You’ve heard of the golden rule, right? Whoever has the gold makes the rules. Just ask any entrepreneur. To turn an idea into an enterprise, many have traditionally delivered painstaking plans and peppy pitches to skeptical bankers and venture capitalists. It was a long and tedious process defined by harrowing demands and tradeoffs. It was a process ripe for disruption.
And that disruption has come in the form of crowdfunding. Forget one-sided terms and surrendering equity, crowdfunding taps into the internet to harness the financial power of the masses. In the process, it levels the playing field for seasoned and novice entrepreneurs alike.
A JOB CREATOR THAT DOUBLES RETURN ON INVESTMENT
“Crowdfunding is more than another way of raising funds,” writes Ethan Mollick, a decorated Wharton entrepreneurship progress in a 2016 blog post with the Harvard Business Review. “In connecting creators and entrepreneurs directly with customers and funders, it transforms the opaque and oligarchical market for early-stage fundraising into a more democratic, open one. Rather than relying on venture capitalists and marketers to try to project nascent demand for new innovations, creators can directly reach out to customers and communities to refine ideas and gauge interest. Crowdfunding acts as a platform, matching innovators with those who need innovation, and thus is reshaping which ideas come to market.”
On December 4th, Mollick takes his findings to the masses with Crowdfunding, a MOOC that takes a research-driven look at the practices and variables that differentiate successful crowdfunding campaigns. As part of the course, Mollick will walk students through the two main types of crowdfunding models – equity and rewards-based – along with their advantages and drawbacks in various contexts. The course will also examine the psychology of investors to help students better craft messaging that pulls at both heart and wallet. That’s critical in a crowded field where just one misspelling can reduce the likelihood of investment by 13% according to Mollick.
Indeed, crowdfunding has grown increasingly popular among entrepreneurs and investors alike. In 2015, Kickstarter alone raised $2 billion dollars in equity for American initiatives says Mollick. What’s more, it has created an economic boon according to his 2016 research on nearly 62,000 Kickstarter projects. He found that the Kickstarter funding created over 5,000 full-time jobs and 160,000 temporary ones. It launched 2,600 patents. More impressive, every dollar spent on Kickstarter dollar yielded a $2.46 return.
THE ULTIMATE MERITOCRACY
And these crowdfunding projects are hardly those one-shots designed to cover someone’s hospital bills. In his Harvard Business Review post, Mollick cites virtual reality as an industry that was resuscitated by crowdfunding. Long discarded as a science fiction pipedream, VR became mainstream after Oculus Rift launched a Kickstarter campaign in 2012 to support its R&D and marketing – a campaign that raised millions. “Suddenly, virtual reality was no longer a forgotten ‘90s trend but had become a hot area of technology,” Mollick writes. “Not only was Oculus soon bought by Facebook for $2B, but the field of virtual reality has experienced explosive growth, with Microsoft, Sony, Samsung, and others announcing major products.”
For entrepreneurs, crowdfunding is a means to go around traditional gatekeepers for funding. What do investors actually get out of it? Mollick sees the appeal stemming from a sense of shared mission and community, where the creator and the user are able to collaborate. At the same time, Mollick notes that crowdfunding fosters a deeper sense of accountability among entrepreneurs – with less than 10% of KickStarter projects ultimately failing. Even more, crowdfunding has become the ultimate meritocracy. Look no further than the success of women on KickStarter, who were 13% more likely to raise funding than men according to Mollick’s research.
So what lessons can students in the Crowdfunding MOOC expect to learn? In a 2017 interview with CNBC, Mollick encourages entrepreneurs to be part of the community that they target. In the same breatj, he also warns readers not to view crowdfunding as a get rich fast scheme. “Most projects fail by a lot or succeed by a little. Don’t aim for viral, you’re not likely to get it.”
FROM DEVELOPING STRATEGY TO FINDING PURPOSE
Crowdfunding is just one of a deep roster of MOOCs devoted to marketing this month. Putting your final touches on your 2018 plans? Check out Strategy Management, which separates tired practices from their modern counterparts. For digital marketers, the University of Virginia is rolling out Digital Product Management: Modern Fundamentals on December 11th. This course is designed to help marketers leverage data to enhance value and build a deeper dialogue with customers. Speaking of data, you won’t want to miss another go-round of the University of California-Berkeley’s Marketing Analytics: Price and Promotion Analytics – a course taught by Stephen Sorger, a leading practitioner in the field.
