Entrepreneurship 101: Who is your customer?

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.