User Innovation: A Path to Entrepreneurship - Massachusetts Institute of Technology

We’ll let you in on a secret. Innovation isn’t confined inside the walls of research labs swarming with PhDs. More often than not, innovation is about ordinary people solving problems that matter to them personally. This could be you. First, think about what you need. Next, find out whether others want the same thing. If they do, you can start a venture – for profit or non-profit - to supply others with the novel product or service you first developed for yourself. The examples of user innovation are infinite. A surfer created the GoPro to take “selfies” while surfing. A student came up with Dropbox after forgetting his flash drive. Two broke entrepreneurs rented out their living room to help pay rent, and Airbnb was born. They’ll share their paths to startup success. Taught by Eric von Hippel, the founding scholar of user innovation, this course will help you think about what problems you should choose to solve and how to share your innovations with others. You can innovate.

What you'll learn

• Identify a problem that you face
• Solve your problem
• Determine the best way to share your solution