I’m very impressed by this new video series just launched by Steve Blank. If you have enough broadband access to video in your part of Africa, it is well worth spending a little time. You need to sign-up to take the course, but that takes just a few seconds and there is no course fee. You don’t even need course books – just a pen and paper and some time. May be we should think of making a version for African entrepreneurs, adding modules where things are different? Steve explains on his blog why he’d decided to release the series in this form. I find it to be recommended reading for anyone starting a business.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZvgj6B2JZs]
There is some excellent (free) advice in this on-line series of lectures from Steve Blank, one of the co-authors of the Start-Up Owners Manual. These modules are 20-30 minutes each. But they are more than just a passive course telling you what to do. They are a great catalyst for the serious entrepreneur. It’s a case of watch, consider and then just do it. One of the best public resources in years. I would recommend that as well as getting the books on the reading list, try the Business Model Generation app on the iPad. Because you can adapt the app to fit your business idea, not theirs.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zSKLHvC5pQ]
They seem to have built it quite simply, posting the video to Youtube and building a course page on the Udacity site. Rather than talking (endlessly) about how education needs to change, these guys are just doing it. The course you want is EP245.