The 3 Best Free Courses for Entrepreneurs
3 great programs from Google, Y Combinator, and more
The entrepreneurship journey is a high-stakes endeavor. Unfortunately, very few startups become unicorns. A few do well, but most fail. Only 50% of businesses with employees survive past the first five years. That is according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.
These 3 courses provide invaluable knowledge and experiences to entrepreneurs and startup founders. They will best serve future founders, college students, and curious go-getters.
1. Launching
How do you pick that niche, that perfect market fit? What will ensure growth? Would that garner interest from angels, venture capitalists, and competitors? What is the process to ensure that an idea becomes an acceptable prototype? How do you make it to an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) leading to a successful go-to-market?
The Startup School, a Y combinator program, provides a great curriculum. They address entrepreneurs’ key concerns and needs. It offers several tracks, one for active founders and one for future founders. It is free with a mix of videos, exercises, group interactions, and readings.
Y Combinator started in 2005 and has funded over 2,000 startups, working with 4,000 founders. The company provides seed funding to the companies it selects in its two batches each year.
Those companies have a combined valuation of over $100B. They include many household names, such as Airbnb, Doordash, and Stripe. Most have a wealth of knowledge to share with founders. They created a great environment for startups. That allows them to excel and line up additional funding.
Free course: The Startup School
The Lean Startup book from Eric Ries is a good complementary read. It is right on topic. The author shares real-life insights on strategy, MVPs, pivots, and A/B testing.
2. Growing
Startups should have an online presence. Regardless of their business model, they usually need to purchase ads. They use social media and analytics to understand their audience.
Companies seeking funding are also on a short timeline. On one side they have a limited runway. On the other, they have to show progress fast to get funded within their targeted valuation range.
Hitting milestones is important, but metrics play a key role. Investors scrutinize KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). Especially if they show rapid growth. Key indicators are ARR and MoMs (Annual Recurring Revenues & Month over month sales from marketing campaigns).
Google Digital Garage has a free program covering digital marketing. It is about 40 hours worth of teaching. Modules contain short videos lasting about 5 minutes each. Quizzes reinforce each lesson and each module. The videos are clear, professional, and provide engaging real-life examples.
The course is not limited to paid Google products. It also covers what we can implement for free, such as SEO (Search Engine Optimization). It mentions social media, websites, and other channels. All are part of digital marketing but not hosted by Google.
Ads do not interrupt the videos, and the interface is clean. If you want to speed up the program, you can speed up the videos by playing them at 1.5 the normal speed (or faster). You can add close captions as well. To do both, click on the cog, at the bottom right of each video.
There are other free courses in the Digital Garage. Digital Marketing is a great entry point for business owners and startup founders.
It is very insightful to understand at a high level how algorithms rank information. That supports searches and newsfeeds. It is equally valuable to understand why content shows up last or not at all. Maybe it got flagged as low-value or spam by the system. This course addresses both topics without getting too technical.
Free course: Google Digital Garage
3. Sustaining and Exiting
Negotiations and execution can get complex quickly for startups. For example, Kevin Systrom negotiated its sale to Facebook for $1 billion pre-revenue. Instagram had 13 employees and was 15 months old then. The CEO was 26-year-old.
Once you are down that path, you face short-term options. That includes funding and partnerships. How do you create a solid pitch deck to raise funds? How do you figure out your best path forward, or compare scenarios?
Understanding term sheets is key. The value the right investors can provide is critical at this stage. Founders will settle for “my price, your terms” as they need cash to carry on, accepting major concessions in return.
Some of those terms can have long-lasting effects and give broad control to investors. Other investors will offer standard terms, betting on a strong partnership with founders to create value.
The free Venture Deals course is precious in that area. It uses a mix of videos, assignments, and teamwork to test ideas. It is a great way to learn about, create, and review term sheets and pitch decks.
The documents introduced during the course are real legal templates. They can back real-life situations. They come directly from incubators, well-known law firms, and investors.
It is a great experience side-by-side with the companion book. Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson, who lead the course, wrote Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist. Reading the book ahead of the course is very useful.
The program is a collaboration between the Foundry Group, Techstars, and Kauffman Fellows. Those are 3 big names in the venture capital and startup ecosystem.
Free course: Venture Deals
The Venture Deals course has morphed over the years and has improved after each session. The number of attendees and alums has grown. Many students took the class multiple times and referred others to the program. It has created a powerful community.
Earlier this year that community moved to Mighty Network. It extends the discussions from the class. You can connect with like-minded individuals: Venture Deals on Mighty Network.
