PartnershipsPublished 2022-04-01 · public disclosure
Use a focused demonstration to recruit credible partners
How Coursera approached partnerships.
What they did
Coursera’s anniversary account describes large enrollments in Stanford’s 2011 open courses, followed by the 2012 launch with Stanford, Penn, Michigan and Princeton.
Reported outcome
The early courses supplied evidence of demand before a broader institutional platform was established. Enrollment itself is not proof of learning outcomes.
An idea to test, from Afterlaunch
A successful bounded offering can make a partnership discussion more concrete than a platform vision alone.
Small experiment: Run one tightly scoped educational offering, measure completion and feedback, and use those results in partner conversations.
A company’s reported outcome doesn’t prove one tactic caused it. Treat this as a hypothesis.
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