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The High Cost of College Degrees and the Declining ROI
In this chapter, the speakers discuss the high cost of college degrees and the declining return on investment. They compare the college experience at Berkeley to their own experience at Maven and explain the challenges of creating alternatives to the university system.
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Today’s show:
Maven Co-Founder and CEO Gagan Biyani joins Jason to break down his startup's live, cohort-based education model (2:28). Then, Gagan dives into his past journeys at Udemy, where he was eventually fired but wound up revolutionizing online learning and going public (35:08), and Sprig, a food-delivery startup that went on to raise $60M and scale to $20M in revenue, but ultimately failed (47:36).
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Time stamps:
(0:00) Gagan Biyani, CEO of Maven, joins Jason to discuss the future of online learning.
(2:24) Maven: the evolution of online learning.
(3:23) Exploring Maven's elite courses offered by a diverse pool of passionate professionals.
(6:57) Analyzing who is leveraging Maven for education and the cost dynamics of online learning.
(10:30) Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://www.vanta.com/twist
(11:36) How Maven's live cohort-based learning emphasizes accountability and interactivity for higher success rates.
(13:15) Comparing the outdated cost structures of traditional education with modern alternatives.
(23:10) Embroker - Use code TWIST to get an extra 10% off insurance at https://www.Embroker.com/twist
(26:31) Unveiling the potential earnings for educators in the online learning marketplace.
28:27) The online educational landscape featuring insights on Coursera, Udemy, and others.
(30:56) Brave - Try the Brave Search API at http://www.brave.com/jason
(33:40) Jason built the “pit” at TechCrunch50, where he and Gagan first met.
(35:08) How Udemy's early days were shaped by the Founder Institute and Adeo Ressi.
(41:28) Gagan shares his personal story of being fired from Udemy and his lessons learned.
(47:33) The trials, tribulations, and ultimate closure of the food delivery startup, Sprig.
(53:39) Discussing the most effective methods for scaling and growing a product.
(55:02) The world of fundraising and understanding the power law in venture capital.
Check out Maven: https://www.maven.com
Follow Gagan:
https://twitter.com/gaganbiyani
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaganbiyani * Read LAUNCH Fund 4 Deal Memo: https://www.launch.co/fourApply for Funding: https://www.launch.co/applyBuy ANGEL: https://www.angelthebook.com
Great 2023 interviews: Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland
Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis
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Follow Jason:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jason
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jason
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis
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Follow TWiST:
Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin
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Subscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.founder.university/podcast
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