Best Free Business MOOCs For May

Entrepreneurship 4: Financing and Profitability

School: Wharton School

Platform: Coursera

Registration Link: CLICK HERE

Start Date: May 2016 (4 Weeks Long)

Workload: 1-3 Hours Per Week

Instructors: Kartik Hosanagar, Lori Rosenkopf, David Hsu, Ethan Mollick, Laura Huang, David Bell, Karl Ulrich

Credentials: This specialization features many of the top faculty members at Wharton. Karl Ulrich, for example, is the school’s Vice Dean of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, along with being an award-winning teacher. Bell teaches Marketing Management in Wharton’s MBA and Executive MBA programs, along with serving as the Academic Director for Wharton’s Advanced Management Program. Huang, an award-winning researcher who teaches Wharton’s Entrepreneurship course, previously worked as an investment banker and consultant whose clients ranged from IBM global services to startups across the United States, Europe and China.

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 $135 fee.

Description: This is the make-or-break stage for any startup. You’ve turned your idea into a solution. And you’ve managed to grow a customer base. Question is, how can sustain your progress? How can you attract an infusion of capital without tapping into your personal finances or mortgage – let alone max out your credit cards? And how can you hedge the risk to make your operation a profitable venture able to pique the interests of investors or lenders?

In this course, students will explore the financing options available to entrepreneurs. In particular, it will “explore different financing models, including bootstrapping, organic growth, debt and risk capital, and also provides a clear overview of equity financing including the key types of investors: angels, venture capital, and crowdfunding. You’ll learn about terms, and term sheets, exit modes and what exit strategy might be best for you.”

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Additional Background: This course is part of Wharton’s “Entrepreneurship” Specialization, a four course series that also includes conceiving ideas, designing prototypes, implementing growth strategies, finding financing, and achieving profitability. In addition, students will produce a pitch as a capstone, with the top students being selected to make a pitch directly to venture capital firms. To learn more about this specialization and register for it, click here.