Best Free MOOCs In Business For April

Planning

School: Michigan State University

Platform: Coursera

Registration Link: REGISTER HERE

Start Date: April 2016

Workload: Not Specified

Instructors: Ken Szymusiak, Forrest S. Carter, David Wheeler

Credentials: Szymusiak is the Managing Director, Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at Michigan State’s Broad College of Business. He was previously a director at the Lansing Economic Development Corporation, where he was involved in economic development and revitalizing depressed business properties. Carter is the Institute’s faculty director and associate professor of marketing, teaching courses in market research, marketing strategy, and entrepreneurship. Wheeler is the director of Michigan State’s Media Sandbox. He was previously involved in developing broadcast journalism, film, television and commercials for CBS. He has also been heavily involved in developing and directing video games in his career.

Graded: Students can choose to explore course videos, discussions, and ungraded assignments for free, but they won’t be able to submit graded assignments, earn a certificate, or complete a specialization without paying a $119 fee.

Description: “Fail fast, fail often.” That’s the mantra for this generation of entrepreneurs. It is certainly a departure from the era of exhaustive business plans, where every scenario was pondered and every variable dissected. Planning is still important in starting a business, no doubt. At the same time, so too is prototyping, testing, and modifying after a more rapid pace.

As part of this course, learners will “complete a business model summarizing assumptions about what value they will offer to whom, and how they will make money; systematically test and validate these assumptions within the constraints of their available resources; and use these validated assumptions to generate financial projections that are based on actual resources and efforts expended.” In other words, students will be exposed to the best of lean development to produce the data needed to guide a successful launch.

Review: No reviews.

Additional Background: This course is the second part of a “How To Start Your Own Business” specialization, a five course series that includes areas like planning, strategy, and developing an entrepreneurial mindset. To learn more about these courses and register for them, CLICK HERE.