Applying Investment Decision Rules for Startups (Coursera)

Offered by Yonsei University,
Applying Investment Decision Rules for Startups (Coursera)

In the previous course, you learned financial statement analysis and how to make estimate of future financial status. In this course, you are going to learn capital budgeting. That is, how to make an investment decision. You would like to select the best project among various projects you can take. Then, you need to know the criteria. In this course, you are going to learn investment decision criteria such as NPV and IRR, which are most popular decision rules.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

Using financial analysis and discounted cash flow method, you can make pro forma financial statement and estimate project cash flows. Then, you apply investment criteria to determine whether to invest or not. After learning how to apply NPV and IRR method to investment decision, you are going to learn how to evaluate NPV estimate and scenario, what-if analyses and break-even analysis. In addition to NPV and IRR, you are going to learn Payback period method and Profitability method to determine whether to invest or not when there is a political risk or capital rationing.

Course 4 of 5 in the Valuation and Financial Analysis For Startups Specialization.

Syllabus

WEEK 1
Capital Budgeting techniques
Capital budgeting is the process of deciding whether to undertake an investment project. In this module, you will study the three most popular capital budgeting techniques in practice: Net present value (NPV), Payback period, and Internal rate of return (IRR).

WEEK 2
Project Analysis
In this module, you will learn how to estimate project cash flows using Excel. Overall, project cash flow analysis is similar to firm-level cash flow analysis. However, there also exist some unique features of a project cash flow analysis, which requires us to study the project cash flow principles.

WEEK 3
Issues in Capital Budgeting
Sometimes you have to evaluate multiple projects at a time. In this module, you will learn how to choose the best project among multiple projects. We will also discuss various important issues in NPV and IRR techniques. Finally, we discuss the fundamental principle in choosing the discount rate.

WEEK 4
Real Options in Business Projects
We continue to study analyzing business projects, but the difference in this module is that now we consider the value of "real options" embedded in the project. You will learn how to estimate the project's value by using the decision tree approach or the Black-Scholes option pricing model.

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Investment Banking: Financial Analysis and Valuation (Coursera) Coursera
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Investment Banking: Financial Analysis and Valuation (Coursera)

This course will provide students the key building blocks required for a career in investment banking, valuation, and other corporate-finance focused fields. It is designed to provide a practical application of financial statement analysis and valuation techniques commonly performed by industry professionals.

Aug 10th 2026
4 Weeks
Introduction to Time Value of Money (TVM) (Coursera) Coursera
University of Michigan

Introduction to Time Value of Money (TVM) (Coursera)

The strength of finance is that it takes a structured approach to decision making, with one key building block underlying all decisions — understanding the value of time, or the Time Value of Money (TVM). In this course, we will develop this building block using introductory, and simple, applications. We will learn about the Time Value of Money (TVM), Simple Future Value (FV) , Simple Present Value (PV) , Future Value of Annuity, Loans, compounding, and Valuing Perpetuities.

Aug 3rd 2026
4 Weeks
Derivatives - Options & Futures (Coursera) Coursera
Interactive Brokers

Derivatives - Options & Futures (Coursera)

While investing and trading in the options market may seem somewhat more daunting than other asset classes such as stocks, bonds, exchange-traded funds, currencies and commodities, you’ll ultimately find that their complexity can be boiled down to simple concepts you’ll be able to understand and use the more you’re exposed to, and have hands-on experience with the material. Our aim is for you to acquire these skills, as well as the know-how, to invest and trade in these often-complex financial instruments.

Aug 3rd 2026
5-12 Weeks
A Comprehensive Excel Masterclass (Coursera) Coursera
Illinois Tech

A Comprehensive Excel Masterclass (Coursera)

The Comprehensive Excel Masterclass is an advanced course designed to empower students with the skills and knowledge needed to maximize the potential of Microsoft Excel in a business environment. This course goes beyond the basics and explores advanced functions, and features that will enable students to perform complex calculations, retrieve and manipulate data from multiple sources, and gain valuable insights from data. The course combines theoretical concepts with practical exercises and examples to reinforce learning.

Aug 10th 2026
4 Weeks
Introducción a la Estrategia (Coursera) Coursera
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

Introducción a la Estrategia (Coursera)

En este curso, conocerás la importancia de la estrategia en cualquier tipo de organización; diferenciarás los modelos conductuales que se aplican en diferentes países, quiénes son sus principales actores y los intereses que tienen en una empresa. Partirás de la planeación estratégica para materializar tu idea de negocio, a través de la misión, visión, valores y objetivos. Identificarás la idea diferenciadora de tu empresa o idea de negocio, lo cual la hará única del resto. Leerás las señales internas y externas del entorno para poder reaccionar a tiempo ante los factores que afectan a tu empresa.

Aug 10th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Forex - Trading Around the World (Coursera) Coursera
Interactive Brokers

Forex - Trading Around the World (Coursera)

In this course, we’ll introduce you to the foreign currency market, including who participates in it and some of their reasons for doing so. You’ll also gain an understanding of the complex nature of certain trading products, as well as some of the risks investors typically face. We’ll also explore the use of margin in your account and provide you with a case study, showing how to invest in the stock of a non-domestic company listed on a foreign exchange, as well as guide you through entering an overseas trade on an online trading platform.

Aug 3rd 2026
3 Weeks
Design Thinking and Global Startup (Coursera) Coursera
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology - KAIST

Design Thinking and Global Startup (Coursera)

This course offers a systematic engineering design methodology: Stanford Design Thinking for preparing global startup. The course empathizes the whole Stanford design thinking process, "Empathy-Define-Ideation-Prototype-Test," for building a startup with a business model that has a “customer truly need” component.

Aug 17th 2026
5-12 Weeks