New Digital Program from MIT Professional Education Teaches Skills to Win at Entrepreneurial Negotiations Globally

Online Course begins April 26, 2016

Cambridge, Mass., February 1, 2016 – MIT Professional Education announced today it has added a new online course, Entrepreneurial Negotiations: The MIT Way, to its Digital Programs offering. Geared toward entrepreneurs and those with an innovative mindset, the course beginning April 26 provides a toolkit of proven techniques and strategies to master any business negotiation. Online registration is open at mitprofessionalx.mit.edu.

The six-week course is led by MIT’s renowned negotiation expert, Professor Lawrence Susskind, who also cofounded the Inter-university Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. Susskind, whose distinguished research focuses on the theory and practice of negotiation and dispute resolution, is an adviser to Fortune 100 companies, author of more than 20 books, Founder and Chief Knowledge Officer of the Consensus Building Institute, and Director of the MIT Science Impact Collaborative.

"Negotiations in the entrepreneurial arena are critical, but incredibly complex,” said Bhaskar Pant, executive director of MIT Professional Education. “We are fortunate to be able to offer a course on the subject from a world-renowned authority at MIT. Professor Susskind’s course will emphasize the paramount importance of interpersonal interactions for navigating a new business through elements such as economic uncertainty, protecting intellectual property and managing investors. Most negotiation programs do not address these important aspects, leaving entrepreneurs ill-equipped to handle real-life negotiation situations, and leaving unclaimed value on the table.”

Candidates for the course include those seeking to advance an idea or product but who do not currently control the resources needed to develop or market what they have in mind and need to convince others to support or join them. The course is well-suited for entrepreneurs, inventors, app developers, angel investors or potential partners, intrapreneurs and innovators within large companies, or teams charged with creating new products or services. Most notably, the course’s MIT-styled approach provides deep-strategy insight paired with hands-on exercises for a unique, high-impact learning experience.

“A recent report from MIT found that companies that have spun off from the Institute generate annual revenues of $2 trillion a year,” said Susskind. “Through this course, professionals will emerge with a toolkit of negotiation techniques so they, too, can join the ranks of successful MIT entrepreneurs.”

Those taking the course will learn how to advance their ideas when bargaining the terms of an important investment, partnership or business endeavor. Navigating egos, relationships, a high degree of uncertainty and technical sophistication, all play a critical role in the process. Participants will practice these skills through simulations, role-plays, case studies and peer-provided feedback, and will come away with a toolkit of negotiation techniques that will prepare them to join the MIT entrepreneurial success story. MIT Professional Education Digital Programs are designed specifically to fit the schedules of busy professionals. The courses are self-paced and available online 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from anywhere in the world.

Entrepreneurial Negotiations: The MIT Way will be delivered globally via the open-sourced online education platform, edX. MIT Professional Education Digital Programs provide companies and organizations the ability to offer training and education to their employees virtually from anywhere in the world, covering highly advanced topics facing a wide range of industries. Upon successfully completing the course, participants will receive an MIT Professional Education Certificate of Completion, Continuing Education Units (CEUs), course materials from all presentations, 90-day personal access to the archived course (includes access to the digital version of Larry Susskind’s book Good for You, Great for Me: Finding the Trading Zone and Winning at Win-Win Negotiation, videos, discussion boards, content, and Wiki), a complete course transcript of all course lectures as well as access to MIT Professional Education’s expansive professional alumni network. The course will be offered initially at $475.

Registration is now open at MIT Professional Education’s Entrepreneurial Negotiations: The MIT Way course website. Individuals across all industries or large groups of employees from the same organization can register for the course.

About MIT Professional Education

For more than 65 years, MIT Professional Education has been providing a gateway to renowned MIT research, knowledge, and expertise through advanced education programs designed specifically for working professionals worldwide who are engaged in the fields of technology and technology management. In addition to its Digital Programs, MIT Professional Education offers professionals the capability to take industry-focused one to five-day sessions on-campus through Short Programs, courses abroad through International Programs, enroll in regular MIT academic courses through the Advanced Study Program, or attend Custom Programs designed specifically for corporate clients. Participants are drawn from across the U.S. and around the world, with about 50 percent coming from outside the U.S. Upon successful completion of a program, participants receive an MIT Professional Education Certificate of Completion and access to MIT Professional Education’s expansive, private professional alumni network, along with other program specific benefits. For more information visit: professional.mit.edu