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Free Online Course

Join people around the world who want to learn how to start and grow a business.

Join users worldwide

Take Starter U - our free online course on how to start, run and grow a business.

Start & Grow a Business

Hear from expert entrepreneurs who have led some of the nation's most successful companies.

Learn from the best.

The Brian Hamilton Foundation Starter U: How to Start and Grow a Business is a free, self-paced online course teaching everything you need to know to start, run, and grow a business. Whether you live in Portland, Oregon or Portland, Maine, work 3rd shift or 1st shift, this course is designed to give you, the entrepreneur, the flexibility to learn according to your schedule.

Get Started

"Starter U was a very useful tool for me even though I have been in business for years and have multiple degrees from UNC, including one in Economics. I am so pleased to say I took the classes because of the high caliber individuals involved. So happy with it so far. I know that this will be a valuable resource even in the near future."

Turtle H. Durham, NC

"I am a start-up specialist, working with new owners (many of them new businesspeople) opening new locations or purchasing existing ones. Many of them have no idea what it will take to run a business, thinking they can devote part-time effort and receive full-time compensation. I have been sharing Starter U with all my new non-business owners and it has been well-received. I found many of the cautionary stories to be very accurate, which I liked. Starting a new business is not for the faint of heart!"

SUSAN S. Los Angeles, CA

"I would highly recommend the Starter U course to anyone, especially formerly incarcerated people, to create better opportunities for themselves through entrepreneurship. I am grateful I took the course and it has helped change my life for the better. Thank you guys so much for Starter U."

CORY H. Richmond, VA

What will you learn?

This program represents decades of entrepreneurship experience. When asked what information is absolutely necessary to start a business tomorrow, everyone agreed on the following:

Welcome
Syllabus
Course Instructors
Special Thanks

What is an Entrepreneur? What is Required to be One?
Reasons to Start a Business
Obstacles & Roadblocks - Why Businesses Fail
How to Come Up with a Business Idea
Launch Considerations and To-Do Items
How to Get Your First Customer

Hiring
Financing
How to Know if You Should Expand
Legal Infastructure
Money Management
Sifting Through Buying Things
Getting and Using Customer Feedback
Getting and Using Employee Feedback

Accounting and Finance
Branding Your Business
Marketing
Sales
Customer Service and Success
Legal
HR & Managing People

In Summary
Additional Stories
Credits

Get Started
Instructor portrait

Meet your instructor.

Starter U is taught by Brian Hamilton, the founder of Sageworks (now
Abrigo), one of the world’s first fintech companies. Under his leadership,
Sageworks became a market-defining platform used by thousands of
financial institutions to assess and manage risk and millions of small
business owners to understand their financial information.

 

Hamilton is also the founder of both the Brian Hamilton Foundation and
Inmates to Entrepreneurs, an international nonprofit that provides training
to help formerly incarcerated individuals start low-capital businesses. The
program—the largest and longest-running of its kind—has equipped
thousands of people with practical tools to build stable livelihoods and
reintegrate into their communities. Hamilton expanded this mission as the
star of the award-winning ABC television show “Free Enterprise.”

 

Across all of his ventures, Hamilton has focused on expanding access to
economic opportunity through entrepreneurship and technology—an
ethos rooted in his own story. Raised in a working-class neighborhood
near Bridgeport, Connecticut, he experienced the challenges of economic
disadvantage firsthand. He launched a small landscaping business as a
kid, ultimately earning enough to become the first in his family to attend
college. This personal journey continues to shape his work at LiveSwitch,
the world-leading communications platform for small businesses and
entrepreneurs.

Frequently asked questions.

Across all of his ventures, Hamilton has focused on expanding access to
economic opportunity through entrepreneurship and technology—an
ethos rooted in his own story. 

Across all of his ventures, Hamilton has focused on expanding access to
economic opportunity through entrepreneurship and technology—an
ethos rooted in his own story. 

Across all of his ventures, Hamilton has focused on expanding access to
economic opportunity through entrepreneurship and technology—an
ethos rooted in his own story. 

Across all of his ventures, Hamilton has focused on expanding access to
economic opportunity through entrepreneurship and technology—an
ethos rooted in his own story. 

Across all of his ventures, Hamilton has focused on expanding access to
economic opportunity through entrepreneurship and technology—an
ethos rooted in his own story. 

Across all of his ventures, Hamilton has focused on expanding access to
economic opportunity through entrepreneurship and technology—an
ethos rooted in his own story. 

Across all of his ventures, Hamilton has focused on expanding access to
economic opportunity through entrepreneurship and technology—an
ethos rooted in his own story. 

Join 35,000+ learners.

Get Started

Dream big. Start here.

Business ownership is the most reliable way for people to work themselves up to where they want to be from
where they are today. Get started today with Starter U.

Get Started

BHF


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info@brianhamilton.org

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