Leadership and finance, as always, are heavily featured in December. Want to learn about managing people from a top business school dean? Check out Inspiring and Motivating Individuals, which is co-taught by D. Scott DeRue – the dean of the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. Seeking purpose in your life? Don’t miss Wharton’s Leading the Life You Want, which examines how luminaries like Bruce Springsteen and Michelle Obama have cracked the code when it comes to balancing their professional, family, and spiritual lives. Then again, if you’re always wondering what the bean counters are really saying, Rice is offering a primer on just that: Finance for Non-Finance Professionals.
To learn more about these courses — and many more — click on the links below.
Marketing
Crowdfunding / December 4 / Wharton School
Strategic Management / December 4 / Copenhagen Business School
Digital Product Management: Modern Fundamentals / December 11 / University of Virginia (Darden)
Marketing Analytics: Price and Promotion Analytics / December 3 / University of California-Berkeley
Leadership Through Social Influence / December 11 / Northwestern University
Finance
Finance for Non-Finance Professionals / December 4 / Rice University
The Global Financial Crisis / December 3 / Yale University
Private Equity and Venture Capital / December 11 / SDA Bocconi
Leadership
Inspiring and Motivating Individuals / December 4 / University of Michigan (Ross)
Leading the Life You Want / December 4 / Wharton School
Managing Social and Human Capital / December 18 / Wharton School
Leadership and Influence / December 4 / University of Illinois
Leading Teams / December 4 / University of Michigan
Innovation and Design for Global Grand Challenges / December 4 / Duke University
Entrepreneurship
Developing Innovative Ideas for New Companies: The First Step in Entrepreneurship / December 11 / University of Maryland
New Venture Finance: Startup Funding for Entrepreneurs / December 11 / University of Maryland
Technology Commercialization, Part 1: Setting up your Idea Filtering System / December 11 / University of Rochester
Additional Courses
Crowdfunding
School: Wharton School
Platform: Coursera
Registration Link: REGISTER HERE
Start Date: December 4, 2017 (4 Weeks Long)
Workload: Not Specified.
Instructor: Ethan Mollick
Credentials: A 2014 member of Poets&Quants’ ‘Best Business Professors Under 40,’ Mollick teaches several courses at the Wharton School, including Entrepreneurship, Venture Implementation, and Innovation, Change, and Entrepreneurship. He was the 2017 winner of the Outstanding Publication in Organizational Behavior and ranks among the 100 most downloaded authors in leading academic journals according to the Social Science Research Network. He holds MBA and Ph.D. degrees from MIT.
Graded: Students must pass four quizzes and complete a peer-reviewed assignment to complete the course. Please note that some assignments may not be available unless you purchase a certificate.
Description: A generation ago, would-be entrepreneurs would seek funding from banks or venture capitalists. They would assume interest payment or give up a share of equity. Crowdfunding has turned this model on its head. Using social media, entrepreneurs can widen and deepen their reach, raising small amounts from large numbers. This method also cuts the time and money it takes to attract potential investors, enabling entrepreneurs to get their products to market faster.
Of course, some campaigns are more successful than others. Kristen Bell, for example, helped launch a Kickstarter campaign that enabled her to take her Veronica Mars television show to the big screen with $5.7 million dollars in funding. That is often the exception as many crowdfunding campaigns are mired in incompetence and fraud.
In this course, Mollick focuses on the science and psychology behind crowdfunding to understand why some succeed and others fail. Using videos and case readings, the course will examine the following areas:
- What are the differences between reward-based and equity campaigns, along with the advantages and disadvantages of each?
- How can social media and home-grown networks amplify your message and expand your reach?
- What are the steps and best practices in developing a successful campaign?
- How do you calculate your timeframe and the right funding amount?
- What messaging strategies work best in attracting the most interest and funding?
- What should you do after you’ve received funding to successfully deliver your product to market?
Review: No reviews.
Strategic Management
School: Copenhagen Business School
Platform: Coursera
Registration Link: REGISTER HERE
Start Date: December 4, 2017 (4 Weeks Long)
Workload: 2-4 Hours Week
Instructor: Robert Austin
Credentials: Before joining Copenhagen Business School, Austin spent over a decade on the faculty of the Harvard Business School. He has authored nine books and over 60 HBS cases. His work has also been published in the Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, and the Wall Street Journal. Hessel is an assistant professor at the school, where her research focuses on group work, art and innovation, and organizational creativity.
Graded: Students will earn a verified certificate for completing this course.
Description: Strategy can mean many things says management professor Henry Mintzberg. It can be a step-by-step plan. It can be a differentiating feature that positions a solution in the marketplace. It can even be a consistent guiding philosophy that clearly frames promise and mission. The keys to strategy, however, involve formulation and execution. What strategies worked in the past hardly herald success in the future.
