The MBA, without the business school
Learn the whole MBA by doing it.
Everything business school teaches, and everything you need before it, explained in plain words. Run live business models, make real decisions and watch what happens. No lectures, no $150,000 tuition.
🎮 Try it: you run a coffee cart
Profitable! Now find the price that makes the most. That's lesson 1 of pricing.
How every lesson works
You learn it like a game, then use it at work
Six short steps, the same in every lesson. You'll be moving things around within a minute.
1. Situation
Every lesson opens with a real business moment. You're the one who has to decide.
2. Play
Move sliders, run a simulation, watch profit and cash react. Discover the idea yourself.
3. Name it
Then the real term, framework or formula, still in plain words.
4. Do it
Calculate, build and decide, with instant feedback and hints.
5. Case
A tougher real-world decision. See what your choice leads to, then the expert debrief.
6. Use it Monday
One thing to try at work this week, so it sticks.
Who it's for
For anyone who wants to understand business
New managers
You got promoted for being great at your job. Now you need budgets, people, strategy and the language of the leadership meeting.
Founders and owners
Pricing, cash flow, hiring, fundraising: learn it on a simulated business before you learn it the expensive way on yours.
People switching into business
Engineers, doctors, designers, teachers. Bring your expertise and add the business half, without two years off work.
Future MBA students
Walk in on day one already fluent in accounting, finance and statistics, the subjects schools expect you to know.
What top business schools require
Every core subject, in one place
We studied the required first-year courses at six of the world's top business schools. Every subject they all teach is in our curriculum, taught in order, starting from zero.
See every course →- Financial & managerial accounting
- Corporate finance & valuation
- Microeconomics & macroeconomics
- Data, statistics & decision models
- Marketing
- Operations & supply chain
- Strategy
- Leadership, teams & organizations
- Negotiation
- Entrepreneurship
- Ethics, governance & the purpose of business
- Data science & AI for leaders
The curriculum
From “what is profit?” to boardroom-ready
24 courses in order. 2 lessons are ready today, and new ones are added in batches.
Before the MBA
The MBA Core
Electives
Capstone
VIP membership
The whole MBA for $49 a year
That's under $1 a week. Try the first lessons free, then unlock everything with one yearly payment, and keep your price for as long as you stay.
Free
- The first 2 lessons of every course
- Live business models you can play with
- Hands-on tasks and quizzes in those lessons
- Progress, levels and streaks
⭐ VIP membership
- Everything in Free, plus:
- Every lesson of the MBA core (1 course so far, more being added)
- 2 interactive business cases where you make the call
- Live business models and simulations in every lesson
- Your price never goes up while you stay a member
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What learning business usually costs
| A full-time MBA · two years of tuition at a top school, before living costs | $150,000+ |
| Coursera Plus · Video courses from universities | $399/yr |
| Corporate Finance Institute · Finance courses | $497/yr |
| Section · Business courses for managers | $995/yr |
| HBS Online CORe · 3 pre-MBA courses, one time | $2799 |
| Crayon MBA VIP · pre-MBA + the MBA core, learn by doing | $49/yr |
List prices checked October 2026 (sources: Coursera Plus, Corporate Finance Institute, Section, HBS Online CORe). Prices change, so check their sites. Crayon MBA is not a degree and gives no certificate: you get the knowledge itself.
Questions? Answered.
Do I get a degree or a certificate?
No, and that's on purpose. Crayon MBA gives you the knowledge itself: how businesses make money, how to read the numbers, how to price, decide, lead and negotiate. Use it to run your business, lead your team, or walk into an MBA already ahead.
How is this different from watching online courses?
You don't watch, you do. Every lesson has a live model or simulation you play with, tasks you solve, and a business case where you make the call and see what happens. Learning by doing is how business schools teach too: they call it the case method.
Does it really cover a whole MBA?
We studied the required first-year courses at six of the world's top business schools and mapped every subject into our curriculum, plus the basics schools expect before you arrive. Courses are released in order; the course list shows exactly what's ready today and what's coming.
Do I need a business or math background?
No. We start from what a business is and build up. If you can do percentages (we'll refresh those too), you can do this.
How much time does it take?
Lessons take 10–15 minutes. One a day gets you through the foundations in a couple of months.
What's free?
The first 2 lessons of every course, no signup needed. VIP membership ($49 a year) unlocks every MBA lesson, case and simulation.
Can I cancel?
Anytime, from your dashboard, in two clicks. And there's a 14-day money-back guarantee if it's not for you.
Want to learn computer science too? Our sister site Crayon CS teaches the full CS curriculum, explained simply.