During this Corona Pandemic, lots of people have decided to use their free time at home to do studies online. According to TheGuardian “increasing numbers of people are using the time to build their skillset, with an upsurge in enrolments on online learning platforms”.

I also decided to invest my time to learn new subjects online. As I wrote in a previous post about Continuous Learning: “Everything we know, including our professional skills, is rapidly becoming obsolete. This means that it’s not enough to work. We must be constantly updating our knowledge and acquiring new skills.”

After some investigation, my choice was ThePowerMBA. My background is in the field of Computer Sciences, but as an entrepreneur and CEO of my own startup company (KashKlik) it is important for me to learn more about Business Management, and in particular the topics that are more relevant for startup companies.

The Curriculum of ThePowerMBA has lots of subjects which are extremely relevant for startups:

1. Business Model Innovation
2. The Lean Startup
3. Strategy & Business Fundamentals
4. The Power of Being a (Real) Marketer
5. Entrepreneurship
6. Leadership
7. Management Skills & Tools
8. Finance & Accounting
9. Disruptive Tech in Business

I think it is very important for new entrepreneurs to learn all these topics, which will certainly have a direct and immediate practical application in their startup companies. As I wrote in a previous post: “When you are the founder of a startup company you have to do many things that you have never done before, and many of these things are difficult. Actually, most things you are doing as an entrepreneur would have been difficult even for someone who has experience doing them.”

For example, the first module about Business Model Innovation covers the Blue Ocean Strategy (among other things). I read the Blue Ocean book when we were planning the features of our influencer marketing platform, and it was really inspiring. I have recently published a post in which I describe our experience applying the principles of the Blue Ocean Strategy at KashKlik.

Another topic I’m enthusiastic about is the Lean Startup. I read the Lean Startup book by Eric Ries several years ago, and since then the Build-Measure-Learn feedback loop has become an integral and essential part of every new project I execute. I’m excited that Eric himself is a contributor to the materials in ThePowerMBA classes.

But of course the ThePowerMBA curriculum also has several topics that I really need to learn more about. For example the module about Strategy & Business Fundamentals covers Industry Analysis, Competitive Strategies, Marketing Basics and Corporate Growth Strategies. These are very interesting subjects that I never really had the opportunity to study, because all my academic formation is in the field of Computer Sciences. In practice, I’m a technical CEO, and thus I lack this business background.

Another module which I’m sure will be very important for me is the one about Finance & Accounting. This module covers Accounting Fundamentals, Financial Statements and Analysis and Valuation (Investments and Companies). Unfortunately I still feel that I’m very ignorant about these subjects, so this will be a great opportunity for me to learn more about them. Of course to perform well as the CEO of a startup company I must also be able to understand all the financial aspects. This is even more important in our case, because KashKlik is already a global company, doing business with customers in several continents, and with diverse sources of revenue.

I’m excited to be learning these new disciplines, but what is even better is that, in the case of ThePowerMBA, I’m sure that I’m going to put these new skills in practice. I believe that if we really want to understand a new subject, we must be able to apply the new concepts that we are learning. Thus it’s simply fantastic that I’m going to do a course with so many relevant topics that I will be able to immediately use in my own startup company.

I decided to share with you (my readers) the main insights I will get from this course, and thus in the next months I will be posting here regularly about what I’ve learned. I’m sure it will be a great way to grow while we must stay mostly at home.