Monetization

This course examines the fundamental issues of creating a strategy for monetization and revenue growth within an organization. Students learn about setting an organization's business model design, aligning various functional areas within the company to implement a monetization strategy, and the tradeoffs that occur when choosing amongst profitable monetization policies for the firm. They master concepts, frameworks, and tools to assess an industry and a firm's pricing strategy and business models, and to craft alternatives. They also study the interplay between marketing and sales, advertising and data and analytics in shaping a winning monetization policy. Topics we will cover include monetizing online content and strategies in ad-driven industries, understanding freemium models and installed-base competition, monetization of consumer data, SaaS models and enterprise business, business models from the perspective of investors and venture capitalists, regulatory considerations, and linking monetization to the ability to measure and capture value. We will use a mix of cases and lectures along with extensive participation from industry leaders to bring to light the various issues in class. There is a bias towards technology-driven markets.