Opportunity to participate in free-moderated “Beyond Silicon Valley” online entrepreneurship course

Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) Professor Michael Goldberg, in partnership with the US Embassy, North Macedonia, and CEFE Macedonia, is recruiting a special cohort of Macedonians to participate in his Beyond Silicon Valley course from January 12-28. Professor Goldberg launched Beyond Silicon Valley on Coursera in April 2014 and it has attracted over 175,000 students from 190 countries over the past 5 years. Beyond Silicon Valley has been translated into 16 languages (most on Coursera platform) including Macedonian. Goldberg visited Macedonia in 2014 and 2016 at the invitation of the US Embassy, North Macedonia to run workshops related to his Beyond Silicon Valley course.

Professor Goldberg organized a cohort in 2018 of Syrians to take Beyond Silicon Valley alongside a group of his CWRU students. The joint class of Syrian and CWRU students focused on making recommendations for how the Syrian entrepreneurial ecosystem could more effectively provide support to startups post-conflict. The students made recommendations to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and you can see a short video on the collaboration here. He has also organized similar course collaborations with cohorts of students from Venezuela, Colombia, and South Africa.

We are recruiting Macedonians interested in the topic of supporting the growth of entrepreneurship to participate in this free course. This might include entrepreneurs, investors, students, and business leaders. Students will watch the Beyond Silicon Valley videos online on their own and will come together for live discussions via Zoom during the semester to discuss various topics with guest speakers from around the world.

Live discussions will take place on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 6-7 pm Skopje time (12 pm-1 pm EST) beginning January 12 and finishing on January 28. There will also be sessions on two Saturdays (January 16 and 23). Sessions will be recorded for students that are not able to attend the live discussions.

To get the most out of the experience, we expect Macedonian students to complete course assignments alongside the CWRU students and attend as many of the live sessions as possible.

If you are interested in participating, please fill out this application form. Professor Goldberg, the US Embassy, North Macedonia, and CEFE Macedonia will review the applications to select the participants for the cohort. Applications are due by December 15, 2020.