The concept of the Venture Deals course is very flexible. You can approach it from the viewpoint of a VC or as an entrepreneur. You can also use an existing idea/product/company or create a fictitious one. I have completed the class a few times, and each time feels like a fresh experience. I focused less on the lectures over time and more on teamwork.
The first task is to build a team. You can join the course with your friends, classmates, co-workers. You can connect with other students. When you do so, you just need to make sure there is alignment on the time each team member will put in. It is not uncommon to lose a few participants along the way. After all, it is a free class with many full-time students and busy professionals.
You have the option to join or create a team. I have formed diverse and international teams. I have met many investment professionals within my time zone, for example.
There is a lot to learn from the other participants. For example, on how they approach valuation or negotiations. It is a great risk-free opportunity to build new entrepreneurial and investing skills.
One of the most challenging aspects of building a company up is the lack of resources. It is not only a financial hurdle; it is often a talent and experience gap as well.
Of course, many founders are very resourceful. That is why they launched their business. They can bootstrap many areas of the company and pull favors to overcome obstacles. They are creative problem solvers and relentless achievers.
They are inspiring leaders. Many partners, friends, clients, and suppliers want to be helpful. It creates a support system, a circle, rooting for the company’s success.
As startups grow, many new roles become necessary. They do not require full-time employees or cannot fit into the budget. That is where advisors come in.
They are usually very experienced, getting paid with equity and sometimes cash. That saves the CEO time and effort. They provide valuable insights and introductions. That typically speeds up and improves execution, strategy, and operations.
It is rare, though, for any leader to have all the experts lined up. It is even harder to have help ready and on-demand. Founders need access to expertise on strategic topics. They need unbiased and exhaustive advice.
Not having the right advisors or lacking advisors can be costly. Especially on strategic decisions. Listening to the wrong consiglieres and eager colleagues can lead to mistakes. Getting the right advice at the right time can change everything.
Alexis Ohanian humbly shared recently his experience. He sold Reddit for $10 million in 2006 to Conde Nast at a challenging time.
He commented he wished he “had more advisors around the table giving me more perspective on the sale”. Not to mention he hoped he “had an investor tell me there were other options (like raising a Series A!)”.
Reddit ranks today as the 17th most-visited website in the world. It is the 7th most-visited website in the US, according to Alexa Internet.
Mark Zuckerberg, around the same time, almost sold Facebook to Yahoo! for $1 billion in July 2006 but declined.
Peter Thiel from Founders Fund explained how Yahoo! offered a billion earlier to Google and eBay but they both declined and thrived.
Facebook’s general counsel Chris Kelly reached out to Roger McNamee, an investor. His discussion, as an advisor to Mark Zuckerberg, changed the course. He altered Facebook’s story and history.
You can find the detailed story in a book aptly titled Facebook: The Inside Story.
The best way to complete the courses is to follow the weekly pace. That makes the experience more enjoyable. 2 of them (Startup School and Venture Deals) have weekly schedules. It helps to be in synch with the assignments, the class, and the activity in the forums.
Students can break down their learning into brief sessions over months, They deliver the content on-demand.
The courses do not have any pre-requisites nor do they require any level of education. Completing all 3 takes from 100 to 150 hours. That includes lectures, exercises, and class participation
All 3 courses are using on-demand videos. If a concept does not click right away, you can watch the video again. You can also use the forum to ask clarifying questions. Many students have already asked questions, so a quick search can also save a lot of time.
There might be a steeper learning curve for some. There is no coding nor complex financial models ever involved. Some might need to spend more time on the materials. Overall, the content is very accessible.
Startups often succeed because their founders had an impressive network. Those 3 courses can be helpful, can fill skills gaps, and shorten the empirical process. They cannot replace hard work, dedication, focus, and relying on a solid network.
2 of those courses (Startup School and Venture Deals) offer forums. They allow you to connect during but also beyond the classwork. Use those wisely to connect with compatible professionals, collaborate, and expand your network. It is also a great place to collect feedback, share ideas, and learn from others directly.
I hope you will try it and enjoy the courses. If you are familiar with other similar resources, please share. Especially if that could be helpful to startup founders and entrepreneurs. Onward!
Executive summary: 3 free courses to 1) launch, 2) grow, and 3) sustain a startup.
I hope you enjoyed my insights about free entrepreneurship classes. Those 3 courses help you start, grow, and sustain your business. Hopefully, it triggered some new thinking for you. Maybe you learned something. Share your thoughts or questions in the comments. Best of luck with your content creation journey!
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Max Dufour is a Partner at Harmeda. He leads strategic engagements for Financial Services, Technology, and Strategy Consulting clients. Connect at [email protected], on LinkedIn, or visit Harmeda. Any links to external sites can be affiliate links. They can generate compensation through the Amazon Associates Program or similar programs.
