Excellent class taught by highly engaged professor. Good for someone with a few years of business experience or mid-level management. Would be less valuable for someone fresh out of school of just starting to climb the corporate ladder.

One of the best courses on Coursera that I've taken. Professor Ed purposefully addresses MOOC students and know who to motivate in front of the camera. Small talks of personal life (I think students get to know his wife's and daughter's names!) and the camera man (also all the crew showing up at the last lecture) make this MOOC EXTREMELY real!

Besides the great pedagogical approach, each week there is a real case and a Skype interview with a business leader/ entrepreneur whose case is under exploration. This further adds authenticity to the course! Week one content's, for me is the best; while the other weeks are also great. Lots of metaphors (outrun the bear, gas pedal, worry plate...) as well. In short, the content is way beyond expectation. Highly recommend for those who run a private business!

#fullofenergy #exemplaryMOOC #thankyou #Ed #coursera

This course was fantastic and enjoyable. The course content was easy to follow, the assignments were very relevant and challenging us to remember what was taught. The case studies were also very fun to read and pick the lessons therein. I acquired a new way and understanding of looking at business growth and I will now do things differently and better

I want to thank Prof. Edward for such an amazing training and presentation. He was very good and clear in his presentations, asked very thought provoking questions to help us understand the concepts. He also challenged us to internalize what we are learning because most of those concepts are useful in our everyday life. Thank you once again Professor

I love this course, especially the instructor. The examples, cases, and illustrations provided helped me understand the lesson better and easier. The real-live interviews also deepens my understanding of growing a business and the behind-the-scenes scenarios which most people tend to forget. That is, growing a business is difficult, requires constant learning, education, and improvement. As such, mistakes are a natural phenomenon, but too much and too many mistakes may be critical so entrepreneurs and aspirers shall keep deep in their hearts the 4Ps and the ways for a smart and respectable growth.

This course was beautifully delivered and it surpassed my expectation on it. It was a real eye opener to see how different entrepreneurs go through different challenges that are some what common and set up brilliant fundamentals that have a great impact globally. I applaud all those who shared their experience in the different case studies and the team who helped put this together, your effort does not go unnoticed.

Thank you Edward D. Hess. This course will help me steer my business to the direction I need it to go. 2 inches wide, 2 miles deep.

Cheers.

This course is a must for anyone trying to strive in a business. Independently of the field and industry, the lessons learned through this course are applicable in the short run to your own journey. I took it as part of the goals we at my company set out to do after our first "Growth thrust" and the stories and learning from this course will definitively help us "Grow Smarter".

I am not a native English speaker and the content was perfectly suited for me. Great work Darden School of Business!

Otto Acuna

San José, Costa Rica.

I started this course while running a non-profit, and the concepts definitely carry over. The thought processes I learned were extremely helpful in carrying out my executive duties. It also helped me realize that I am an entrepeneur. The impression the course left on me was great enough that now, years later, I have come back and finished the final part of the course. I look forward to taking the second part of the course once I have my business underway.

The first course I manage to complete and my favorite course. Interesting and useful from the beginning all the way to the end! My business have been flourishing ever since I started it. This course helped me develop my problem solving and planning skills tremendously. It is very effective and I recommend it to beginner entrepreneurs and everyone who is facing problems with their business.

Great course, thank you very much for making it available!

I wanna thank here Prof Ed Hess for his inspiring personality and experience. I really wanna say to him, thanks for your time, energy and the effort you put for preparing this wonderful course material. I wanna also thank the Coursera team for their effort and everything they offered for making this platform easily accessible for everyone throughout the world. thank you very much for everything you have done.

A very useful, well structured business course that enlightens the way to business professionals and even starters to launch and grow their businesses to greatness, through use of adequate tools, techniques and processes. A special thank to Dr. Ed who's "best in class" attitude, humor and personality added a considerable value to the course.

It was a very inspirational course. Well structured content with key business terms! The instructor was so clear and specific and encouraged the participants each step of the way. The course content was so beautifully interwoven with real life case studies, that seemed so relevant. Looking forward to learning more! Thank you!

One of those inspirational and real life courses. I have learnt a lot and i believe this course will drive my business ideas further. The realization that growth is not always good, that actually growth can kill you as opposed to "If you dont grow you die" was smoking hot. ( smoking hot as Ed's grand daughter puts it...lol)

It was an amazing course full of information and inspiration. Thank you very much Ed + team behind, for your great job done there for us. I´m looking forward to get a certificate from you soon and I´m sure, that with gained knowledge I´ll have more chances to succeed on the czech market ;-) Best wishes! Margarita Kulikova

When I was in a physical classroom I wish I had a Professor like Ed. He was motivating from the very start when I sampled the course and he is the reason why I enrolled and ultimately why I completed the course and applied for the certificate. I learned a lot that I can apply to my business. Thanks Ed see you in Part 2!

Рекомендую, очень харизматичный преподаватель, который просто увлекает в тему своей лекции. Все очень доступно для понимания! Понравилось, буду оставаться слушателем этого курса, так как есть вторая часть!!!! Благодарю Вашу команду, за такие увлекательные и практичные образовательные курсы...удачи!!!!

It gives a great insight in dealing with growth, especially for startups or small, medium-sized companies. The case studies from real-life examples along with the entrepreneurs' interview are truly helpful, including the workshops to give a better idea to apply the theories learned in this course.

Dear Mr Hess, thank you so much for this course, I am a young 25 years old entrepreneur from Spain and this course has really cleared a lot of things in my mind.

It's been amazing assisting to this course, thank you and your team for sharing your knowledge and enthusiasm with all of us!

Great enthusiasm by the professor. Great reading material. I sure learned a lot about some of the preconceived notions I had about growing a business. Thanks a lot to the people of coursera, the university of Virginia, anyone who made this possible--and of course to the professor!

Made the class exciting, and helped make the possibility of being something bigger not only seem possible, but gave a new way of actually doing that. I recommend this class even if you're convinced you can do it with the things you currently know. You'll learn something.

A very useful course, especially when you are active in a 2-year old start-up like me. It gave me great insight because I could relate it all back to the position I'm in myself. Thank you very much for making this course possible. I'll start directly with part 2 now!

An eye-opening course suitable for people who have already started their business and need some assistance and reality check! Thanks to this course I face my business challenges with a different and more self-confident approach. Thank you!

This course was really insightful! The lessons, case studies and all the resources were so helpful. Also, I loved the teaching style of Prof. Edward Hess! I learned a lot from this course. Looking forward to start Part 2 of this course!

First course (of this type, I mean business, management... etc) I took, planning to take the second part as well. I would strongly recommand taking this course.

Easy to follow, well paced, has quality course materials, and inspiring.

I really like the teacher and the course content. I feel very engaged in the video lectures and feel disappointed when one ends to quickly. Definitely an eye opener, with strategies that I can employ right away.

Thank you.

Ed is so funny inside:)...hope my TEACHER IN CHINA has such ability and personality. And the materials he provided let me learn something about realistic growth of private business. AND THANK YOU, Ed.

You did a great thing ！！！