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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Finance for Non-Finance Professionals by Rice University

4.8
stars
2,687 ratings

About the Course

This short course surveys all the major topics covered in a full semester MBA level finance course, but with a more intuitive approach on a very high conceptual level. The goal here is give you a roadmap and framework for how financial professional make decisions. We will cover the basics of financial valuation, the time value of money, compounding returns, and discounting the future. You will understand discounted cash flow (DCF) valuation and how it compares to other methods. We also step inside the mind of a corporate financial manager and develop the basic tools of capital budgeting. We will survey the how, when, and where to spend money, make tradeoffs about investment, growth, dividends, and how to ensure sound fiscal discipline. Our journey then turns to a Wall Street or capital markets perspective of investments as we discuss the fundamental tradeoff between risk and return. We then synthesize our discussion of risk with our valuation framework and incorporate it into series of direct applications to practice. This course requires no prior familiarity with finance. Rather, it is intended to be a first step for anyone who is curious about understanding stock markets, valuation, or corporate finance. We will walk through all of the tools and quantitative analysis together and develop a guide for understanding the seemingly complex decisions that finance professionals make. By the end of the course, you will develop an understanding of the major conceptual levers that push and pull on financial decision making and how they relate to other areas of business. The course should also serve as a roadmap for where to further your finance education and it would be an excellent introduction of any students contemplating an MBA or Finance concentration, but who has little background in the area....

Top reviews

KH

Mar 27, 2020

Great Course, Very solid start for those who are trying to enter Finance world.

It makes you love this field if you are not familiar with it and have no previous experience.

Great Job Professor.

RM

Aug 16, 2020

This is a very well designed course. Taking you through basics and in the end puts you in a real business scenario where you are expected to take a decision based on the tools and concepts you learnt.

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526 - 550 of 597 Reviews for Finance for Non-Finance Professionals

By Andy S

Apr 16, 2021

An excellent little course, pitched at just the right level to explain foundational concepts without dumbing things down or getting lost. The instructor is really engaging, and by and large the exercises are very well put together.

By Abhishek K

Jun 29, 2020

Some more examples need to be given in certain cases. For ex- when he talked about tax shield of debts raising , there should be more examples related to industry experiences should have been given to make it more clear

By Vyom M

Jan 26, 2020

Overall the course was a very good introduction to the world of finance and valuations. However, I felt that weeks 3 and 4 were rushed a little bit. Professor Weston's way of explaining tricky concepts is very lucid!

By Urvashi

Jul 21, 2020

I learned a lot of things during this course. The conversation with a practitioner really gives you insights about the real world applications, and where our knowledge is applicable in the market.

By Jacinto D

May 4, 2020

This class is an excellent introduction to capital budgeting and finance. It is an excellent primer for understanding how businesses can use these tools to analyze transactions.

By Deborah R

Jun 23, 2017

Learned sooo much in this course. It taught me how to remain curious as the subject matter got more difficult. If you stick with it, you really learn to enjoy finance.

By Aman S

Mar 31, 2020

Excellent Course for those looking for enhancing their ideas and knowledge for Corporate Finance. The course beautifully explains all the topics right from the start.

By Kenan C

Jun 30, 2023

We don't need to hear everytime "Welcome back to Finance for non-Finance Professionals" on every single video like that as if that's something we need to learn.

By Neeraj D

Jan 12, 2021

Good course for non financial professionals. I really able to understand and practice some of the key concepts for financial reporting and income statement. !!

By James T S L

Sep 3, 2020

I enjoyed this course which explains financeial analysis in a simple and easy to understand way. The quizes and tests help reinforce the learning very much.

By Patiphon S

Jun 17, 2020

This course help me a lot about understanding in basic Finance, but it will be perfect if more infographic and terminology are provided.

By Cemre A

Nov 16, 2020

Overall, this was a good course. But for me, it was hard. I had almost no knowledge in finance and it makes it hard to understand.

By Sureshkumar S ( L S

Dec 29, 2021

Gained much detail on how financial system works the details calculation, very helpful course for non-financial professionals.

By Daniel C

Apr 3, 2020

Really high level introduction to financial concepts. The professor does a good job in building the intuition behind concepts.

By P C

Apr 14, 2017

Some concepts are a little difficult for a non finance person. However, so far it seems very interesting and useful!

By Michel D

Mar 24, 2018

Good refresher on NPV, ROI, Cashflows.. Little bit shallow on "reading" income statement/ balance sheet.

By Sahil J

May 9, 2020

A couple of concepts like stock markets work, what are dividends should have been taught in detail.

By aaron y

May 4, 2020

Some of the test questions contained information that was not covered thoroughly in the chapters.

By Diego A G C

Aug 21, 2017

Very helpful, but defining essential concepts and additional real world examples would be useful.

By Bruno A F M

Nov 22, 2019

I think there should be more exercises, and better relation between theory and exercises

By Marilyn C

Aug 18, 2020

It started quite interesting but by the last weeks it became quite flat and monotonic.

By Izabella O

Apr 10, 2022

Ich fand diesen online Kurs sehr gut um den ersten Kontakt zum Finanzen aufzunehmen.

By Bassam E K

Jun 29, 2017

Very good course for non-finance professionals seeking management jobs.

By Sam W

Feb 13, 2018

Good course but lacking in back up for instructors if you get stuck.

By YASAR U P

Aug 29, 2019

Thank you . Some additional accounting examples may be helpfull