Best Free MOOCs In Business For February

Scaling Up Your Venture Without Screwing Up

School: Stanford University

Platform: NovoEd

Start Date: February 1, 2016

Workload: 4-6 Hours Per Week

Instructors: Huggy Rao and Bob Sutton

Credentials: Huggy Rao is a renowned teacher and author in the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Rao, who teaches courses in organizational culture, design, and change, is the author of Market Rebels and was awarded the Sidney Levy Award for Teaching Excellence and the W. Richard Scott Award for Distinguished Scholarship at the Kellogg School of Management.

Robert Sutton is considered a “Rock Star Professor” whose work transcends academia. The author of two New York Times Bestsellers – The No Asshole Rule and Good Boss, Bad Boss – Sutton teaches at Stanford’s Engineering School, where he has founded various programs and centers.

Graded: Not Specified

Description: Based on seven years of research, this course focuses on helping students successfully build their business. Drawing from case studies featuring organizations ranging from Facebook to the U.S. Marine Corps, Rao and Sutton examine how companies can instill the right belief systems to promote buy-in and ownership from employees. It examines the contexts in which standardizing or customizing models better facilitate expansion, along with the trade-offs for each approach. The course incorporates readings, lectures, and exercises, along with video interviews with successful entrepreneurs and VCs. The course culminates with a live webinar, where students present a scaling plan for their businesses.

Review: “Just finished this course. It was harder work than I anticipated, but well worthwhile. I have considerable experience in scaling businesses, but learned a great deal. Brilliant!” For additional reviews, click here.

Additional Note: Sutton and Rao recommend that attendees read their book, Scaling Up Excellence: Getting to More Without Settling for Less.