MBA ASAP Corporate Finance Fundamentals for Career Success

Corporate Finance is the Tools and Techniques of how Companies Make Decisions about what Projects to Pursue, and how to Value those Projects.

•   Read and Analyze Financial Statements

• Time Value of Money  

• Present Value and Future Value  

• Net Present Value  

• Internal Rate of Return   

The smartest people invest heavily in their education and skill development, recognizing that their human capital is their most marketable resource.
Skills are the most valuable thing you can acquire in this lifetime because they keep compounding until the day you die.

invest in Yourself

“Whatever abilities you have can't be taken away from you,” says Warren Buffett, “The best investment by far is anything that develops yourself, and it's not taxed at all.”

While this isn’t a traditional investment tip, Buffett firmly believes that by regularly investing in knowledge and self-improvement, you yourself become an asset and can more easily access opportunities for growing your wealth.

Real confidence isn’t about feeling good—it’s about being good. Instead of chasing the elusive feeling, chase skills, build knowledge, and do the work.

I have just completed this course on Corporate Finance through Udemy and like MBA-ASAP I found the content to be extremely relevant. It is delivered in a clear manner which made the subject easy to understand. I had little very little corporate finance knowledge before the course and know I feel confident with reading financial documents and interpreting the stock-market. I would recommend this course to anyone looking to learn about corporate finance as its a great introduction with many valuable resources/ It would suit a person with a non finance background or someone who is looking to refresh their knowledge. John Cousins makes learning simple and the topics are easy to understand and have recently been updated. Excellent value for money and the videos are high quality and easy to watch. I also recommend MBA ASAP as an excellent resource for updating/learning new business skills.

Andrew Windebank

Can you truly run a business without a deep understanding of your financial numbers? The answer is a resounding no. Let's explore the potential pitfalls of this approach...

Imagine your business as a competitive sports team. Just as a coach needs to understand each player's strengths and the dynamics of the game to win, mastering your financial numbers is essential for driving your business to victory.

With my expertise in business and mathematics, I'm here to guide you in developing a winning financial strategy. Together, we'll unravel the intricacies of your finances, empowering you to make confident, informed decisions that drive your business forward.

Ready to make the leap?

Critical Strategies for Leveraging Financial Insights:

- Demystify Your Revenue Streams: Gain a precise understanding of how your business earns profit, much like knowing the strengths and weaknesses of your team. This knowledge of revenue inflows and associated costs will enhance profitability and operational efficiency.

- Focus on Gross Profit: Recognize that gross profit is more than a number; it's the backbone of your business, supporting all other activities and facilitating future planning and investments, just as a strong defense supports a winning team.

- Smart Allocation of Budgets: Use your understanding of gross profit to allocate funds to critical expenses like rent and payroll intelligently, ensuring they support rather than hinder your growth. It's like strategizing your resources to strengthen the key players in your team.

- Strategic Marketing Investment: Learn the art of budgeting for marketing. Determine the optimal amount to invest in attracting new customers, which is crucial for expanding your market reach without compromising operational funds, similar to how a coach invests in training to improve the team's performance.

- Utilize Numbers to Propel Growth: Move beyond maintenance; use financial insights strategically to drive your business to new heights. Armed with this knowledge, you'll make informed decisions that enhance growth and enable seizing new opportunities, much like a coach uses game statistics to refine strategies and achieve victories.

Let's use these insights to sustain and significantly amplify our business success. Let's win together!

Without understanding Finance you will struggle as a leader.

Updated with Python coding exercises!

Incorporating Python into finance education equips students with a practical skill set that complements their theoretical knowledge, making them well-rounded professionals ready to tackle modern financial challenges.

Develop theories about asset prices that are informed by real-world financial and economic relationships, and then rigorously test them.

Accounting is the language of business.

The better you speak that language, the better you’ll be able to communicate with the locals.

Online education is an investment, not an expense. Invest in yourself.  

If you want to get further than you’ve ever gone before you need to be willing to learn like never before.

personal and professional development. One habit I picked up from my rich colleagues — or perhaps I had it all along, but they incentivized it — is to constantly explore ways to gain new skills, or strengthen existing skills.

Adapt, innovate, and acquire new skills to thrive in an increasingly competitive and technologically driven world.

The measure of self-motivation in a person is the best predictor of upward mobility.

Helping others to solve the puzzle. Finance is a tool. I'll give you the hammer, you decide where to drive the nail.

I take complex ideas and make them simple enough for a 5th grader to understand.

For the first time, those who can educate and motivate themselves will be almost entirely free to invent their own work and realize the full benefits of their own productivity.

Everyone should learn at least one new skill every year, otherwise you’re going backwards.

Skill Stack = Net Worth

Investor’s Edge: This course also sharpens your investing acumen, enabling you to make informed decisions by understanding the intricate ties between market dynamics and corporate health. It’s an approach designed for managers and those looking to become savvy investors, providing the knowledge to assess potential, risk, and reward with the insight of a seasoned financial strategist.

I have added lots of quick quizzes to test your comprehension along the way.

