Coursera Growth Playbook

Andrew Ng wanted to put Stanford AI course online.

Credential-Driven Prestige Distribution: Coursera tacticaly successfully productized 'University Authority'. Their growth engine is the 'University Partnership'—acting as the digital infrastructure for Yale, Stanford, and Google. By focusing on high-value, career-advancement certificates rather than just 'skills', they appealed to the user's desire for resume-building social proof. This 'Brand-as-a-Service' model allowed Coursera to piggyback on the centuries of trust built by Ivy League institutions, making them the default choice for global professionals seeking credible online degrees.