Cross posted from the Google Australia blog

Accounting, consultancy and laws firms have long had summer programs which help young people get a sense for what it would be like to pursue those career paths. But it hasn’t been easy for aspiring entrepreneurs in Australia to get a feel for what it’s like to do their first tech startup.

That’s why General Assembly and Google Australia have teamed up to offer Introduction to Startup Entrepreneurship, a free 8-week online summer school that will cover topics like how to develop an idea, design and branding, working with developers and marketing for startups. The program will also run weekly Google+ Hangouts to allow face-to-face interaction with course instructors.

Ten of the participants who complete the program and have worked to develop their ideas will be selected by General Assembly to attend a two-day boot camp at Google Sydney in March to further their entrepreneurial skills.

We hope this program will encourage more young Australians to follow their entrepreneurial passions, and contribute to Australia’s economic growth in the process. Tech startups have the potential to contribute over $109 billion of GDP and add half a million jobs by 2033, but to unlock this potential, we need more Australians to get amongst it!

The course begins on January 6, 2014. Click here to enrol now.

Posted by Alan Noble, Engineering Director for Google Australia