Master the business essentials in a simple, direct, and fun way. Get rid of the imposter syndrome; mastering the business essentials only requires focus and curiosity.
Mastering Business Essentials: Introduction
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Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
Beginner level
Recommended experience
3 hours to complete
3 weeks at 1 hour a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace
What you'll learn
Break down business problems into essential business concepts of willingness-to-pay, price, cost, supply chain, and process flows.
Details to know
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Recently updated!
April 2025
Assessments
2 assignments
Taught in English
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There are 5 modules in this course
When I was younger, I thought "business" was all about money and greedy companies. Now, I realize business is fascinating, empowering, and fun. Business = doing great work for customers and getting paid for the work. The world's biggest and most complex problems will be solved when government & business & community & individuals work together. There is not a single "skeleton key" answer, but learning the top 150+ MBE frameworks will help.
What's included
3 videos1 reading1 discussion prompt
One of the simplest ways to think about profits is something called the value stack. Graphically, it looks like 3 Legos stacked on top of each other. The value stack looks simple, but it is crazy useful. It helps to visualize marketing, strategy, and pricing. You will see if used often in this specialization.
What's included
2 videos1 reading1 assignment
In the digital world we live in, it's easy to forget that products take a long journey to get to us. Whenever you see a truck, train, plane, delivery van, retail store, or package = that's the supply chain. "Process flows" are a simple tool to chronologically visualize how the products get designed, manufactured, and distributed. For example, a comfortable pair of blue jeans might travel 10,000 km as it gets transformed from raw materials (cotton) into the final product.
What's included
2 videos1 reading
All businesses need to decide "what do we want to be when we grow up?" There are advantages to being vertically integrated (doing a lot of the activities yourself) and also times when it's smarter to outsource non-core things to others.
What's included
2 videos1 reading1 assignment
The goal of MBE (Mastering Business Essentials) is to make you a better (and more confident) decision maker. This will include the top 150+ business frameworks to think about strategy, marketing, finance, and operational problems. Hoping these tools, skills, and practice will help with your career success.
What's included
1 video1 peer review
Instructor
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Frequently asked questions
This specialization targets 3 groups of people:
1) New college graduates: get smart quickly on business essentials quickly, prepare for interviews, start strong with new jobs
2) Corporate managers: develop a broader, more executive view of the business challenges, make better decisions; persuade with data, influence others (departments / leaders), get more done with same resources
3) Entrepreneurs: find a gap in the market for your product/service, acquire customers and drive word-of-mouth, drive business profits
Albert Einstein famously argued that simplicity is difficult. "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough."
As adults, we need to learn selfishly and continually relate content to our lives and careers. These videos are short, but cover the the basics very well, which allows you to take a first-principles approach to learning. As Einstein said, "Education is what you remember, when you forget everything you learned."
Business is a massive topic. There is not a simple “skeleton key” that unlocks all the answers, but that's okay. If you know the foundational 150+ "essentials" of accounting, finance, strategy, operations, marketing = you will be a great shape. This will help you to quickly figure out "oh, it's a ______ kind of problem" and I can get smart by doing XYZ.
For example, here is the basic concept of fixed costs and how it affects all businesses. Without knowing the basics, even business people can get lost quickly. Some of the key questions from this course:
“Why are companies so good at making money?”
“How to think like a business executive?”
“How can I tell my business story to strangers?”
“Why is pricing such a big deal? Aren’t prices just set?”
“What can my company do to raise customers’ willingness to pay?”
“Who are the most profitable clients?”
More questions
Financial aid available,