New UVA Darden Online Course Offers Power of Effectuation to Learners Around the World

A new massive online open course from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business offers learners from around the world the opportunity to learn techniques for thinking and acting entrepreneurially from one of the world’s foremost experts on the subject.

In “Effectuation: Lessons From Expert Entrepreneurs,” Darden Professor Saras Sarasvathy will share her world-renowned theory of Effectuation, an accessible framework for venture creation used by successful entrepreneurs around the world.

“From small business owners to major technology companies that have changed the way we live and work, we live in a world constructed by entrepreneurs,” said Sarasvathy. “This introductory course shows the power of Effectuation to solve problems, build ventures and create new futures. Whether interested in startups or social ventures, in family business or corporate venturing, learners will find something of real value in this course.”

The new Effectuation course will explore Sarasvathy’s five principles of Effectuation through the eyes of expert entrepreneurs, illuminating how they overcome the obstacles people commonly face when they think about becoming an entrepreneur.

The course will explore the lived experiences of entrepreneurs around the world — people who have built for-profit, nonprofit, and other kinds of ventures. Students will learn from these expert entrepreneurs how to think and act effectually, to co-create new possibilities from things already within their control, and tackle uncertainty without having to predict the future.

Since first describing the five principles in a 2001 paper, Sarasvathy’s theory has taken root in academia and among entrepreneurs across the globe, and organizations such as the Society for Effectual Action continue to advance the theory through new avenues.

Sarasvathy received the 2022 Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research, and her theory recently reached a much younger audience upon the publication of the first two volumes in a series of children’s books on effectuation.

Launching on 24 October on the Coursera platform, the course is available to all learners around the world. Since the launch of the first course in 2013, more than 2.3 million learners have enrolled in MOOCs taught by Darden faculty members, and the School’s courses have been translated in six different languages.

Register now for Effectuation: Lessons From Expert Entrepreneurs.