10 Free Courses Every Startup Founder Should Take
Every business starts from a single great idea. If you have an exciting product or service, you can start a business, be an entrepreneur, develop yourself in a particular market. But, many people who are passionate about a product or service they can offer people are not knowledgeable about the best practices of running a business. Read on to discover 10 of the best free online courses that you can take to help learn how to run a successful business — even without an MBA.
1. How to Start a Startup
Through a series of 20 videos, this free course covers all the aspects of building a startup company from the ground up. Curated videos from experts who have founded world-renowned business in a range of industries are enhanced by an extensive list of supplemental reading. Learn how to build a product or develop an idea, raise money, create a company culture, manage people, and create an end user experience that satisfies.
2. Business Model Canvas: A Tool for Entrepreneurs and Innovators
Learn how to use and build your own Business Model Canvas. You’ll learn to identify and communicate the nine key elements of a business model: Customer Segments, Value Proposition, Channels, Customer Relationships, Key Resources, Key Activities, Key Partners, Revenue Streams, and Cost Structure. Over the course of 14 hours, students complete coursework and a project that culminates in a 10-minute video and one-page document.
3. Storytelling for Leaders
Storytelling is one of the most sought-after skills in the business world today. Whether you’re trying to set a vision, lead change, encourage creativity, or inspire the organization, storytelling can help you and your message be more memorable, engaging, and effective. In this audio course, bestselling author and corporate storytelling coach Paul Smith walks you through the elements of a compelling leadership story. Learn the ten most important leadership stories to tell, the eight questions your story needs to answer, how to create the right emotional engagement, and even how to create a surprise ending.
4. Product Management Toolkit
What separates decent product managers from the elite, special operators that always get the job done swiftly and effectively? It often comes down to the tools they bring on their mission to use during the ideation, discovery, design, prototyping, user testing, development, launch, and iteration phases of the product lifecycle. This audio course will teach you when and how to use the tools and techniques that will level up your product management game. If used right, they’ll give you an unfair tactical advantage in the trenches with your engineers and confidence-inspiring strategic persuasiveness in the boardroom with your leaders.
5. Find a Business Idea
Any great business starts with a viable business idea. Many entrepreneurs have trouble finding the right business idea for them. As a result of this, they remain stuck where they are for years on end instead of gaining valuable business experience and the financial success it brings to their personal lives. This audio course will help you find a business idea, validate consumer demand, and build the confidence that your business idea will succeed from the start and in the years to come.
6. Getting Started with Email Marketing
Enjoy this free course compiled from 14 bite-sized videos led by experts. This course provides an overview in core concepts, content distribution, and common scheduling concerns. Learn all the need-to-know skills for email marketing in any size company — startups to corporations — including building a campaign for your specific audience. Study great examples of past campaigns to build your company’s future.
7. Productivity and Time Management: Get More Done
Through a series of videos that takes only 30 minutes to complete, students can learn to better manage their time and increase their productivity. Designed and instructed by the Product Marketing Manager of Trello, this course explains how to use a project management and scheduling system to not only get more done, but to prioritize well and get the most important things done. Learn to personalize your workflow and collaborate with team members through professional tools that work across many industries.
8. Sales Strategies: Mastering the Selling Process
Selling is a life skill. Over five weeks in this course, students can study dozens of videos to learn about conversational selling, storytelling as a tool, how to identify and explain features and benefits of products and services, and how to overcome objections. Expand your entrepreneurial knowledge and grow with specially-developed tools for success. Even learn to manage high-impact, high-productivity meetings.
9. Business Metrics for Data-Driven Companies
Operating a business requires many overlapping actions at once, and the only way to track, measure, and understand how your business operates is to use metrics. In this course over four weeks, learn to analyse data about your business’ performance and use it to make predictions and guide future business decisions. Data-analysis techniques and skills can disrupt how a company currently does business and can enhance any company’s future growth.
10. Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects
Learning about learning seems like it would be complicated, but this course demonstrates just how essential it really is. Learn the tricks of the neurobiology and psychology of learning that have taken experts decades to unlock, but that you can apply to your life immediately. Unlock your own potential, remember better, eliminate procrastination, and learn how to make learning easier, so you can master any topic you set your mind to.
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