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

Unleashing the Impact of your Social Enterprise (Coursera) Coursera
Copenhagen Business School

Unleashing the Impact of your Social Enterprise (Coursera)

In Course 3 of this Specialization you will first of all learn about Social Impact Assessment. Hence you will be able to develop a method to evaluate the social mission that you achieve while implementing your business plan. Next you will outline an appropriate communication strategy for your social enterprise and will demonstrate how to market your products and services to beneficiaries and other customers. Here you will employ an adaptable communication strategy as you move from early adopters to a broader market share.

Oct 26th 2026
5-12 Weeks
The Search for Great Ideas: Harnessing creativity to empower innovation (Coursera) Coursera
Michigan State University

The Search for Great Ideas: Harnessing creativity to empower innovation (Coursera)

Where do great business ideas come from? We all have compelling business concepts that we've been thinking about for years. In this course we will explore how to use observational tools and other techniques for idea generation and we will talk about how to evaluate the good ideas from the bad. The goal is to settle on a business idea that you are not only passionate about but also has real market application.

Oct 26th 2026
3 Weeks
Conflict Resolution Skills (Coursera) Coursera
University of California, Irvine

Conflict Resolution Skills (Coursera)

Resolving conflict in a positive manner is a skill that can be developed and practiced. Being heard can be one of the most important goals of someone engaged in conflict. Knowing how to listen and deploy appropriate communication tactics is determinative of whether a conflict will have a positive or negative resolution. Examine listening skills, appropriate and strategic verbal and non-verbal communication skills, and how to assemble a conflict management plan likely to yield positive resolutions.

Oct 26th 2026
3 Weeks
Financial Reporting Capstone (Coursera) Coursera
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Financial Reporting Capstone (Coursera)

The Capstone is the culminating project in the Financial Reporting Specialization. You will have the opportunity to combine the concepts and techniques obtained through all the courses in this specialization (Accounting Analysis I: The Role of Accounting as an Information System, Accounting Analysis I: Measurement and Disclosure of Assets, Accounting Analysis II: Measurement and Disclosure of Liabilities, and Accounting Analysis II: Accounting for Liabilities and Equity) and apply them to a real world accounting project.

Nov 2nd 2026
3 Weeks
Microeconomics: The Power of Markets (Coursera) Coursera
University of Pennsylvania

Microeconomics: The Power of Markets (Coursera)

We make economics decisions every day: what to buy, whether to work or play, what to study. We respond to markets all the time: prices influence our decisions, markets signal where to put effort, they direct firms to produce certain goods over others. Economics is all around us. This course is an introduction to the microeconomic theory of markets: why we have them, how they work, what they accomplish.

Oct 26th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Foundations of Professional Identity (Coursera) Coursera
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Foundations of Professional Identity (Coursera)

Many find themselves frustrated in their careers by lack of preparation for dealing with predictable dilemmas that regularly arise in the world of work. Two in five professionals fired in their jobs after college are terminated for lying, or misuse of technology. Easy to avoid! Or is it? What if you find you have to compromise your values to keep your job? What if they ask you to lie or cheat, even though you know if you are found out you will be fired? What if you find out the company is breaking the law?

Oct 26th 2026
4 Weeks
The Art of Negotiation (Coursera) Coursera
University of California, Irvine

The Art of Negotiation (Coursera)

The art of negotiation comes into play daily in the life of employees at all levels and in every position. Participants explore how current approaches to negotiation strategy and tactics are used, what negotiation entails, types of negotiation relationships that exist from hard bargain to win-win, to fully partnered relationships and personal ones. The course explores the personal and behavioral characteristics of an effective negotiator. Participants discuss how empowerment, power, and authority affect the negotiation process and outcome. Topics include how important it is to plan and prepare for a negotiation session.

Oct 26th 2026
4 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.

Oct 26th 2026
4 Weeks
The Power of Markets I: The Basics of Supply and Demand and Consumer Behavior (Coursera) Coursera
University of Rochester

The Power of Markets I: The Basics of Supply and Demand and Consumer Behavior (Coursera)

This opening module of the Power of Markets course covers the basic assumptions about market participants made by economists, the concept of opportunity cost, and the key determinants of supply and demand. We will then learn how to use the supply-demand framework to explain and predict market outcomes and to show how government policies affect those market outcomes. We will look at how quantity demanded and supplied respond to their key determinants in quantitative (elasticity) as well as qualitative terms. The last two weeks of the first module will investigate consumer behavior more closely and show how consumer choices are driven by the interplay of preferences and budget constraints.

Oct 26th 2026
4 Weeks
Financial Markets (Coursera) Coursera
Yale University

Financial Markets (Coursera)

An overview of the ideas, methods, and institutions that permit human society to manage risks and foster enterprise. Emphasis on financially-savvy leadership skills. Description of practices today and analysis of prospects for the future. Introduction to risk management and behavioral finance principles to understand the real-world functioning of securities, insurance, and banking industries. The ultimate goal of this course is using such industries effectively and towards a better society.

Oct 26th 2026
5-12 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.

Oct 26th 2026
5-12 Weeks