20 Essential MOOC Courses In Business

Entrepreneurship 101: Who Is Your Customer?

School: MIT Sloan

Source: edX

Start Date: March 18, 2014 (6 Weeks)

Workload: 6 Hours per Week

Instructor: Bill Aulet

Credentials: Professor Aulet is a senior lecturer at MIT Sloan, where he teaches courses like New Enterprises and Applications of Advanced Entrepreneurial Techniques. In addition, he serves as the Managing Director of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship, which supports student entrepreneurship at MIT’s five schools. Before entering academia, Professor Aulet was an entrepreneur who raised over $100 million dollars to fund his ventures, which created hundreds of millions of dollars in market value. He is the author of Disciplined Entrepreneurship: 24 Steps to a Successful Startup and was recently awarded the Adolf F. Monosson Prize for Entrepreneurial Mentoring at MIT.

Graded: A Certificate of Achievement will be awarded to students who successfully complete the course.

Description: Using a case study method, this course will conduct reviews of MIT entrepreneurs in markets ranging from 3-D printers to mobile electronics. Students will learn how to go from formulating ideas to profiling customers who will buy the solution. Students will also complete practical exercises and steps to help them prepare their idea for market.

Review: None

Additional Notes: Unlike many MOOCs, you can view the videos for this course on your schedule. The University of North Carolina also has What’s Your Big Idea available through Coursera, while Udacity offers a “How To Build A Startup” course that is available here.