Practice with struggle > practice without struggle.

An example is a study of two groups of students. Group A studied a paper for 4 days. Group B studied it for 1 day and was tested on it for 3 days.

At the final test, Group B scored 50% more than Group A.
Why?

With every test, group B struggled. And that targeted struggle made them acquire more knowledge in the same amount of time.

This is about self motivation and the measure of self-motivation in a person is the best predictor of upward mobility. Congratulations you have it.

‘Nuff said. Let’s get started!

Testimonial from recent student:

The MBA ASAP Corporate Finance Fundamentals course sets you up for success. I have been working in the financial services industry for 2+ years and this really helped me understand the things I don't encounter on the day to day (but should know about). This is a fantastic course to understand the fundamentals of finance. John is an engaging presenter; he speaks encouragingly to the viewer/student and observing him in a classroom setting makes this learning feel like hybrid. A very engaging course, which I will be recommending to my colleagues! Thank you, John!

I was looking for a whole overview course as opposed to the shorter more specialized learnings. I am delighted I chose your course! Hopefully many students will decide to take this course!

Thanks again for everything John! Best of luck with all your future students, they will benefit from this course!

- Kim

“The first half of my life I went to school. The second half of my life I got an education” — Mark Twain

Don't let lack of financial intelligence stop you from getting ahead.

"It is a 5-star course by any means. Contents, way of communication and pace is so much easy that even Non Finance guys can understand easily."   Asad

Financial Intelligence for Entrepreneurs (and other non-financial types)

Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits!

This is the course you pick when you don’t want to waste your time and want the best.

Learn how to raise money and invest it wisely. Learn how to analyze and value companies and income producing assets. Make better business decisions and support them with financial analysis and rationale.    

This course includes the eBook version of MBA ASAP Corporate Finance, voted best Corporate Finance book of all time by BookAuthority.

Corporate Finance is the Tools and Techniques of how Companies Make Decisions about what Projects to Pursue, and how to Value those Projects.

• Time Value of Money  

• Present Value and Future Value  

• Net Present Value  

• Internal Rate of Return   

Ever wonder how the top executives at your company got there and what they think about?

This course provides a framework for how financial professionals make decisions about how, when, and where to invest money. Corporate Finance comprises a set of skills that interact with all the aspects of running a business. It is also extremely helpful in our personal lives when making decisions about buying or leasing, borrowing money, and making big purchases. It provides analytic tools to think about getting, spending, and saving.

The tax law is a series of incentives for entrepreneurs and investors.

The tax laws favor entrepreneurs and investors. That’s because entrepreneurs and investors generally put money into the economy to produce rather than consume.

But, paying taxes is less expensive than failing at business. Be sure to get educated before you begin.

Start acting like an entrepreneur or an investor. That means the first thing you need to do is to increase your financial intelligence by investing in financial education.      

Content and Overview       

We will explore the time value of money and develop a set of tools for making good financial decisions, tools like Net Present Value and Internal Rate of Return.  We will explore the trade off between risk and return, and how to value income producing assets.       

Valuation of companies and assets can seem mysterious. Where do you even begin? How can you value a startup that doesn’t even have any revenues yet? You will gain confidence in your knowledge and understanding of these concepts.   

The tools of corporate finance will help you as a manager or business owner to evaluate performance and make smart decisions about the value of opportunities and which to pursue.  An understanding of Corporate Finance is essential for the professional manager in order to meaningfully discuss issues with colleagues and upper management. You need to be versed in this subject in order to climb any corporate ladder. Get started understanding corporate finance today.        

This course is based on my best selling book MBA ASAP Understanding Corporate Finance. Here are some reviews:   

I am a big fan of your books, which make all these difficult topics really easy to understand. This is excellent work.   Adnan   

After reading John Cousins' book I was finally able to understand a subject that has been, for me, very foreign and intimidating. He makes the topic of corporate finance accessible to people like me who need the knowledge but easily get lost "in the weeds". Clear and very easy to digest and apply!  Lizabeth   

Having read the ’10 minutes to understanding Corporate Finance’ I can honestly say that it comprises a well-structured and straightforward presentation of the core elements of corporate finance. Nikolaos   Learn:

· What Is an Asset?

· Profit

· Profit Margin

· Valuation

· Cash Flow Statement

· Income Statement

· Balance Sheet

· Financial Ratios

· Cost-Benefit Analysis

· Lifetime Value

· Overhead

· Costs: Fixed and Variable

· Breakeven

· Amortization

· Depreciation

· Time Value of Money

· Compounding

· Leverage

· Bootstrapping

· Return on Investment (ROI)

· Sunk Costs

· Internal Controls

And much, much more!   

Knowing finance is power.

Perhaps the most fundamental atomic unit of business is the asset. Understanding what an asset is, why it matters, and why investors paradoxically like asset-light businesses is critical to career success. This is the way I wish I was taught finance!

I encourage you to take this course. But if you decide not to, please take another class, or read a book.

To know what you don’t know is power. To ask and learn what you don’t know is a superpower.

Investing in learning makes you better at earning.