During this class, Austin will separate worn out strategies from fresh and bold ones. In particular, he will examine how the “old rules” involving consumer targeting, psychological motivation, scaling, and growth have shifted thanks to new technologies and greater global purchasing power. The class will conclude with a capstone project where students bridge a strategy gap between a mature firm set on a particular strategy and an agency looking to broaden their appeal and consumer base.
Review: “Highly appreciate Robert Austin’s way of presentation. Superb way to provide the concept and summarizing the same. Overall got to learn and correlate the business decisions and situations to the Management concepts.” For addition reviews, click here.
Additional Notes: This is the first course in a four course specialization called “Strategic Management and Innovation.” To learn more about these courses and register for them, click here.
Digital Product Management: Modern Fundamentals
School: University of Virginia (Darden)
Platform: Coursera
Registration Link: REGISTER HERE
Start Date: December 11, 2017 (4 Weeks Long)
Workload: 4-6 Hours Per Week
Instructor: Alex Cowan
Credentials: Cowan is the managing director of Synapse Partners, a Bay Area firm that includes both a consulting and a venture capital practice. He is also a Batten Fellow and adjunct faculty member at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, where he teaches courses in software design and development. Before entering academia, he launched five companies, most notably Leonid Systems.
Graded: Students must pass all graded quizzes to complete the course.
Description: 9-out-of-every-10 new product launches fail. Let that number sink in. Why does this happen? Sometimes, the value isn’t framed in a way where a team can buy into it. Then again, maybe the team – from creative to sales – doesn’t understand the concept (or their roles) due to poor communication. Of course, many projects are doomed from the start, stemming from a failure to truly dig into shifting consumer needs, market expectations, and competitive hurdles.
These days, digital product managers enjoy plenty of advantages. They can access a wealth of data to identify opportunities and guide decision-making. They can also more quickly modify content to better align with consumer experience. In this course, students will examine the product development process, from idea and development to management and enhancement. In particular, Cowan delivers the best practices in connecting stakeholders throughout the product life cycle; researching and testing concepts that maximize resources and reduce risk; and producing strategies for continuing a dialogue with consumers so they can deepen their use of solutions to their full capacity.
Review: “Great course, great content! Highly recommended for any new PM or any experienced PM wanting to flesh out their skill set. One key detail for me was what inputs you should give to each of the business teams and what outputs you should expect from them. This is important given how ambiguous the Product role can be and that you usually end up spending time filling gaps yourself to ensure success, rather than being clear what the business teams should be doing for you.” For additional reviews, click here.
Marketing Analytics: Price and Promotion Analytics
School: University of California-Berkeley
Platform: EdX
Registration Link: REGISTER HERE
Start Date: December 3, 2017 (4 Weeks Long)
Workload: 5-7 Weeks Long
Instructor: Stephan Sorger
Credentials: Sorger is an adjunct faculty at the University of California-Berkeley, where he teaches courses in marketing planning, brand management, marketing research, and marketing analytics. Professionally, he is a partner at On Demand Advisors, a consulting firm that uses marketing metrics tools to identify new segments, fill pipelines, and increasing their closing ratio. He is also the author of two college textbooks on marketing. Before entering academia, he held senior level marketing roles at tech firms like Oracle and SAP.
Graded: After completing the course, students can receive an instructor-signed certificate for $150.
Description: The best ideas don’t always nab the largest budgets. Take analytics, for example. For some in the c-suite, the term sounds pioneering and empowering. To others, it comes across as vague and faddish. In this course, students will not only learn how to use analytics to forecast your best profit centers, but also how to sell it to those who control budgets.
Review: “This was a decent introductory course to Marketing Analytics but some material was convoluted. Ultimately, I felt this course offered limited real world examples or applications. The instructor could have been more engaging and quizzes could have been more challenging.” For additional reviews, click here.
Leadership Through Social Influence
School: Northwestern University
Platform: Coursera
Registration Link: REGISTER HERE
Start Date: December 11, 2017 (4 Weeks Long)
Workload: 1-3 Hours Per Week
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 $79 fee.
Instructor: Daniel J. O’Keefe
Credentials: O’Keefe teaches courses in persuasion at Northwestern University’s Department of Communication Studies. A highly decorated researcher and teacher, he received the school’s Galbut Outstanding Faculty Award in 2010, along with several awards for his scholarship from the National Communication Association, the International Communication Association, the American Forensic Association, and the International Society for the Student of Argumentation. Holding Ph.D. in speech communication from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, O’Keefe is the author of Persuasion: Theory and Research (3rd edition) from Sage Publications.
