نظرة عامة على البرنامج

Bootstrapping for Entrepreneurs

The goal of this course is to show how growth in resource scarcity is possible and can be advantageous. Entrepreneurship is the pursuit of goals beyond available resources, highlighting a common challenge faced by entrepreneurs: the lack of resources to pursue and grow one’s idea.

About

In this course, you will learn about the process and importance of innovating in resource-scarce environments. Resource scarcity is not an unsurmountable barrier, but a solvable problem, with effective bootstrapping tactics and strategies that can be learned and applied for the benefit of your venture and personal growth.

What you'll learn

• Bootstrapping strategies and tactics
• How to harness innovation communities for entrepreneurial problem discovery and problem solving
• How to apply innovation toolkits in product innovation and development

Prerequisites

None

Instructors

• Eric von Hippel: T. Wilson (1953) Professor in Management and a Professor of Management of Innovation and Engineering Systems, MIT Sloan School of Management
• Erdin Beshimov: Lecturer at MIT and Founder of MIT Bootcamps

Who can take this course?

Because of U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) restrictions and other U.S. federal regulations, learners residing in one or more of the following countries or regions will not be able to register for this course:

• Iran
• Cuba
• Syria
• North Korea
• The Crimea, Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic regions of Ukraine

Course Details

• Start: Anytime
• End: February 28, 2026
• Course Format: Self-paced
• Estimated: 4 weeks, 2-3 hrs/week
• Price: Free to Learn, Certificate Track: $49.00
• Payment deadline: February 18, 2026

Instructor Profiles

Eric von Hippel

Professor Hippel's research discovers and explores patterns in the sources of innovation and develops new processes to improve the “fuzzy front end” of the innovation process. His work has been used for a better understanding of the innovation process and for the development of new innovation processes for industry.

Erdin Beshimov

Erdin Beshimov is a Lecturer at MIT and a Senior Director, Experiential Learning at MIT Open Learning. He co-created MIT’s first massive open online courses on entrepreneurship, which have enrolled hundreds of thousands of learners from every country in the world. Erdin’s focus at MIT is on building new pathways for learners worldwide to study innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship.