About this course
What separates an idea from a business?
A paying customer.
And this is where we want to take you in this course. From there you’ll begin growing your group of target customers. This will set in motion your flywheel toward an impactful enterprise.
Yes, entrepreneurship is a creative process—this is what makes it fun. But a methodical approach is necessary for it to work. And it is this combination of creativity and discipline that you’ll begin learning in this course. Specifically, upon completion of Entrepreneurship 101, you’ll have the skills to:
- Conduct Market Segmentation
- Select your Beachhead Market
- Develop End User Profiles
- Calculate your Total Addressable Market Size
- Understand your Customer Persona
Entrepreneurship 101 is based on case studies of MIT startup companies and their founders. Through them you’ll get exposed to innovations in mobile apps, 3D printing, power electronics, international development, watchmaking, and more. In the process you will learn how to interview potential customers, understand the crucial difference between top-down and bottom-up market analysis, and develop a strategic framework for deciding what markets to pursue for your product or service.
This course is particularly useful for:
- Corporate entrepreneurs building a new product line
- Scientists and engineers commercializing new technologies
- Entrepreneurship educators and policymakers
Entrepreneurship 101 prepares you for an MIT Bootcamp. In this program you will be challenged to start a company in 5 days. In the process you will learn from MIT faculty and get coached by MIT entrepreneurs.
What you’ll learn
- Primary Customer Research
- Bottom-Up Market Analysis
- Market Segmentation
- Beachhead Market Analysis
- Development of End User Profile
- Profiling of Customer Persona
- Estimation of Total Addressable Market Size
Meet your instructors


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Who can take this course?
Unfortunately, learners from one or more of the following countries or regions will not be able to register for this course: Iran, Cuba and the Crimea region of Ukraine. While edX has sought licenses from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to offer our courses to learners in these countries and regions, the licenses we have received are not broad enough to allow us to offer this course in all locations. EdX truly regrets that U.S. sanctions prevent us from offering all of our courses to everyone, no matter where they live.
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