Startup school provides wealth of free info

The traditional school season is ending across the country, but a new offering from Y Combinator (YC) does not follow a traditional path and instead allows students of startups the opportunity to participate from anywhere in an online course. The 10-week course, which began April 5, was open to startup founders, but the lectures are posted online weekly for “spectators.” Y Combinator, the Silicon Valley-based accelerator, explains on the course webpage that they thought the barrier to entry for people to start a startup is still too high, so they decided to share what they’ve learned through Startup School. The course is not meant to replace the YC program in Silicon Valley – the FAQ explains that “more information on your company may help us improve our decision process if you consider applying to YC in the future.”

The massively open online course (MOOC) offers insights from tech industry leaders starting with Sam Altman, president of Y Combinator, who talks about how and why to start a startup, to Alex Schultz, vice president of growth at Facebook, on how to get users and grow. Other leaders in the field cover topics on building culture, diversity and inclusion, managing teams, and how to raise money and succeed long-term. At the end of the course, those who participated as founders will receive a certificate of completion and the opportunity to share their work with the public.