Stanford Launches Building Business Models Online Course

Would you build a house without putting together a blueprint first? No. Similarly, an innovative idea needs a structured process to bring it to market. The business model is a blueprint for planning, and then building, an innovative enterprise. To assist professionals in creating new ventures, Stanford University will introduce a new online course, Building Business Models, in April. “What makes the difference between success in the lab and success in the marketplace is the business model which enables us to navigate the creative process in a structured way,” says faculty course director Haim Mendelson, professor of electronic business and commerce at Stanford GSB.

A free webinar to preview the virtual course will be available Tuesday April 2, from 10 to 11 am Pacific Time (1 to 2 pm Eastern Time). Registration for the webinar will close one hour before it takes place.

During the webinar, Mendelson will discuss an approach for putting together a business model and using it in the disciplined development of a new business. The new business may be a startup or a new line of business within an established company. Webinar guests include general partner Howard Hartenbaum of August Capital, an investor in Skype and RelayRides, and Andre Haddad, CEO, RelayRides, a peer to peer car-sharing service.

Building Business Models is the latest in a series of classes offered as part of the Stanford Innovation and Entrepreneurship Online Certificate Program, which launched in September 2012. Other courses include:

• Scaling Excellence for Innovation
• Marketing Innovation
• Leading Innovation
• Creating Demand: Driving Growth Using Traditional, Social, and Viral Marketing
• Empathize and Prototype: A Hands-On Dive into the Key Tools of Design Thinking

Professionals around the world are able to access Stanford faculty and Silicon Valley experts as they learn essential skills and effective strategies for working in and managing innovative organizations. An engaging digital experience has been developed by the Stanford Center for Professional Development at the School of Engineering and Stanford GSB to deliver the course content.

Registration is open for the first six courses. Tuition is $995 for each course. Additional courses will be introduced throughout 2013.

Participants may enroll in just a single course or earn the professional certificate from Stanford by completing any 8 of 12 courses. Courses are taught by Stanford faculty, drawing on instructors from the Graduate School of Business, the School of Engineering, and the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, known as the d.school, as well as Silicon Valley industry leaders, using highly interactive and occasionally unconventional methods. The certificate program is led by faculty directors Robert Sutton, a professor of management science and engineering at the School of Engineering, and Hayagreeva Rao, professor of organizational behavior and human resources at Stanford GSB.

Entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs, as well as professionals from startups, Fortune 500 companies, nonprofit teams, and the public sector, will find the program to be practical and impactful. Given the level of material, participants must be fluent in written and spoken English. Participants will develop the skills to become catalysts for change as they learn how to foster innovation throughout their organizations. Whether this is someone’s first class in innovation or a chance to cultivate a deeper understanding and practice of building business models, participants will learn how to develop business plans for personal and professional success.