Entrepreneurship: Driving Change Through New Businesses
Ready to turn your ideas into a business? This online course guides you through the entrepreneurial journey, from identifying pressing real-world problems to developing compelling solutions. You'll learn essential skills like designing a minimum viable product and understanding customer needs, while gaining insights from industry experts. Cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset and discover how to create real-world value.
Program Dates
Multi-length sessions available throughout the year
Eligibility
For students ages 13 and up
Individual Course Fees
$1,795
Transform Ideas into Real-World Solutions
Discover Your Entrepreneurial Drive
Explore what entrepreneurship means and its potential to drive meaningful change. Examine your own values and goals to see how they align with entrepreneurial paths. Identify personal skills of successful entrepreneurs.
Pinpoint Problems Worth Solving
Learn to identify real-world problems through observation and research. Differentiate between surface-level symptoms and deeper root causes. Develop a focused problem statement using empathy-driven inquiry to understand genuine user needs.
Design and Test Your Big Ideas
Generate and test creative solutions for defined problems. Learn what makes a solution viable and how to test ideas quickly without building a full product. Draft and refine a minimum viable product concept.
Connect with Customers and the Market
Discover how to conduct effective user conversations and interpret insights so you can validate assumptions and gather feedback. Begin strategically positioning your idea in the market, identifying what makes it unique.
Craft Your Compelling Story
Learn to communicate your entrepreneurial vision through compelling storytelling and effective pitching. Craft a narrative highlighting your product, mission, and team. Explore what investors and stakeholders look for in early-stage ventures.
Showcase Your Vision
Develop and pitch a business idea addressing a real-world problem of your choice. Create a business model sketch, audience analysis, and a pitch presentation.
How You Will Benefit
- Understand the core principles and process of entrepreneurship and explore the personal skills of a successful entrepreneur.
- Develop the ability to identify real-world problems and generate viable business ideas, culminating in designing and communicating a minimum viable product (MVP).
- Explore foundational business strategies, including customer discovery, value proposition, and branding, to develop and pitch a complete venture concept.
- Explore diverse career paths in entrepreneurship and gain insights directly from industry founders, tech innovators, and educators.
- Complete a Final Capstone Project to demonstrate what you’ve learned.
- Earn a Certificate of Completion from Dartmouth.
Three Learning Advantages Designed for You
Final Capstone Project
This course concludes with a final capstone project where you can:
- Design and pitch a business idea that offers a solution to a real-world problem, including a business model sketch, audience analysis, and Minimum Viable Product (MVP) concept.
- Present your business plan through a final pitch deck or video presentation, building on assignments completed throughout the course.
Mentoring
Gain support from an expert mentor who’ll help answer questions and enrich your experience. Here’s what to expect:
- Expertise in the field of business.
- Encouragement and direction on all assignments.
- Inspiration, motivation and confidence to help you succeed.
- Brainstorming to help you prepare for your final capstone project.
Flexible Learning
- 100% online learning that works with your schedule.
- Enjoy flexible, engaging video lessons that you can watch whenever it’s convenient for you.
- Multiple courses can be taken to maximize your learning experience.
- 20 to 30 hours of total instruction and activities per course, including multimedia, simulations, and curated assignments for which you will receive guidance and support from mentors.
Apply Now for the Next Available Course
Course Designed by Dartmouth Instructors
Peter Olausson, PhD
Entrepreneurship Instructor, Dartmouth College
Dr. Olausson currently teaches AI and Machine Learning at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and serves on the teaching staff for Dartmouth's online Master of Computer Engineering program, mentoring graduate students and aspiring AI professionals. Committed to fostering entrepreneurial talent, he served as Principal Instructor at TrepCamp at NYU, leading immersive programs that helped aspiring entrepreneurs turn innovative ideas into actionable ventures. Dr. Olausson co-founded several ventures, including IDIQIO and COGNITUUM that have pioneered cognitive technologies and new advancements in machine intelligence.
How To Apply:
It’s easy. No transcripts or letters of recommendation are required. Just provide some basic information and tell us why you wish to take this program.
Note: Please submit all application materials in English.
Begin the guided application process. It should take only a few minutes of your time to answer the questions.
Want to Know More?
Sign up for more information and we’ll be in touch.
Admissions
Our application process is easy. You can expect a prompt decision.
Frequently Asked Questions
How will you be graded? What are assignments like? When do you find out if you're admitted? Find answers to your questions here.
Scholarships
We offer need-based scholarships for participating students who exhibit high potential and an inability to pay the full tuition.
- If you haven’t applied to the program, apply here. After submitting your application, click “Apply for a need-based scholarship” on the confirmation page to request a scholarship.
- If you’ve already applied to the program, sign in to your profile to check your scholarship status. If you don't have a scholarship request on file, click “Apply for a need-based scholarship” to request a scholarship.
