Course Catalog: Masters Degree in Internet Entrepreneurship

Every year I set out searching for a graduate degree suited to my career in the Internet industry.  I am looking for a combination of computer science classes in web development, design courses that focus on UI, and business courses that teach Internet entrepreneurship.

Disappointed by what universities are offering, I created my own course catalog.  It is aimed at entrepreneurial, non-developer, technology professionals that work in the Internet field.  There is a strong core of development courses, but they are designed for someone to understand web development as opposed to training students to be developers.  I hope to see something like this offered soon.

Please comment if you think a course is missing or disagree with my choices.

Semester 1

Introduction to Programming
An overview of programming that touches on PHP, Python, Ruby, Java, and Objective-C.

Internet Activity Theory and Psychology
What causes users to do the things they do?  This will be an in-depth look at the psychology of an Internet user.

Ideation for Web Startups
Students will learn the process of brainstorming and picking apart business ideas.  They will learn to spot indicators that an idea will work or not, and how to go about testing a thesis before heavy development begins.

Equity Financing
An in-depth course on equity financing where students and will learn about each step of the fund raising process with mock simulations at each stage.

Semester 2

Pick 1

Development in PHP
Learn the CakePHP framework and in-depth development in PHP.

Development in Python
Learn the Django framework and in-depth development in Python.

Development in Ruby
Learn the Rails framework and in-depth development in Ruby.

Development in Objective-C
Learn the iPhone SDK and in-depth development in Objective-C.

Development in Java
Learn the Android SDK and in-depth development in Java.

Frontend Development in Html5/CSS/Javascript
Students will learn to create frontend interfaces and clickable prototypes.

User Experience and User Interface Design
Students will learn the fundamentals of usability, and how to design interaction and user interfaces.

Business Modeling and Current Events
A case-study driven course will break down successful web companies and their business models.  Emerging models will be discussed and students will brainstorm their own.  Current events in the tech world will be closely monitored and discussed. STUDENTS WILL NOT BE ASKED TO WRITE A TRADITONAL BUSINESS PLAN.

Semester 3

Launch an App Part 1
Students will work with pairs to develop their own app.  In Part 1 users will finish the semester with high-fidelity wireframes, a clickable prototype, and detailed tasks broken down for development. In Part 2 students will begin heavy development.

Scalability
This course will focus on choosing the right set of tools. It will cover languages, hosting environments (Cloud vs Dedicated Hosting), and databases (SQL vs NoSql)

Product Management
In this course students will learn to create a product roadmap.  They will learn skills to conduct thorough requirements gathering and user testing.  Finally they will learn to break down features into tasks for developers.

Agile Project Management
Students will learn the agile project management methodology and will take part in multiple simulations.

Semester 4

Launch an App Part II
Students will continue their work from Part I and begin development of their application.   Professors will be available throughout the process for programming help.  Students will end the semester with the launch of their application.

Analytics and Performance Tracking
Students will become experts at setting up, managing, and gaining insight into analytics.

Startup Operations
Co-founders, hiring, compensation plans, benefits, management skills, company culture, and office space are all issues that entrepreneurs need to deal with.  While these are common to most businesses, startup operations requires a unique touch to create fast moving and innovative environments for your employees.

Internet Marketing and PR
Students will learn to conduct marketing and PR for their startup.  SEO, SEM, ad-buys, blog PR, and traditional media PR will be covered.  Marketing through your website, building a brand, community management and customer service will also be part of this course.

Posted on June 9th, 2010 at 15:50 by in Education

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

«
»
  • http://www.adamenbar.com/ adamenbar

    I would pay for this.

    My Suggestions:
    1- Swap Product Management and Analytics courses (a lot of product management is stat. heavy).
    2- Add a full course on Sales Methodology and Sales Management (yes, it can be taught).
    3- Include something, somewhere, about hiring people- CEO's most difficult and (early on) most important job.