Description: Is leadership innate or learned? Perhaps it is a bit of both. In this course, students will learn tools for influencing, persuading and inspiring their peers. In particular, “the course will address four broad topics: strategies for influencing people’s personal attitudes; strategies for affecting social factors influencing behavior; strategies for affecting people’s perceived ability to undertake the desired behavior; and strategies for inducing people to act on their existing intentions.” Even more, it will focus on how leaders can customize their communication style in various contexts.
Review: “I really loved it. It would be great to have some good hands-out that explains the process between the different level of influence.” For additional reviews, click here.
Additional Note: This is the third of a six course specialization from Northwestern University called “Organizational Leadership.” It includes courses on communicating through storytelling, building collaborative teams, and leading through marketing and design innovation. To learn more about these courses and register for them, click here.
Finance for Non-Finance Professionals
School: Rice University
Platform: Coursera
Registration Link: REGISTER HERE
Start Date: December 4, 2017 (5 Weeks Long)
Workload: Not Specified
Instructor: James Weston
Credentials: Weston is the Harmon Whittington Professor of Finance at Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business, where he teaches the core finance courses to first-year MBAs. The 2016 recipient of Jones’ Alumni Faculty Award, the top teaching honor at the school, Weston ‘s research interests include valuation, financial econometrics, and empirical asset pricing. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Virginia and his most recent research has been nominated for the Best Paper Award from the Journal of Finance.
Graded: To earn a passing mark, students must complete all graded assignments.
Description: Sometimes, finance can seem like a forbidding foreign language, with confusing jargon and complex and arcane rules. Many professionals are afraid to admit how financially illiterate they really are, no matter how much it costs their career. In this course, students will cover the same concepts as a core MBA core course. The difference: It is geared to learners with little exposure to finance.
According to Weston, the course will cover “the basics of financial valuation, the time value of money, compounding returns, and discounting the future. You will understand discounted cash flow (DCF) valuation and how it compares to other methods. We also step inside the mind of a corporate financial manager and develop the basic tools of capital budgeting. We will survey the how, when, and where to spend money, make tradeoffs about investment, growth, dividends, and how to ensure sound fiscal discipline. Our journey then turns to a Wall Street or capital markets perspective of investments as we discuss the fundamental tradeoff between risk and return. We then synthesize our discussion of risk with our valuation framework and incorporate it into series of direct applications to practice.”
Review: “Basic knowledge very well explained. Will give any manager the necessary elements to understand the financial terms and have some references.” For additional reviews, click here.
The Global Financial Crisis
School: Yale University
Platform: Coursera
Registration Link: REGISTER HERE
Start Date: December 4, 2017 (11 Weeks Long)
Workload: 4-6 Hours Per Week
Grades: Not specified.
Instructors: Andrew Metrick and Timothy Geithner
Credentials: Metrick is a deputy dean and professor of finance and management at the Yale School of Management. His research focuses on financial stability, particularly the causes and effects of the 2008 financial meltdown. Holding a Ph.D. in Economics, Metrick spent 18 years teaching at the Wharton School of Business and another five years at the Harvard Business School, earning the highest teaching awards at each school. From 2009-2010, he also served as the chief economist for the Council of Economic Affairs.
Geithner served as the Secretary of Treasure from 2009-2013 during the height of the financial crisis. In this role, he helped allocate TARP bank bailout funds and developed strategies to soften the impact of toxic assets. During the crisis, he was President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Geithner also held the position of Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs during the second term of the Clinton administration. He is currently the President and Managing Director of Warburg Pincus.
Description: Remember the fall of 2008? As debt amassed and risk skyrocketed, the housing bubble finally burst, taking Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers with it. As America reeled, the public was introduced to terms like “toxic assets” and “too big to fail.” But what were the causes of the global financial crisis? Why did so many people miss the signs? How did the crisis irrevocably change the markets? And could it all happen again? Those are the key questions answered in this course, featuring Tim Geithner – the man in the middle of the storm. During this course, students will be exposed to the key drivers to the crisis, along with examining just how interconnected the financial system is, the impact and limitations of government regulation and policy, and the lessons learned from debacle.
Review: “Overall, an easy and quick course with very interesting material. I learned a lot, and their conclusions felt well motivated, drawing on research reports, and presented in lots of graphs and diagrams. Time well spent for me!” For additional reviews, click here.
Private Equity and Venture Capital
School: SDA Bocconi
Platform: Coursera
Registration Link: REGISTER HERE
Start Date: December 11, 2017 (4 Weeks Long)
Workload: Not specified.
Instructor: Stefano Caselli
Credentials: Caselli teaches courses in international finance, investment banking, and venture capital finance at Bocconi University, where he also serves as vice rector of international affairs. A highly respected teacher and researcher, Caselli has won the ‘Bocconi Teaching Award” eight times since 2005, along with the school’s research award three times (most recently in 2011). He also serves on several company boards, including Generali Immobiliare Italia SGR and Santander Consumer Bank, as well as serving as a source for Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal.
Graded: Course certificates are available from Coursera for $49.
Description: In this four week introduction, students will absorb the financing fundamentals for organizations ranging from startups to established players looking for funds to help them grow or establish new markets. The covers how to court and close investors, establish a company valuation and manage funds.
Review: “A pretty good introduction course for VC industry. 4 weeks covering different topics including VC structures, industry comparison between US and Europe, valuation 101, etc.” For additional reviews, click here.
Additional Note: This course is not taught in English, though subtitles are available in English. Caselli also expects students who take the course to come with a basic understanding of corporate finance and accounting.
Wharton’s Dr. Stewart D. Friedman
Leading the Life You Want
School: Wharton School
Platform: Coursera
Registration Link: REGISTER HERE
Start Date: December 4, 2017 (4 Weeks Long)
Workload: 2-3 Hours Per Week
Instructor: Stewart D. Friedman
Credentials: A management professor at Wharton since 1984, Dr. Friedman has been ranked among the top 50 business thinkers by Thinkers50 and recognized by Working Mother as one of America’s 25 most influential men. He founded Wharton’s Leadership program and Work/Life Integration Project. He has consulted for organizations ranging from the United Nations to the White House. He also spent two years at Ford as a senior executive for leadership development, where he instituted a cultural transformation initiative that drew over 2500 managerial participants. A prolific author, Friedman is jokingly referred to as a “rock star” among Wharton professors.
Graded: Students will earn a verified certificate for completing this course.
Description: Feel overwhelmed? Lack a sense of purpose? Maybe even carry around a sense of guilt? Most people eventually reach this point in their careers, as they battle to somehow balance work with their family commitments and spiritual needs. That’s one reason why Friedman authored Leading the Life You Want: Skills for Integrating Work and Life, a best-seller that incorporated a lifetime of research into what enriches our lives. He found that truly successful professionals needed to integrate the leadership principles of being real, whole, and innovative to harmonize their work, home, community, and spiritual domains.
In his book – and in this course – Friedman illustrates these values through his in-depth interviews with people ranging from Michelle Obama and Sheryl Sandberg to Bruce Springsteen and Tom Tierney. To help students reflect on their own lives, he also offers several exercises designed to identify their passions and match values with action. In doing so, students will become more confident leaders in all phases of their lives.
Review: No reviews.
Scott DeRue, dean of the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan
Inspiring and Motivating Individuals
School: University of Michigan (Ross)
Platform: Coursera
Registration Link: REGISTER HERE
Start Date: December 4, 2017
Instructors: D. Scott DeRue and Maxim Sytch
Credentials: DeRue is a member of Poets&Quants’ “Top 40 Professors Under the Age of 40.” An associate dean in the executive MBA program at the University of Michigan, DeRue is a prolific writer and researcher, whose research has appeared in journals like the Academy of Management Review and Research in Organizational Behavior (along with national outlets like the New York Times and the Harvard Business Review). Holding a Ph.D. in management from Michigan State, DeRue is also the managing partner of an angel investment firm.
Sytch has also been profiled by Poets&Quants for being among the “Top 40 Professors Under the Age of 40.” A Northwestern Ph.D. who previously taught at Kellogg, Sytch has earned several awards while teaching at Michigan, including the Ross Executive Education Teaching Impact Award and the Outstanding Reviewer Award from the Academy of Management Journal and Organization Science in both 2014 and 2015. A leadership expert, his clients have ranged from Morgan Stanley to Oracle to the Ronald McDonald House.
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 $95 fee.
Description: People are paid to do a job. They should just automatically do it to the best of their abilities, right? Seems simple enough in theory. In execution, well, not everyone shares the same commitment to personal excellence and development. For some, work is just a means to an end. They may pay lip service to your mission, but many don’t hold themselves accountable to achieving it.
How do you engage your employees so they truly share your purpose and perform at their best every day? Over four weeks, DeRue and Sytch will focus on communication and psychology – how to create conditions and craft messaging that resonates with employees over the long haul. This includes fostering a shared vision and value system; setting clear goals and expectations; establishing a series of rewards that reinforce the best behaviors; and delivering feedback that motivates instead of alienates.
Review: “Interesting subject and the course was executed in a nice way by the teachers. I highly recommend this course if you are interested in leadership.” For additional reviews, click here.
Additional Notes: This is the first course in the University of Michigan’s “Leading People and Teams” specialization. To learn more about these courses and register for them, click here.
