MOOCS: 10 free online courses that startups should take from EDx, Coursera and Udacity

Running a startup has never been easy. Startup owners struggle with a lot of issues including product design and development, business development, marketing and administration among others. As a startup owner, you have to be well rounded having both specific and general knowledge in multiple areas. You have to exhibit multiple skills and values to help you survive becoming a statistic.

Fortunately for startup owners , 21st century education has evolved. Give a man the internet and you would have given him an entire school and more. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have solved the issue of sharing knowledge. You can now learn almost any course for free.

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Here are 10 courses among so many that we believe many startup owners will find useful.

  1. Creative Writing: Craft Your Story Like the Great Writers. 
    Startup or not, I believe that everyone needs to be able to express themselves. You should be able to communicate your thoughts and ideas in multiple forms. I remember writing a zillion proposals to multiple companies while pitching for business and making hundreds of presentations to different clients. I had to learn how to write and communicate.
    Enroll for the Course 
  2. Graphic Design 
    Most startups have design needs and often suffer from poor branding, mediocre Visual communication materials. This course can be done by both a graphic designer and anyone willing to understand the principles of design
    Enroll for the course 
  3. Photography Basics and Beyond: From Smartphone to DSLR Specialization
    Some may take it as a hobby but most businesses will need quality photography in their day to day marketing and communication activities. With the advent of selfies and  smartphones turning anyone into a photographer, we still need professional photography. We all do not have to make a living out of it but it doesn’t hurt to understand good photography.
    Enroll for this course 
  4. Brand and Product Management
    Many startups do not treat their businesses as a brand. Failing to manage brand has led to failure of  many promising startups. Having basic knowledge of branding will equip a startup owner with the experience they need to manage and grow their brands.
    Enroll for this course 
  5. Project Management
    In life, everything is a project – including your startup. Managing your startup like a project helps to break it up making it easier to understand how the different components come together to help you succeed. This is a course that every startup owner should do or  have a basic understanding of.
    Enroll for this course 
  6. Public Relations For Digital Media
    Even though related to marketing and branding, public relations is all about people and the end of the day, most of us have to deal with people. This course will introduce to the basic public relations principles, help you identify your key publics and stakeholders
    Enroll for this course 
  7. Marketing & Growth Hacking 
    We all must have an idea on how to market our products. It doesn’t matter how good your product is. If n one knows about it, you are just as good as guy winking at a cute lady in the dark and expecting her to notice you. Since most startups do not have a working marketing budget, they resort to growth hacking. This course will give you the basics of marketing and business development. Should this be too much, you can always find growth hacking courses on the multiple platforms available
    Enroll for this course 
  8. Product Design/Development 
    When you are seeking to start a business or want to launch a new product, designing and developing products is very important. This course will take you through the basics of Product design. You can also check out Intro to the design of everyday things or
    Enrol for this course 
  9. Entrepreneurship
    This is a comprehensive course that includes 4 key courses. Developing the Opportunity, Launching your Startup, Growth Strategies, Financing and Profitability
    Enroll for this course 
  10. How to Build a startup 
    To bring it altogether, one uses all their knowledge and experiences to build and grow their startups. Startups do not know about specialization. The Founder is also the CEO is also head of markting not to mention administrator so one has to be all rounded. This helps you bring all these skills together to help you grow your startup
    Enroll for this course

Photo Credit: spelio via Compfight cc

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