Starting Startups: A Free Course (and More) for the Entrepreneur

Entrepreneurship and Business Planning is a free course available via podcast (iTunes  Feed  Mp3) that parallels a classroom course being offered at Carnegie Mellon within the Masters in Information Systems Management (MISM) program. Taught by Mark Juliano, an adjunct professor who otherwise works in the private sector, the course covers the ins-and-outs of starting a new venture. Following a very logical trajectory, it starts with the fundamentals — developing ideas for new companies, writing business plans, and creating teams — and then moves through more advanced materials that you’d typically find covered in b-school: marketing, competitive strategy, sales, pricing, funding and finance. Finally, when you dive into the podcasts, you’ll realize that Juliano has clearly taken pains to present an accessible course for listeners. Along with clearly presented lectures, you get a host of supporting online materials, plus a course blog. A very nice touch.

Next, the business-minded folks among us will also want to pore over the stellar collection of entrepreneurship education resources assembled by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program. Their media content trove includes a solid collection of podcasts featuring talks with business thought leaders (iTunes  Feed  Web Site), not to mention a cache of videos highlighting presentations by the executives and VCs who make Silicon Valley tick. Just generally, you’ll want to explore the many other resources in the Educators Corner.

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