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University of Pennsylvania

Entrepreneurship 2: Launching your Start-Up

University of Pennsylvania and Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania via Coursera

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Overview

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Once you have a prototype and a clearer vision of the opportunity, you’ll need to create a small organization to discover how to create a repeatable and scalable business model. Designed to provide you with a comprehensive overview of the critical components of creating a start-up, Entrepreneurship 2: Launching the Start-up, provides practical, real-world knowledge about the lean approach, the minimum viable product, when to pivot, when to quit your day job, the art of the pitch, building and managing a team, allocating equity, and building your external team, advisory board members, professional services, and entrepreneurial strategy. At the end of this course, you’ll be able to create a strategy for launch, including knowing who you need to hire, how to manage them to provide the greatest value, and what legal aspects are involved. You’ll also be prepared for Entrepreneurship 3: Growth Strategies.

Syllabus

  • Preparing to Launch: Essential Components
    • This module was created to give you the information you need to begin to take your validated opportunity, build an MVP, and begin to design a winning pitch. Smart entrepreneurs can avoid wasting time by designing an initial product that only serves the core needs of its customers, and may be able to avoid an unnecessary pivot by finding the right product-market fit early on. By the end of this module, you'll understand if your product is truly minimally viable, know why an MVP is a good strategy, be able to design a strategy to validate your hypothesis, identify the key components of a successful pitch, and decide whether or not to quit your day job.
  • Module 2: Building the Team
    • This module was designed to give you critical insights into the often-overlooked dynamics of founding team formation, early hires, and allocation of equity. You'll examine the research that shows why the composition of the founding team can be an important indicator of future revenue, why some motivations of the team are more profitable than others, how to get the right hires for your team, common mistakes in hiring key players, and why equity allocation is so vital to a start-up's survival. By the end of this module, you'll be better prepared to position your start-up for success by making data-driven decisions about your founding partners, your early hires, your first managers, and equity allocation.
  • Module 3: Networks, Professional Services, and Intellectual Property
    • In this module, you'll learn about your external team: the advisors, mentors, and professionals you'll need to give your start-up the best possible chance for success. Many start-ups either ignore or over-invest in professional advisors, accountants, and lawyers. You'll explore what kinds of professionals you should hire, when to do so, and for how long. You'll also cover the differences between patents, intellectual property, and trade secrets so that you know what kind of protection you need. And you'll examine the various legal entities your enterprise may assume, so you can choose the appropriate entity for your venture. By the end of this module, you'll be able to define the legal form of your enterprise, the best way to protect your idea, how to determine what professional services will be most useful, and how to apply theories of social networks to make the most suitable choices for your set of advisors.
  • Module 4: Branding, Strategy, and Summary
    • In this module, you'll examine a variety of proven strategies to set your venture up for success. You'll learn a proven process for choosing a name for your venture, and explore successful strategies for developing a brand personality. You'll also explore existing resources in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, and dive deeply into entrepreneurial strategies. By the end of this module, you'll be able to take your product or service to market with a name, a brand, a strategy that positions your venture for success.

Taught by

David Bell, Ethan Mollick, Laura Huang, David Hsu, Karl T. Ulrich, Lori Rosenkopf and Kartik Hosanagar

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Reviews

4.1 rating, based on 10 Class Central reviews

4.8 rating at Coursera based on 1924 ratings

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  • Mnt

    Mnt completed this course, spending 3 hours a week on it and found the course difficulty to be easy.

    I loved the module 4 on branding, strategy an summary. Especially the first video by Mr. Karl Ulrich, Vice Dean of Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Very specific, to the point and nailed it! It will make you think through the brand thoroughly and thoughtfully before you leap in any entrepreneurship. It is better if you have some business and entrepreneurship background before you do this course.
    Thanks Coursera and Wharton University for creating a wonderful opportunity!
  • Anonymous

    Anonymous completed this course.

    I Completed the course and found it very good. It gave me essential knowledge on how to start up a business of any kind. It was titled Entrepreneurship 2. I would highly recommend this course to anyone who has the motivation and ambition to succeed in their chosen career. B Carroll.
  • Anonymous

    Anonymous completed this course, spending 2 hours a week on it and found the course difficulty to be very easy.

    Background: I have worked at a startup for the past 3 years, so I was already familiar with some concepts.

    Content: it was quite easy for me, but I enjoyed listening to the professor's experiences and watching the optional interview content.

    Difficulty: easy.
  • Profile image for Derek Stevens
    Derek Stevens

    Derek Stevens completed this course, spending 2 hours a week on it and found the course difficulty to be easy.

    This class has very interesting material. My only critique is that it’s to easy at times, and I find myself wishing there was more assessments or projects.
  • Anonymous

    Anonymous is taking this course right now.

    There is one element that needs to be clarified: It turns out this course is not really a free course. It is in fact a 6 week course with 4 units and you have a 7-day free trial.
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