Josh gets things fully organized but this semester was really stressfull for me. |
Winter 2009
001 Josh was a great teacher in this subject. He was always willing to take questions and explain the answers until the class understood the answer. He was very fair with the class and would always ask our input on things before he made a decision on class matters. I thought it was really great to listen to the lectures, he is a very good presenter. Overall this was a great class to take from Josh, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about VC start-ups.
001 I feel that the instructor was needlessly condescending to students. Instructions on homework assignments were ambiguous.
001 When a homework assignment has 50 parts to it, and it's graded on a scale from 0-3 knocking a point off for 1 possible error drops your % on the homework to 66%... Kind of a hwk killer.
001 This class is full of good information, but the grading is ridiculous. The financial homework assignments take hours and if you have one cell off you get a 66%. Additionally, you never get any feedback as to what you got wrong so you have no opportunity to improve. I feel that this class does not reflect my knowledge of course material and is an unfair blemish on my academic record.
001 I was under the impression that the TA was lazy and didn't really care about what happened in the class.
001 I think this is a great course, and Prof. Coates delivers it perfectly.
001 Josh is a great lecturer, but he's not much of a teacher. The assignments didn't seem to help me pick up what I needed to do for the midterm or future assignments, with the exception of the financial model. Most of the time I wasn't sure what it was I was supposed to be learning/focusing on. The pitch presentation as final project is a good idea, but probably needs to be less focused on being something 'real.' In the real world, deadlines would be different, there would be time for more research, scrapping ideas wouldn't cost valuable time (and grades), etc. It would probably be simpler and more valuable to allow a more simulated pitch; the idea should be something that can be done (no "magic box"), but it shouldn't have to be quite as rigorous as what would actually be pitched to a VC; unless somebody has a really good idea at the start of the class, that is a surprisingly difficult thing to do.
Fall 2009
001 This class will make me millions
001 Josh is a definitely
unorthodox teacher. I liked him a ton, although he was rude often
times and quite a jerk to student's opinions. He has a strong bias
towards computer science, so if a student is not a CS major, he is
constantly looked as inferior by Josh.
You'd think a successful
person like Josh would recognize that Business, accounting, math and
other majors are as important as CS too. He is a bit of a hypocrite.
I don't mean to be rude, I just don't know how to describe him.
The
class itself was very informative. I learned a great deal in this
class.
001 This class, more than anything, has taught me that I don't ever want to start my own high tech venture startup.
Fall 2011
001 I would have to say that this was one of the most beneficial and educational classes that I have taken up to this point.
001 Taking this class from Josh has seriously been life changing. This is the single best class I have ever taken in my 4+ years of school - I've never learned more. If you guys could snag Josh and get him to teach every semester, it would be one of the best things you could do for this college. I would love to have an actual start up scene here, and none of the marriot school crap.
001 Probably the best class I've taken at BYU because of Josh. He was an excellent teacher. I learned a ton from him.