What's Your Big Idea? (Coursera)

What's Your Big Idea? (Coursera)

Whether your interest lies in solving the world’s biggest problems, creating the next commercial success or addressing something closer to home, this course will give you a toolbox to vet your ideas and test them in the real world.

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

Syllabus

WEEK 1
Think
We start at the beginning with your big idea and where it comes from: your everyday experience and known sources of innovation as described by Peter Drucker.

WEEK 2
Listen
This second phase of the entrepreneurial lifecycle encourages you to take the big idea you’ve thought about and solicit feedback from the people whose problems you’re trying to solve.

WEEK 3
Plan
Strategy, the art and science of being different than your competition, is the next element we introduce, based on Michael Porter’s work.

WEEK 4
Clarify
In this module, we coach you on continuing to refine your big idea and beginning to communicate it clearly to a wider audience.

WEEK 5
Support
To make your big idea into a reality, you’ll need the personal, professional, and financial resources we discuss in this module.

WEEK 6
Iterate
This final step of the entrepreneurial lifecycle outlines a method to continue thinking, listening, planning, clarifying, and supporting your big idea.
Peer Assessment (Optional)
Create a pitch for your Big Idea, then give and receive feedback.
Reverse Pitches (Optional)
In these optional videos, experts from UNC Chapel Hill and Washington University in St. Louis offered their insider perspectives on a number of pressing problems that present unprecedented opportunities for meaningful innovation.

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

Related Courses

La gestión en la empresa familiar (Coursera) Coursera
ESADE Business and Law School

La gestión en la empresa familiar (Coursera)

Responsable de más del 50% de la riqueza global, la empresa familiar tiene un rol prominente en la generación de puestos de trabajo, innovación y progreso en todas las sociedades. Pero ¿qué diferencia a una empresa familiar?, ¿En qué medida tiene implicaciones para los profesionales que la componen? A través de este curso, aprenderemos a leer la globalidad de una organización familiar así como a evaluarla.

Nov 23rd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Game Theory (Coursera) Coursera
Stanford University,The University of British Columbia

Game Theory (Coursera)

Popularized by movies such as "A Beautiful Mind," game theory is the mathematical modeling of strategic interaction among rational (and irrational) agents. Beyond what we call `games' in common language, such as chess, poker, soccer, etc., it includes the modeling of conflict among nations, political campaigns, competition among firms, and trading behavior in markets such as the NYSE.

Nov 23rd 2026
5-12 Weeks
New Technologies for Business Leaders (Coursera) Coursera
Rutgers University

New Technologies for Business Leaders (Coursera)

This introductory course is developed for high-level business people (and those on their way) who want a broad understanding of new Information Technologies and understand their potential for business functions (e.g. marketing, supply change management, finance). This is not a course for people looking for guidance on how to become a deep technical expert or implement these technologies.

Nov 23rd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Gestión Empresarial Exitosa para Pymes (Coursera) Coursera
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

Gestión Empresarial Exitosa para Pymes (Coursera)

Este curso tiene como objetivo fortalecer las capacidades de gestión de pequeños y medianos empresarios, y personas interesadas en emprender. El Programa Pyme de la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile te invita a profundizar sobre lo que se requiere para ser un empresario exitoso y a aprender buenas prácticas en dirección de empresas que permitan crear valor al cliente, a través del marketing y herramientas comerciales.

Nov 23rd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Innovation Career Lessons from a Master (Coursera) Coursera
Technion - Israel Institute of Technology

Innovation Career Lessons from a Master (Coursera)

This course, which is Part Three in the series of Startup Entrepreneurship specialization, offers Life Lessons from a Master Innovator, with proven achievements. During this course you will listen to conversations and interviews with Mr. David (Dadi) Perlmutter, who until recently was Executive VP of Intel corporate. Dadi will talk about 10 life lessons, based on his 34 years as a rebel innovator and entrepreneur.

Nov 23rd 2026
4 Weeks
Introduction to Economic Theories (Coursera) Coursera
Erasmus University Rotterdam

Introduction to Economic Theories (Coursera)

Wondering why economists have not predicted serious financial crises? Shocked by economic assumptions of human behavior as self-centered and focusing only on what can be measured? Asking yourself if there are no sensible economic alternatives to free markets? Then you are at the right place to learn economics! This is the first online course that teaches economics from a pluralist perspective. Economic pluralism means that a plurality of theoretical and methodological viewpoints is regarded as valuable in itself and is simply the best way in which economics can make progress in understanding the world.

Nov 23rd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Planning: Principled, Proposing, Proofing, and Practicing to a Success Plan (Coursera) Coursera
Michigan State University

Planning: Principled, Proposing, Proofing, and Practicing to a Success Plan (Coursera)

According to Steven Blank a business startup, or any new venture startup is essentially a proto-type. Thus the startup process essentially becomes a learning process to refine that business proto-type into a scalable, replicable finished 'product'. At the end of this course learners will be able to: complete a business model summarizing assumptions about what value they will offer to whom, and how they will make money; systematically test and validate these assumptions within the constraints of their available resources, and; use these validated assumptions to generate financial projections that are based on actual resources and efforts expended.

Nov 23rd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Structure: Building the Frame for Business Growth (Coursera) Coursera
Michigan State University

Structure: Building the Frame for Business Growth (Coursera)

Just like when building a house the foundation for your business provides the framework for success. A business built on weak structure will struggle to succeed. We'll address some of the most pressing issues that you as a business owner must face while constructing the proper framework for your business.

Nov 23rd 2026
4 Weeks
Giving Helpful Feedback (Coursera) Coursera
University of Colorado Boulder

Giving Helpful Feedback (Coursera)

This course teaches you the simple principles expert managers use to improve and motivate employee performance. You’ll never have to avoid telling an employee “the truth” again, because the seven techniques we teach will not make employees defensive or afraid. As a manager, or someone who would like to be a manager, you’ll also learn specifically what feedback is, how negative feedback is weighed more heavily than positive, and how positive feedback can super-charge behaviors such as creativity and teamwork.

Nov 23rd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Agriculture, Economics and Nature (Coursera) Coursera
University of Western Australia

Agriculture, Economics and Nature (Coursera)

Sound economic thinking is crucial for farmers because they depend on good economic decision making to survive. Governments depend on economic information to make good policy decisions on behalf of the community. This course will help you to contribute to better decision making by farmers, or by agencies servicing agriculture, and it will help you to understand why farmers respond to policies and economic opportunities in the ways they do.

Nov 23rd 2026
5-12 Weeks