Best Business, Finance & Economics courses
The 45 Business, Finance & Economics courses Redditors recommend to each other on Reddit, ranked by how many people recommended each one, how strongly, in how many separate threads and over how many years (219 recommendations). 20 of them are free. How ranking works.
How to Build a Startup (Steve Blank)
Udacity · beginner · free
Commenters call it a very good, free introduction to startup thinking from Steve Blank, and one recommends it for small businesses as well.
Google Ads Certification
Google · beginner · free
Commenters call it free, quick to finish, and a credential that looks good on a resume for anyone starting in paid search or digital marketing.
Startup Class
Y Combinator · beginner · free
One commenter points to it as a resource for the startup-versus-big-company decision, though the comment itself is mainly about personal career tradeoffs.
How to Start a Startup
Stanford University · beginner · free
Commenters call it a great overview of every part of starting a startup and say they wish they had taken it earlier.
The Complete Digital Marketing Course
Udemy · beginner · paid
Commenters call it a solid marketing 101 that covers the technical side, such as building campaigns and choosing channels, and one calls it the best marketing course on Udemy.
SEO Specialization
Coursera · beginner · freemium
Commenters call it a solid, in-depth SEO foundation that is free to audit and gives a recognized certificate, with one saying an employee became "an absolute pro" after taking it.
HubSpot Inbound Marketing Certification
HubSpot Academy · beginner · free
Commenters call it comprehensive, well known, and very educational, and say it gives a useful holistic view of digital marketing compared with narrow SEO or PPC skills.
Google Ads Course
Udemy · beginner · paid
Commenters call it a cheap, practical way to get started, with one saying it helped them get going and advising picking top-reviewed courses.
Gamification
Coursera
A commenter in an 'best MOOCs you've taken' thread calls the Wharton gamification MOOC excellent.
Startup Engineering
Coursera · free
Commenters call it a course that truly changed how they approached tech and startups, and praise its focus on understanding industry history alongside predicting trends.
Introduction to Marketing
Coursera · beginner · free
Commenters point to it as a checklist-style introduction to consumer-driven marketing thinking, distinguishing marketing from promotion.
Google Ads Academy
Google Skillshop · beginner · free
Commenters call it a great introduction to Google Ads that is worth taking before more advanced courses, since the platform's features can feel overwhelming.
Lean Launchpad
Udacity · beginner
The one commenter calls Steve Blank a prophet for modern startups and says the customer development approach is among the most important startup ideas in decades.
Digital Marketing Course
Udemy · beginner · paid
Commenters suggest it as a cheap, practical starting point, with one saying it was worth $20 and another recommending the Pouya instructor's version as pretty good.
Google Analytics Academy
Google Skillshop · beginner · free
Commenters call the Google Skillshop courses amazing, interactive, and free, and suggest the Google Analytics course as a beginner-friendly starting point for marketing analytics.
Digital Marketing Nanodegree
Udacity · beginner · free
A commenter suggests it as a free, practical starting point for learning social media marketing and SEO to get users.
Zero to Launch
Ramit Sethi · beginner · paid
Commenters call it worth the price for people starting a small online business, and praise the network and advice that come with it.
How to Build a Startup
Udacity · beginner · free
Commenters call it excellent and jam packed with resources, and top notch for someone figuring out how to start a startup.
Mini MBA in Marketing
Unknown · beginner · paid
Commenters call it an incredible, foundational course that gives the core underpinnings of marketing and has helped non-marketing team members join strategy discussions.
An Entire MBA in 1 Course
Udemy · beginner · paid
Commenters call it a useful high-level introduction to general business knowledge for people with little or no business background, and note it is cheap on Udemy.
MBA course
Udemy · beginner · paid
Commenters suggest it as a cheap, practical way to pick up business basics (one notes it costs about $14) instead of paying for a degree.
CS50's Computer Science for Business Professionals
edX · beginner
One commenter recommends it for people who want to intelligently communicate about computing rather than program independently.
