Two New Ways to Learn the Ropes of Entrepreneurship, from Launch Academy and MaRS

Two new programs have opened in Canada to foster entrepreneurship.

Launch Academy has started an initiative called LEAP, an online course designed to provide entrepreneurs with the knowledge and framework to validate their ideas in a scientific way. Meanwhile MaRS has launched Entrepreneurship 101, which helps budding entrepreneurs learn how to create opportunities, find smart creative solutions, and move fast.

About LEAP

“After mentoring 1000 entrepreneurs and incubating more than 400 startups, we realized that most entrepreneurs make the same expensive mistakes.” said Alex Chuang, Chief Strategy Officer at Launch Academy. “That is why we have condensed all of our learnings in the past four years into this online course so anyone can learn how to build a startup from anywhere.”

LEAP online is the online version of Launch Academy’s Lean Entrepreneur Acceleration Program. In three years, the program has graduated more than 200 aspiring entrepreneurs in Vancouver.

Classes include “The Fundamentals of Lean Methodology,” “How to design a startup experiment,” and “How to measure the right key metrics.”

The program, which costs $300 to participate in, aims to graduate 100,000 Canadians over 10 years.

Since 2012, tech hub Launch Academy has helped 1,000 entrepreneurs and incubated 420 startups that collectively raised $80 million and created 800 jobs.

About E101

“Staying ahead of the marketplace takes bold ideas and strong execution,” says MaRS. “E101 will help you turn your startup idea into reality.”

E101 is a five-week online course made up of five separate units. Participants who have successfully completed the course will be eligible for a Certificate of Entrepreneurship. MaRS says the entrepreneur-taught content is hands-on, practical, and actionable.

Students will learn skills such as how to pitch, how to create a business strategy, and how to fundraise. The instructor for this course is Nathan Monk, a Senior Strategist for MaRS Information and Communications Technology sector. More than 20 experts will assist in teaching.

E101 is free of charge.