• The ability to understand and make informed business decisions.
• The ability to discuss the financial performance of any company or investment.
• A CSR certification to enhance your academic and labor credentials.
• The program is designed to foster networking, peer collaboration, and engagement with global executives and mentors.

• Participants with little or no knowledge of finance, who want to be exposed to world-class instruction and speakers, and learn how to raise capital or lead a profitable business.
• Experienced professionals.
• Those seeking to reenter the workforce.
• Young students eager to learn.
• Those curious about what a graduate university class is like.

This program is split into 2 parts. The first one contains 7 sessions about “How to Make Money”. In the second part, for those interested in Corporate Social Responsibility, students get to pick 1 of four tracks.

Part I. Finance Masterclass. How to Make Money

1. Market research and how to find financial information. For Free
Why did you pick this class? Reputation? Cost? Referral? That is the first question I ask students. That’s what market research is. How can you make financial research, for free, using the best tools the most sophisticated investors have? How do you become a shareholder? How much does it cost? How do you ask questions that make a difference.

2. Headcount and why firms hire contractors Nowadays, services are the main economic activity. Even if you produce cosmetics, your highest cost is people, not making the skincare cream. For Google, Facebook, or the place where you get your hair cut, people, is the key ingredient. And yet we don’t teach that in school, maybe in HR, but definitely not in marketing, or finance. That is the first thing I teach my students.
Join me to learn

• Why do firms hire contractors?
• Why do contractors prefer working as contractors?
• How much should you be paid as a contractor?
• How companies use headcount
• What is Productivity? Why are folks with no education 1,000 less likely to lose your luggage than American Airlines?
• Full-Time Equivalents, explaining to your boss you have 1, not 4 employees
• Restructuring before Covid
• Should we pay severance in the United States?
• Headcount Assignment. How to calculate how many people you need on your team and persuade your company to approve it.

3. Inflation and Pricing
Inflation and Pricing. If inflation was 6% and you got a 3% salary increase, did you really get a salary increase? In New York salaries are 56% higher than in El Paso, Texas. Should we sell our products at the same price. Let’s learn about inflation and pricing.

• Inflation. Impact on salaries and business profitability
• Natonal Pricing. Salaries are 56% higher in New York. Should we sell at the same price?
• Global Pricing. In Russia, a Big Mac costs 70% less, but an Iphone costs the same. Linkedin Premium is 60% cheaper in Brazil, for the exact same product.
• Why pricing matters. To increase profitability by the same amount, would you fire ½ of the team or increase prices by 4%?
• Doing a price increase and explaining it to clients.

4. Profit and Loss. How to read it and use it. A profit and loss, or income statement. What can you use it for as an investor, employee, or business owner? How do you read a Profit & Loss? How do you make a Profit & Loss? Let’s learn a super-easy way to read any P&L, from any company, in any industry, and make sense of it.

• Why would you want to do a Profit & Loss (P&L)?
• How to read any P&L from any company.
• The P&Ls of Apple, Estee Lauder, IBM, and Disney.
• What to do if your CEO or a bank asks you to prepare a P&L.
• The P&L of Jenny, the student who runs a shoe business on the side.
• Why are financial statements so boring? and how to fix them.

5. Balance Sheet. How to read it and use it.
A Balance Sheet. What is that? How can you use a Balance Sheet as an investor, employee, or business owner? Let’s learn a super-easy way to read any Balance Sheet, from any company, in any industry, and make sense of it.

• How to read any Balance Sheet, from any company.
• Why is inventory higher at Estee Lauder, and Fixed Assets higher at Disney?
• Would you prioritize new clients, or old clients if you don’t have enough products to sell?

6. Foreign Exchange and Sales growth
What is foreign exchange? If the impact is seven times greater than inflation, why don’t most executives understand it? Let’s learn how foreign exchange ruined the present Luis was going to get his girlfriend, Jenny. As well as how Jenny was able to reduce her cost, thanks to foreign exchange. We will also learn how to buy and sell, to eliminate foreign exchange risk.

• How to solve foreign exchange risk.
• How foreign exchange ruined Luis’ Valentine’s day gift for Jenny.
• Foreign exchange is 7 times more important than inflation. Many executives are unaware of it.
• Explaining sales growth by drivers (tip, I know how to read myself. Tell me something I don’t know)
• Revenue Drivers - Quantity and Value

Why did sales increase? Saying “sales grew 10%” is not good enough. People know how to read themselves. Let’s learn how to explain management, investors and ourselves, why sales grew so that we can make better decisions.

• Explaining sales growth by drivers: market growth, market share gains, pricing, acquisitions, new product launches
• Revenue Drivers – Quantity, Value

7. How to become a millionaire saving $4 a day.
How can we become millionaires by saving $4/day? Should we invest in a pension plan? Should we buy an apartment? By a car or use Uber? Buy a washing machine or take it to the laundry? Buy a $500 espresso machine or go to Starbucks? Let’s learn about compound interest, 401K and pension plans, return on investment, payback, break-even, and net present value. We will use real-life examples and learn how to evaluate all these and any financial calculations. You won’t need a calculator

• Compounded interest ->How to become a millionaire saving $4/day
• ROI for an apartment and the S&P 500
• Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI)
• Break-even for an espresso machine. Should you buy a car or use Uber?
• Payback. Should you buy a washing machine?
• Net Present Value (NPV). Should you invest in stocks, real estate, do a masters?

Part II. Understanding why CSR, financial data, AI & more are good for business.

Elective tracks to focus on. After the seven sessions, students focus on one of the following areas, and create a business solution for it.

1. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Can you make money with sustainability? How would you calculate it? Can your business or idea become CSR certified? How can you attract investors by making your business or idea CSR compliant? Learn how to attract more customers, drive profitable growth, and become a benchmark to others on why CSR is good for business and the world.
2. Marketing & Innovation Have an idea for a start-up to improve how we make, buy, or sell products and services? Want to persuade your boss your marketing strategy is solid through financial metrics? Unsure how to calculate the market size of your idea or how to test it? Learn how to understand consumer needs and deliver an integrated marketing strategy. Experience how to leverage best processes from global companies. We will study at least 4 best in class consumer packaged goods companies (CPG). Learn why small businesses and start-ups beat CPGs at speed to market.
3. Artificial intelligence Have an idea for a start-up that uses AI to improve how we make, buy, or sell products and services? Want to persuade your boss or investors your strategy is solid using financial metrics? Curious how you can benefit from research and leverage where others have failed? Learn how to unleash the potential of AI for your business idea.
4.  Business Transformation Want to change how people do things? Have an idea for a start-up to improve how we make, buy, or sell products and services? Are you curious about how to implement new technologies, AI, Hybrid Cloud, SAP, NetSuite? Wonder about outsourcing? Learn how to use metrics to quantify the benefits of working from home to leverage talent. Learn a best-practice methodology for change management and business transformation. This track allows students to learn how to implement their own generated ideas.