Managing Social and Human Capital
School: Wharton School
Platform: Coursera
Registration Link: REGISTER HERE
Start Date: June 5, 2017 (3 Weeks Long)
Workload: 2-3 Hours Per Week
Instructors: Michael Useem and Peter Cappelli
Credentials: Useem and Cappelli are both professors of management at the Wharton School. He teaches “Managing Established Enterprises” and “Foundations of Teamwork and Leadership” to graduate business students. A prolific author, Useem is best known for his book called The Leadership Checklist, with his most recent research appearing in the Academy of Management Journal, Leadership Quarterly, and Organizational Dynamics. He is also the Director of Wharton’s Center for Leadership and Change Management. Cappelli teaches “Negotiations” and “Building Human Assets in Entrepreneurial Ventures” at Wharton, where he also serves as the Director of the school’s Center for Human Resources. Recently, HR Magazine ranked him among the five most influential thinkers in management.
Graded: Students must successfully complete all graded assignments to complete this course.
Description: Some say management is more art than science, that you must dive in and take your lumps to learn it. In fact, management ranks among the most difficult roles, quickly exposing your weaknesses and humbling any sense that you’re in control. You never have enough time and there are ever-changing priorities tugging at you. As a manager, you must balance pleasing your superiors, while also maintaining the respect and trust of your reports. All the while, you need to stay focused on the big picture as you push to realize today’s goals.
While experience is key to successful management, so too is training. In this course, Useem and Cappelli examine the structure of work, the psychology behind motivating people, the decision-making needed to achieving goals and proven strategies for developing talent. In particular, the instructors will focus on how to “motivate individual performance and design reward systems, how to design jobs and organize work for high performance, how to make good and timely management decisions, and how to design and change your organization’s architecture.”
Review: “Incredible course. The material taught and discussions held where practical and applicable to the real world situation today.” For additional reviews, click here.
Additional Note: This is the third course in a six course specialization from Wharton called “Business Foundations,” which includes introductory courses to marketing, finance, and operations. To learn more about this specialization and register for it, click here
Leadership and Influence
School: University of Illinois
Platform: Coursera
Registration Link: REGISTER HERE
Start Date: December 4, 2017 (4 Weeks Long)
Workload: Not Specified
Instructor: C.K. Gunsalus
Credentials: Gansalus teaches at the University of Illinois in both the College of Business and the College of Medicine. She has also served as the assistant provost at the school and is currently the director of the National Center for Professional and Research Ethics (NCPRE). A lawyer and a researcher, Gansalus is the author of The College Administrator’s Survival Guide.
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 $79 fee.
Description: What is the difference between leadership and management? Plenty of thought leaders have weighed in on this question. In essence, leadership is who you are and management involves the tasks that you’re assigned to do. The better the leader, the more self-aware that leader is. That’s why this course is centered around a self-assessment, to help students understand their values, strengths, tendencies, and goals. In addition, students will explore best practices in areas like negotiation, persuasion, resolving conflict, and creating a work environment that fosters performance and cohesion.
Review: No reviews.
Additional Background: This is the third of a four course specialization from the University of Illinois called “Professional IQ: Preventing and Solving Problems at Work.” To learn more about this specialization and register for it, click here.
Leading Teams
School: University of Michigan
Platform: Coursera
Registration Link: REGISTER HERE
Start Date: December 4, 2017
Workload: 1-2 Hours Per Week
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 $95 fee.
Instructors: D. Scott DeRue, Maxim Sytch and Cheri Alexander
Credentials: DeRue is a member of Poets&Quants’ “Top 40 Professors Under the Age of 40.” An associate dean in the executive MBA program at the University of Michigan, DeRue is a prolific writer and researcher, whose research has appeared in journals like the Academy of Management Review and Research in Organizational Behavior (along with national outlets like the New York Times and the Harvard Business Review). Holding a Ph.D. in management from Michigan State, DeRue is also the managing partner of an angel investment firm.
Sytch has also been profiled by Poets&Quants for being among the “Top 40 Professors Under the Age of 40.” A Northwestern Ph.D. who previously taught at Kellogg, Sytch has earned several awards while teaching at Michigan, including the Ross Executive Education Teaching Impact Award and the Outstanding Reviewer Award from the Academy of Management Journal and Organization Science in both 2014 and 2015. A leadership expert, his clients have ranged from Morgan Stanley to Oracle to the Ronald McDonald House.
Alexander is the chief innovation officer and executive director of corporate learning at the University of Michigan. She has spent over 33 years in human resources and labor relations, including a stint as the President of General Motors University and Executive Director of the company’s human resources. She holds a Masters of Science in Management from MIT.
