Google, during its I/O 2015 developer conference in May had announced a partnership with Udacity to launch a six-course Android Development Nanodegree. The company wanted to allow developers to learn how to write apps for Google’s mobile operating system.
Surprisingly, these new Nanodegrees turned out to the most popular ones by Udacity, attracting more than 300,000 people to enrol in the courses. The web giant wanted anyone, technical or not, to learn not just the basics of how to build Android, iOS, and web apps, but also to explain what it takes to design, validate, prototype, monetize, and market app ideas.
As a part of that initiative, Google has now introduced a new Nanodegree, which will consist of a Tech Entrepreneurship certificate, access to coaches, guidance on your project, help staying on track and career counseling. If all you want is the content, quizzes, and projects, all of that is available online for free at udacity.com/google.
The following courses are what you can choose from:
- Product design: Learn Google’s Design Sprint methodology, Ideation & Validation, UI/UX design and gathering the right metrics.
- Prototyping: Experiment with rapid-low and high-fidelity prototyping on mobile and the Web using online tools.
- Monetization: Learn how to monetize your app and how to set up an effective payment funnel.
- App marketing: Build a brand, prepare for launch, and make a plan for attaining and retaining customers.
- How to get your startup started: Find out whether you really need venture capital funding, evaluate build vs. buy, and learn simple ways to monitor and maintain your startup business effectively.
The company says that it has has also teamed up with “the most successful thought leaders” to give students better guidance. Author of Crossing the Chasm Geoffrey Moore, Optimizely cofounder Pete Koomen, Y Combinator partners Aaron Harris and Kevin Hale, Product Hunt cofounder Nir Eyal, and YouTube cofounder Steve Chen are all aboard.
With about six to 10 hours per week, students will apparently be able to complete the Tech Entrepreneur Nanodegree in four to seven months. Though, there isn’t a time limit and you can take as long as you want. Udacity says that if you finish within 12 months, you’ll get 50 percent of your money back. Also, Google will invite the top 10 graduates to to pitch their final app and idea to venture capitalists.
