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My Favorite iTunes U Course So Far

I've listened to a lot of iTunes U courses.  They really make my runs very enjoyable.  I love to download educational content and listen while I run.  The latest one that I'm JUST about done is called How To Start a Startup from Standford University.  It was fantastic.  Even if you don't plan to start a startup I recommend listing to it.

Here's the link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/course/how-to-start-a-startup/id951932247

This course is probably more interesting to me because I love entrepreneurial things.  I'm a fan of learning in general so I kind of geek out about anything educational.  But I also some day want to start a business of some sort, so it's especially interesting if you have an idea for a business and are considering starting your own.  One of the things I learned that I think most people don't actually consider is the amount of dedication is really takes to become a founder.  Most people think of it in terms of, oh if I'd only had that idea myself I'd be rich.  Not so fast, 99 percent of it isn't the idea.  It's the work to get the idea off the ground.  It's the 12 to 14 hour days nearly 7 days a week for 2 or 3 years to get the business up and running.  And it doesn't stop there.  Some of the largest companies, that still have the original founders involved in running operations aren't them just sitting in a lawn chair, a lemonade in hand type of life.  Most of those individuals STILL work 60+ hour work weeks.  They love what they do and they love the organization they started.  And that's the biggest lesson to take away.  If your goal in starting a start up is to just make a million dollars and retire, you're better off doing something else with your time.  It takes a lot of work and you really have to be passionate about the product or service you are trying to introduce to the world.

There's also just some fantastic basic information about business things like managing organizations and teams, marketing, growth, support, sales, development, how to motivate people, legal and accounting aspects of the business world.  And there's even a few witty jokes and antecdotal stories thrown in there.

One of my favorite presenters talked about how they were getting a cleaning business off the ground and early on to get clients they went to a street fair and handed out bottled water with their contact information on the bottle.  I thought that was pretty innovative and creative as a way to market.

My favorite lecture by far was Facebook growth and how they spoke about this 'Magic Moment' concept.  The moment when you realize you can't live without a product or service.  The moment when you love it.  You fall for it.  It's sometimes different for people, but it's sometimes universal.  If you can figure out what it is that hooks people in, you'll get retention and retention will help with growth.  I love it, to me it's super fascinating, but like I said, I geek out about learning new things in general.

I found a lot of the content to be very pertinent to my day job, even as an employee of an organization.  Even if you don't plan on starting your own business it is definitely worth checking this podcast out.  The people that give each guest lecture are just very motivating people in general.  I feel all kinds of fired up and ready to change the world just thinking about it!  I'm going to have to listen to some of the lectures again.  I think the information could easily be applied to anyone in the workforce at any level of any organization.  So if you have the time, check this podcast out for sure!