  • http://angelsoft.net Jschwa

    Thanks Adam.

    Adam,

    I think you're right on all accounts.
    1. Analytics should come before Product Management. I think I would also switch Marketing with Project Management so Product and Project would be taught together.
    2. I completely left out sales. Good call.
    3. Hiring is part of the Startup Operations class.

  • http://angelsoft.net Jschwa

    Pulling in a comment from Tumblr:

    From Kyle Bragger http://kylewritescode.com/

    “It should require each class to be taught by someone with extensive, hands-on experience and a proven track record in that field.

    There needs to be a strong emphasis on always making stuff. Always back up what is taught and learned with hands-on, tangible stuff. Always. Let’s breed a generation of doers vs. talking-about-doing-stuff’ers.”

    I think there is a big frustration that Universities teach the theoretical as opposed to the practical. The year long “Launch an App” course was an attempt to integrate Doing over Talking About Doing. However, Kyle is right. All courses should be taught with hands on lessons instead of lectures. Each course should have a semester long project or mini projects that are direct applications of what the student is learning.

  • http://viniciusvacanti.com Vinicius Vacanti

    *Love* this post. My quick comments:

    I would change scalability and move it earlier breaking it apart into two classes: Databases (designing, administration) and System Administration (server setup, amazon web services, google app engine)

    You seem to be addressing it in Semester 3 but I would have “Customer Development Process / Lean Startup” as part of Semester 1.

  • http://twitter.com/lizzygreene ElizabethMcVayGreene

    I love this idea and think it would benefit a lot of people, from those with really great ideas but little experiencee, to those whose ideas need refinement and careful consideration before moving forward. I agree with Vin that customer development is an important piece of this, and I would add something about how the digital world affects the physical world. How cognizant we need to be as digi-focused folk on the implications our design and development have on human-human transactions, emotions, conversations.

  • http://magaluf.senorstag.com/indexmag/13000/magaluf_stag_weekends.htm paintball malaga

    A master's degree in philosophy may not lead to a full-time career as a philosopher in this modern age, but the degree has been found to come handy for preparing students for different career disciplines as well as graduate work in different fields.

  • http://www.soccerbox.com/arsenalshop/ arsenal football shirts

    I’m thinking this is a lost cost because there’s nothing I learn in class that I actually use. All the programming that I am actually using is self taught. But I guess Master’s in CS will only open door for me when applying for new jobs.

  • http://www.airedaleflooringcontractors.com Amtico Flooring

    I agree with Vin that customer development is an important piece of this, and I would add something about how the digital world affects the physical world. How cognizant we need to be as digi-focused folk on the implications our design and development have on human-human transactions, emotions, conversations.

  • http://autoblogsamurai.ws/ Auto Blog Samurai

    Strange things happened this decade.U see internet companies like google and ebay or amazon have larger market capitalization over ford motor company or general motors.They're founders are billionaires and so.Are all this things reaaaal money???Sometimes is so strange how the stocks get the peoples so rich.!!

  • http://www.trafficvoodoo20.ws Trafficvoodoo 2.0 bonus

    Its best to do the bulk of it yourself, no labour costs no one stealing ideas. Then have someone tie up the loose ends if you when you're ready to pump more into it. The owner of facebook (forget his name again) started it are University/College with little money. Go for it whilst trading stocks.

  • http://www.deviltronics.com/section/15/1/radio-controlled Helicopter Radio Controlled

    I would add something about how the digital world affects the physical world. How cognizant we need to be as digi-focused folk on the implications our design and development have on human-human transactions, emotions, conversations.

  • http://www.seolistings.com/ Seo Listings

    I already have a B.S., Advertising from UT-Austin and I'm looking to learn more about internet/interactive.

  • Mattsteel009

    Online degrees also let you to absolute courses much faster than what an offline course might allow.

  • dirtan

    thanks for sharing that type of idea, i think it is very useful for us

    web development and usability