Description: Organization, trust, and consensus are the foundations of teamwork. In this fourth in a five course specialization, Leading Teams will focus on how managers can establish a framework where team members buy into a vision, build a sense of connection, and maximize their complementary strengths to achieve results. In particular, according to the instructors, students “will learn best practices for composing a team and aligning individual and team goals,” as well as “establish roles, build structures, manage decision making” and learn conflict resolution.
Review: No reviews.
Additional Note: This is the fourth in a five course specialization called “Leading People and Teams.” To learn more about the course and register for it, click here.
Innovation and Design for Global Grand Challenges
School: Duke University
Platform: Coursera
Registration Link: REGISTER HERE
Start Date: December 4, 2017 (5 Weeks Long)
Workload: 8-10 Hours Per Week
Instructor: Alex Dehgan
Credentials: Diplomat…intrapreneur…scholar…visionary: Those are just a few of the labels associated with Dehgan, a Fulbright Scholar who earned his BA in Zoology at Duke University before collecting a JD at the University of California-Hastings and a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology at the University of Chicago. Currently the CEO of Conservation X Labs and the Chanier Innovator in Residence at Duke University, Dehgan was previously the chief scientist at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Here, he launched the agency’s first independent Office of Science & Technology, where he built an 80 person team with a $100 million dollar budget. In the process, he developed the agency’s Grand Challenges for Development program to leverage scientific and business solutions to address major global issues. Before hat, he was an advisor on nonproliferation in Iraq; a diplomacy fellow, policy planner, and senior scientist at the U.S. Department in State; and head of the Wildlife Conservation Center’s efforts in Afghanistan. He was named an Icon of Science by Seed magazine and earned a Merit Honor Award at the Department State. Dehgan is also the author of The Snow Leopard Startup.
Graded: Students must finish all required assignments, including a concluding startup proposal, to complete the course.
Description: The World is accelerating, as the developing world pushes tens of millions into the middle class. This has created new demands that exert pressure on the water and food supplies, energy consumption, and environmental resources. It potentially forces some hard choices —and potentially painful tradeoffs —between conservation and development. In response, Dehgan has created a course that focuses on how science and technology can partner with entrepreneurial endeavors and finance to create new business models and products to address the biggest and most complex global challenges. The course places special emphasis on design and innovation processes, with the content covering “constructing innovation pipelines, principals of design and engineering unique to the developing world and to conservation (Design for the Other 90%), on harnessing and developing disruptive technologies, principles of behavior and marketing, and on overcoming the challenges with setting up social ventures.” Taught through video lectures, interviews with thought leaders, and case readings of successful (and failed) enterprises, the course challenges assumptions about the developing world. Even more, it addresses how the world has grown more connected — and how emerging levers, ranging from crowdsourcing to 3D printing —are enabling innovators to better scale their efforts at a lower cost.
Review: “Great course! Interesting, diverse topics with thought provoking speakers. A hidden gem of a course!” For additional reviews, click here.
Developing Innovative Ideas for New Companies: The First Step in Entrepreneurship
School: University of Maryland
Platform: Coursera
Registration Link: REGISTER HERE
Start Date: December 11, 2017 (6 Weeks)
Workload: 3-5 Hours per Week
Instructor: James V. Green
Credentials: Dr. Green is the Director of Entrepreneurship Education at the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech). Before entering academia, he held leadership roles in sales and operations for Cyveillance, a leader in cyber intelligence, fraud protection, and security, and NetMentors.org, a career development start-up. He also worked as a consultant for Booz Allen, providing technical analysis to defense organizations. In 2011, he won the 3E Learning Innovative Entrepreneurship Education Competition, which honors educators who teach entrepreneurship. He is also the creator of the Opportunity Analysis Canvas, a methodology used to identify and evaluate new business opportunities.
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 $49 fee.
Description: This course examines the product lifecycle from concept to launch to maturation, covering areas like market research, business models, positioning, pricing, customer expectations, forecasting, and risk management. Each weekly course includes lectures, online readings, and assignments. The objective is to help students “see and act entrepreneurially,” so they can “develop great ideas into great companies.”
Review: “Excellent content, delivery, testing ,and practical information. I have some practical entrepreneurship experience having worked at 2 startups- the second of which I helped found. The exercises help one decide if they have the mindset to do a startup and ways to practice building the skills to do it as well.” For additional reviews, click here.
Additional Note: This course was ranked the #1 Entrepreneurship Course and the #8 Overall Business Course on Coursera according to CourseTalk.
This course is the first part of an “Entrepreneurship: Launching an Innovative Business” specialization, a four course series that includes a capstone project. To learn more about these courses and register for them, click here.
New Venture Finance: Startup Funding for Entrepreneurs
School: University of Maryland
Platform: Coursera
Registration Link: REGISTER HERE
Start Date: December 11, 2017 (4 Weeks Long)
Workload: 3-5 Hours Per Week
Instructor: Michael Pratt
Credentials: A serial entrepreneur, Pratt has spent over 35 years in startup ownership, executive leadership, and finance. During his career, he has launched eleven startups and raised over $100 million dollars in capital. Aside from teaching at the University of Maryland’s Entrepreneurship program, he also serves as managing Partner of Select Venture Partners, an early stage investment management firm. Prior to this venture, he co-founded and operated SpydrSafe Mobile Security, a platform that was recently acquired by Okta. Another of his firms, Trust Digital, was purchased by McAfee. He holds an MS in Marketing from Johns Hopkins University.
Graded: This course does not offer a Statement of Accomplishment. By completing this course, students can count it towards a Signature Track.
Description: This course covers investment from “idea to exit,” teaching students the language, process, and intricacies of generating funding for new ventures. Early on, the course reviews basics like balance, income, and cash flow statements, along with sharing the criteria used by investors to evaluate opportunities. From there, students learn how to identify investors and determine the best time for pursuing capital. In addition, the course will cover how to pinpoint their company’s worth and establish investment tools like stocks. As a final project, students will create a pitch for their company, along with learning strategies for closing funding deals. The course will consist of weekly video lectures and assignments, with performance evaluated through quizzes.
Review: “New Venture Finance is a great course that can help new entrepreneurs and young managers learn quickly, in 4 weeks on how to raise capital at the startup phase and various stages of development of a business. It gives you the do’s and don’ts (practical tips) for creating a pitch deck to impress investors. Prof Michael Pratt is a great teacher, with rich experience in the new venture financing field. He actively participated at the discussion forums to clear the doubts of students. It was a great learning experience.” To read other reviews, click here.
Additional Note: This course is the third in a four part series of courses from the University of Maryland called “Entrepreneurship: Launching an Innovation Business.” To learn more about this specialization, click here.
Technology Commercialization, Part 1: Setting up your Idea Filtering System
School: University of Rochester
Platform: Coursera
Registration Link: REGISTER HERE
Start Date: December 11, 2017 (4 Weeks Long)
Workload: 1-3 Hours Per Week
Instructor: Mark Wilson
Credentials: The founder of Initiatives Consulting LLC, Wilson specializes in helping clients “turn technical ideas into new products and companies.” His services include: business plan development, marketing support, design development, concept, and product testing. A project manager and engineer by trade, Wilson has helped launch five medical device platforms that generate more than $1 billion in annual sales. The course itself, the first in a series from the University of Rochester, stems from a collaboration between the university’s schools of business and engineering.
Graded: For a $49 fee, students can earn a signed certificate of accomplishment for completing the course.
Description: According to the University of Rochester, “launching an engineered product based on hard-science, research, and patents takes an average of 3 to 5 years with $5 to $10 million dollars at stake.” This development process is profoundly different than many ventures, which can be launched quickly with errors easily corrected. In this course, students will learn how to develop commercial solutions that require a longer research and development timeframe. As part of the course, students will understand the “Innovation Creed (“Why are we doing this”) and develop a customized idea filter to ensure they are focusing on the right priorities and investing the right amount of time, money, and resources in their solution. In doing so, students will learn how to steer away from the biggest pitfalls in technology commercializing such as failing to establish metrics or managing scope creep.
The course will be taught through 8-12 minute videos, exercises, and team activities. Students will also complete online and video quizzes.
Review: “It’s a great course – I very much enjoyed all the contents. The Theory and Exercises are all good – the course questions for the quizzes/exams are sometimes too hard. It could be a little more ‘ considerate ‘ regarding company politics, culture or circumstances – and not too rigid. Overall, great learning experience.” For additional reviews, click here.
Additional Note: Although this course doesn’t carry pre-requisites, the school recommends a “background knowledge in hard-science, engineered products: pharmaceuticals and biologics; implantable and disposable medical devices; laboratory, hospital and industrial equipment; military systems; telecommunication and computer hardware; traditional and alternative energy products.” In addition, it suggests that students come with a “general working knowledge of (or desire to learn more about) such things as: the process behind new product development; improving the concept stage of ideas; portfolio management; managing creative thinking; tools for problem-solving and decision-making.”
Here are some additional courses starting in December that may interest you (To learn more about the courses or register for them, click on the links below):
Behavioral Investing / December 4 / Indian School of Business
Relationship Management / December 11 / Rice University
Healthcare Innovation and Entrepreneurship / December 11 / Duke University
Business Strategies for Emerging Markets / December 11 / Higher School of Economics
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