Isaac Rudansky PPC Course
Udemy · beginner · paid
Commenters call it the best course they could get their hands on for PPC, and one says it is how they got started and still has new coordinators go through it.
Raising Money for a Startup
Khan Academy · beginner · free
Commenters call it a super good introduction to the topic and recommend it as a short starting point for founders weighing investor offers.
Python for Finance
Udemy · beginner · paid
Commenters call it a helpful course for learning Python in a finance context, with one saying it helped them better understand Monte Carlo simulations and CAPM.
Google Project Management Certificate
Coursera · beginner · freemium
Commenters point to its scope and stakeholder management module as useful, and suggest it as a structured way to improve project planning and estimation.
The Entrepreneur's Toolkit
The Great Courses · beginner · paid
Commenters call it a quality walkthrough of entrepreneurship fundamentals, and one suggests buying it through Audible credits to save money versus the direct price.
Negotiation (Chris Voss)
MasterClass · beginner · paid
One commenter says Chris Voss's negotiation class alone has easily justified the $100 per year subscription.
Technology Entrepreneurship
Stanford University · beginner · free
Commenters point to it as a free alternative to paid pre-incubators, noting the video lectures are free and teams can be formed for hands-on projects.
Critical Business Skills
The Great Courses · beginner · paid
Commenters call it an excellent, singularly helpful resource for small business planning and describe it as a mini-MBA.
Entrepreneurship
Udacity · beginner · free
Commenters call it a solid, no-cost way to learn startup basics before risking money, and one calls it an excellent lecture.
Digital Garage: Fundamentals of Digital Marketing
Google · beginner · free
Commenters recommend it as a basic, free starting point that gives a decent grasp of digital marketing fundamentals, including AdWords keyword basics for absolute beginners.
B-School
Marie Forleo · beginner · paid
Commenters describe it as a highly regarded program for aspiring entrepreneurs, and one plans to take it after starting with Forleo's other course.
Fundamentals of Digital Marketing
Google · beginner · free
Commenters point to it as a free starting point, with one recommending it as the first step before other certifications.
Project Management
Coursera · beginner · paid
Commenters call it really affordable and well done, and one describes it as a particularly good six-class set for learning project management.
Digital Marketing & E-Commerce Professional Certificate
Google · beginner · free
Commenters call it a well-structured, free starting point for learning digital marketing, noting it covers SEO among many topics.
HubSpot Academy Content Marketing Certification
HubSpot Academy · beginner · free
Commenters suggest it as a solid foundation for people new to digital marketing, noting that the certificates are free and teach a lot.
Banking and Money
Khan Academy · beginner · free
Commenters call it a clear, illuminating explanation of how banks create money and what is going on with currency and Treasury holdings, and recommend it as an alternative to a controversial MMT video.
Content Marketing Certification
HubSpot Academy · beginner · free
Commenters point to it as a free, useful follow-on for SEO and link building, and one of HubSpot's free certifications worth taking.
Grow to Greatness: Smart Growth for Private Businesses, Part I
Coursera · beginner
Commenters recommend it as a good fit for startups and small businesses, and one suggests it for a family business struggling with brand image.
Meta Social Media Marketing
Coursera · beginner
Commenters describe it as a great way into digital marketing that goes straight to marketing and content creation, with one suggesting it be tried without treating it as gospel.
Digital Marketing
LinkedIn Learning · beginner · paid
Commenters point to it as a quick, practical starting point for someone new to online marketing, and one says LinkedIn Learning has great courses on digital marketing and social media selling.
Dropshipping Course
Udemy · beginner · paid
Commenters suggest it as a starting point for someone new to dropshipping, paired with learning marketing; one says to take a Udemy course on dropshipping and then marketing before hiring a mentor.
Social Media Marketing Professional Certificate
Coursera (Meta) · beginner · freemium
Commenters point to it as a Meta-backed certificate that signals motivation to employers when breaking into digital marketing.
SMMA Course
Tai Lopez · beginner
Commenters recommend it as a practical way to learn how the SMMA business works and to set up a digital marketing agency in a few months, rather than going to college.