How to Validate your Startup Idea

Seize the savings! Get 40% off 3 months of Coursera Plus and full access to thousands of courses.

UNSW Sydney (The University of New South Wales)

How to Validate your Startup Idea

Instructors: Allya Koesoema

24,532 already enrolled

Included with

Learn more

6 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

150 reviews

2 weeks to complete

at 10 hours a week

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

94%

Most learners liked this course

6 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

150 reviews

2 weeks to complete

at 10 hours a week

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

94%

Most learners liked this course

Skills you'll gain

Details to know

Shareable certificate

Add to your LinkedIn profile

Taught in English

See how employees at top companies are mastering in-demand skills

Learn more about Coursera for Business

logos of Petrobras, TATA, Danone, Capgemini, P&G and L'Oreal

There are 6 modules in this course

Starting a new business begins with an idea that needs to evolve through experimentation, iteration and interactions with people. This course is for existing and potential entrepreneurs who are looking for guidance and support to make their ‘great idea’ a reality. In addition to reviewing the basic principles of entrepreneurship, this course guides you through the process of actively validating your idea in the market. We encourage you to identify and communicate good opportunities and to create and capture value from these opportunities. By working through the course and completing the activities you’ll learn how to get feedback that systematically tests different parts of your business idea. You will learn how to do this through interacting with potential customers, suppliers, partners and investors outside the course. Along the way, you will also become more confident in pitching your idea. By the end of the course you should have a validated business idea that you can start right away.

In the first week, you'll be learning about some basic concepts in entrepreneurship. Specifically we're going to introduce the business canvas and the lean method, two key frameworks that will be used to structure your activities throughout this course.

What's included

2 videos4 readings1 peer review5 app items

2 videos Total 6 minutes

Video: Introduction to the Course and Entrepreneurship (3 min) 2 minutes
Video: How will your business idea evolve? The Lean Startup Method 4 minutes

4 readings Total 40 minutes

About this course 10 minutes
Reading: Introduction to Entrepreneurship 10 minutes
Activity: The Lean Startup Method and Business Model Canvas 10 minutes
Reading: Mentors, who needs them? 10 minutes

1 peer review Total 120 minutes

(Optional activity) Your first Business Model Canvas - Show it off to your peers! 120 minutes

5 app items Total 300 minutes

(OPTIONAL activity): How do you learn? 60 minutes
Activity: Are you ready to be an entrepreneur? 60 minutes
Offline Activity: Finding a mentor to validate your idea 60 minutes
Activity: Lessons learned from your mentor 60 minutes
(OPTIONAL activity): Ouch! Feedback can hurt. How sensitive are you? 60 minutes

This week you'll learn to articulate and test your value proposition by drawing on three concepts: the strategy canvas, persona and minimum viable product (MVP). The strategy canvas emphasizes the uniqueness of your value proposition. The 'persona' represents who you think your typical customer is, which is useful for identifying real customers. The MVP is a simple prototype, which is a key tool to to get feedback from potential customers about the value you are providing them.

What's included

1 video4 readings2 app items

1 video Total 5 minutes

Video: How is your idea valuable? 5 minutes

4 readings Total 40 minutes

Strategy Canvas: Mapping how you are different 10 minutes
Creating your first Persona and Customer Journey Map 10 minutes
Building a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) 10 minutes
Measuring and Learning from your MVP 10 minutes

2 app items Total 120 minutes

Offline Activity: Finding a potential customer to validate your value proposition 60 minutes
Activity: Lessons learned from your customer 60 minutes

This week we'll help you think beyond your first customers, to scaling up your business across multiple segments of customers. The core concepts for this module are the diffusion of innovation and developing partnerships.

What's included

1 video2 readings3 app items

1 video Total 3 minutes

Video: How will you reach more customers? 3 minutes

2 readings Total 20 minutes

Growing your business: Segmenting and targeting your niches 10 minutes
Partners and resources 10 minutes

3 app items Total 180 minutes

Midpoint Assignment: Self-assessing your Business Model Canvas 60 minutes
Offline Activity: Finding a potential partner to validate the scalability of your idea 60 minutes
Activity: Lessons learned from your partner 60 minutes

This week is an introduction to financial literacy. We'll show you how to build an income statement, how to develop financial models and financial forecasts. We'll also introduce you to some metrics to track the viability of your business that complement the traditional accounting metrics.

What's included

1 video3 readings2 app items

This week you'll learn some basic investment capital strategies for new ventures, illustrated using a simple capitalization table.

What's included

1 video2 readings2 app items

This week pulls together all the elements and evidence of your business idea so far to develop a coherent and succinct business pitch

What's included

2 videos5 readings2 app items

2 videos Total 9 minutes

Video: How will you pitch your idea? 3 minutes
Watch UNSW students pitch 'crumplemap' 6 minutes

5 readings Total 50 minutes

Pitch structure: What key ingredients do you need? 10 minutes
Activity: Example pitch decks - Learning from the greats (& not so greats) 10 minutes
Contextualising and delivering your pitch 10 minutes
Activity: Example pitches - Learning from the greats (& not so greats) 10 minutes
Activity: Developing your pitch 10 minutes

2 app items Total 120 minutes

Exit survey 60 minutes
Final Assignment: Self-assessing your pitch 60 minutes

Instructors

Instructor ratings

(25 ratings)

Allya Koesoema

UNSW Sydney (The University of New South Wales)

1 Course 24,532 learners

Martin Bliemel

UNSW Sydney (The University of New South Wales)

1 Course 24,532 learners

Offered by

UNSW Sydney (The University of New South Wales)

Explore more from Entrepreneurship

Status: Free Trial
Macquarie University
Validate New Ideas for Startups
Course
Status: Free Trial
University of Maryland, College Park
Developing Innovative Ideas for New Companies: The First Step in Entrepreneurship
Course
Status: Free Trial
Michigan State University
Planning: Principled, Proposing, Proofing, and Practicing to a Success Plan
Course
Status: Free Trial
Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
From Idea to Startup
Course

Why people choose Coursera for their career

Felipe M.

Learner since 2018

"To be able to take courses at my own pace and rhythm has been an amazing experience. I can learn whenever it fits my schedule and mood."

Jennifer J.

Learner since 2020

"I directly applied the concepts and skills I learned from my courses to an exciting new project at work."

Larry W.

Learner since 2021

"When I need courses on topics that my university doesn't offer, Coursera is one of the best places to go."

Chaitanya A.

"Learning isn't just about being better at your job: it's so much more than that. Coursera allows me to learn without limits."

Learner reviews

5 stars
58.94%
4 stars
18.54%
3 stars
9.93%
2 stars
3.97%
1 star
8.60%

Showing 3 of 150

Reviewed on Jan 2, 2020

This course has completely changed the way I think about business. It has made me realize the value of most of the business ideas I have. I cannot wait to finish validating all of them.

Reviewed on Jan 1, 2023

Great content, easy to follow. Thanks for this course ;)

Reviewed on Aug 29, 2016

Its a great course for entrepreneurs before they get into the market with their idea's..

View more reviews

Open new doors with Coursera Plus

Unlimited access to 10,000+ world-class courses, hands-on projects, and job-ready certificate programs - all included in your subscription

Learn more

Advance your career with an online degree

Earn a degree from world-class universities - 100% online

Explore degrees

Join over 3,400 global companies that choose Coursera for Business

Upskill your employees to excel in the digital economy

Learn more

Frequently asked questions

To access the course materials, assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience when you enroll in a course. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid. The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.

When you purchase a Certificate you get access to all course materials, including graded assignments. Upon completing the course, your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile.

Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.