3 ms·

My dad recommended this course - should I bother?

11 points by johnrob 19y ago

johnrob 19y ago
To answer rms, I'm a stanford alum. I think the course is interesting enough to give it a shot - thanks for the advice. I'll be sure to summarize anything interesting I find.
pg 19y ago
I've never heard of a college course on business that helped anyone in a startup. On the other hand, if there were one, it would probably be at Stanford.
- johnrob 19y ago
  It might be possible to meet some well-connected valley folks there.
- tom_rath 19y ago
  From personal experience, I can say that a genuine course in marketing (not a 'how to write ad copy' intro to advertising) is absolute gold. Bare-minimum: Look for "M.A.S.H. Analysis" in the course outline. To answer the poster's question: I'd say go for it. Worst-case, you're surrounding yourself with like-minded students.
- boucher 19y ago
  My co-founder and I took a seminar on entrepreneurship offered jointly between the engineering and business schools at USC. It was actually pretty similar to YCombinator dinners -- every week someone (occasionally multiple people) came in to talk about their own experiences as an entrepreneur, answer questions. etc. Unfortunately, unlike YC, it was at 7:30 in the morning, which was tough. It wasn't focused on software, or any one field at all actually, so there was a really wide range of speakers. I have a hard time remembering many of the individuals, but a lot of the overall lessons have stuck with me I think. I have a long set of notes I should really look over, I'm sure their are things that would come in handy right now.
- helveticaman 19y ago
  How about law school? Would auditing law school classes on IP help?
- byrneseyeview 19y ago
  Max Levchin met Peter Thiel when Thiel was lecturing students on international finance. They started Paypal almost immediately. This is almost certainly not what you meant -- but the original Paypal business plan did revolve around international finance.
jsomers 19y ago
It probably depends on the professor: is this Gibbon guy a good teacher? Try to find out if he's taught the course before and how it went. It's the difference between just learning cute terminology (bad professor) and initiating a real interest/solving hard problems in the subject (good professor).
- joseakle 19y ago
  You can check his Linkedin profile here: http://www.linkedin.com/in/johngibbon http://www.linkedin.com/in/johngibbon His resume says " Built 8 new products and enhanced 19 existing products over 14-year career. " I'd ask him which products he built.
wallflower 19y ago
What are you expecting to gain? (not much to lose) Stanford Continuing Studies: "We have a generous drop policy which allows you to attend two class meetings to "try out" a course."
abossy 19y ago
Don't you have friends in your program to consult for advice? Assuming you're not in that program, isn't there any kind of forum for Stanford students to discuss classes? It seems like YC is unlikely to give you the feedback you are looking for in regards to such a specific question.
rms 19y ago
Do you already go to Stanford? Do you have a college degree from somewhere else?
mhb 19y ago
Is your dad John Gibbon?

11 points by johnrob 19y ago

To answer rms, I'm a stanford alum. I think the course is interesting enough to give it a shot - thanks for the advice. I'll be sure to summarize anything interesting I find.

pg 19y ago

I've never heard of a college course on business that helped anyone in a startup. On the other hand, if there were one, it would probably be at Stanford.

johnrob 19y ago
It might be possible to meet some well-connected valley folks there.
tom_rath 19y ago
From personal experience, I can say that a genuine course in marketing (not a 'how to write ad copy' intro to advertising) is absolute gold. Bare-minimum: Look for "M.A.S.H. Analysis" in the course outline. To answer the poster's question: I'd say go for it. Worst-case, you're surrounding yourself with like-minded students.
boucher 19y ago
My co-founder and I took a seminar on entrepreneurship offered jointly between the engineering and business schools at USC. It was actually pretty similar to YCombinator dinners -- every week someone (occasionally multiple people) came in to talk about their own experiences as an entrepreneur, answer questions. etc. Unfortunately, unlike YC, it was at 7:30 in the morning, which was tough. It wasn't focused on software, or any one field at all actually, so there was a really wide range of speakers. I have a hard time remembering many of the individuals, but a lot of the overall lessons have stuck with me I think. I have a long set of notes I should really look over, I'm sure their are things that would come in handy right now.
helveticaman 19y ago
How about law school? Would auditing law school classes on IP help?
byrneseyeview 19y ago
Max Levchin met Peter Thiel when Thiel was lecturing students on international finance. They started Paypal almost immediately. This is almost certainly not what you meant -- but the original Paypal business plan did revolve around international finance.

jsomers 19y ago

It probably depends on the professor: is this Gibbon guy a good teacher? Try to find out if he's taught the course before and how it went. It's the difference between just learning cute terminology (bad professor) and initiating a real interest/solving hard problems in the subject (good professor).

joseakle 19y ago
You can check his Linkedin profile here: http://www.linkedin.com/in/johngibbon http://www.linkedin.com/in/johngibbon His resume says " Built 8 new products and enhanced 19 existing products over 14-year career. " I'd ask him which products he built.

wallflower 19y ago

What are you expecting to gain? (not much to lose) Stanford Continuing Studies: "We have a generous drop policy which allows you to attend two class meetings to "try out" a course."

abossy 19y ago

Don't you have friends in your program to consult for advice? Assuming you're not in that program, isn't there any kind of forum for Stanford students to discuss classes? It seems like YC is unlikely to give you the feedback you are looking for in regards to such a specific question.

rms 19y ago

Do you already go to Stanford? Do you have a college degree from somewhere else?

mhb 19y ago

Is your dad John Gibbon?