How to achieve success
Want to start your own business? It's in the air! Young people already have the bug, all that's left is to give them the methods. That's the principle behind the new MOOC launched by IAE Montpellier, "Creating innovative businesses: from idea to start-up."
6 
000 registrations in a month and a half: suffice to say that this MOOC was eagerly awaited. Not really a surprise for its designers at IAE Montpellier.
"Want to start your own business? Not so long ago, you would have been considered an alien. Today, it's a universally promoted model," says Véronique Bessière, professor at IAE Montpellier.
"It's a world that is now firmly rooted in French culture," confirms Eric Stéphany, director of the institute.
Turning your passion into a career
It's a world that's attracting more and more young people, drawn by its values: "dynamism, open-mindedness, the idea of pursuing your own project...," say the teachers of the new IAE MOOC. Turning your passion into a career: it's an appealing idea, continues Véronique Bessière. It's a different way of approaching corporate life, which young people are particularly sensitive to."
This is good news, as they are the ones most affected by the crisis. According to INSEE, those under 25 are the first victims of unemployment, with a rate of 23.7% in mainland France at the end of 2014. Yet they represent tremendous potential for development. In France, 25% of business creators are under 30, according to a report published by the Agency for Business Creation (APCE) in March 2015.
Online courses open to everyone
Another probable reason for the success of the new MOOC made in IAE : the very principle of these "massive open online courses" is perfectly suited to this audience. MOOCs? A quick reminder. These "massive open online courses" offer free access, via the Internet, to courses from universities around the world. The program includes filmed lectures, as well as online quizzes, discussion forums, and activities managed by the learners themselves. The learners evaluate each other's knowledge acquisition using grids provided by the instructor.
The first French MOOCs appeared in 2012, and their number is now growing steadily. This small educational revolution is appealing because of its ease of access. It allows entrepreneurs at heart to freely acquire solid knowledge to launch their projects. Hosted on the France Université Numérique portal, the MOOC "Creating innovative businesses: from idea to start-up" is open to everyone, with no prerequisites. The only requirement is to be attracted to the world of start-ups or to have a business creation project.
The web, the highway of projects
According to Eric Stéphany, these projects are now within everyone's reach. With "business angels" (angel investors) and various crowdfunding solutions, Web 2.0 offers start-up creators a tremendous boost.
Beyond that, it also helps projects find their way to viability by feeding them feedback from a very large audience. This virality of information is particularly valuable: "Today, every project starts with managing a crowd of followers . Your idea can be disseminated very quickly and widely. And you can gather the opinions of a multitude of internet users, who are all potential users," concludes Eric Stéphany.
- Register for the MOOC “Creating Innovative Businesses”