Embracing Curiosity and the Hero's Journey in Education

Sal Khan arrived at the idea for Khan Academy truly organically. While working at a hedge fund, he took time in the evenings to tutor a younger cousin in math over the phone. Soon, a family tutoring network was in place, and from there, it was only a few years before Sal realized that the kind of help he was giving his family could – and should – be made available to everyone for free, across disciplines and geographic locations. Today, Khan Academy has over 170 million users and is available in 50 languages in 190 countries.

To fully commit to his vision, he founded Khan Academy as a non-profit, providing advantages that companies focused on making money by any means necessary will never have. As you’ll hear, avoiding what he calls the “very strange” market forces around education has been one of the keys to Khan Academy’s ability to build deep trust and loyalty. 

It has also ensured a rare level of adaptability that has been especially important for Khan Academy’s role as a major early adopter of AI. Sal’s experiences with AI and education are widely applicable, as is his belief that we all have a duty to take a hand in shaping AI’s place in our world. Being open to new technology instead of fearing it can help us avoid the dystopian nightmares so many people have predicted are imminent. Equally important is his commitment to balance in all things, including salary and work-life choices not just for himself, but all Khan Academy employees. As he puts it, “Having a life can make you a better leader, thinker, and decision-maker.” His story, which has many chapters yet to come, shows that being a mission-controlled organization is no barrier to success in every sense. 

Other topics we touched on include:

• Having a long-term vision for education

• Creating value as a non-profit

• His skepticism about non-profits

• Why he believes in remote work

• The early results of Khan Academy’s AI integration

• The power of knowing what you want your life to stand for

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Where to find Sal Khan:

• X: @salkhanacademy

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/khanacademy/

Where to find Eric:

• Newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ericries.carrd.co/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

• Podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ericriesshow.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

• YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@theericriesshow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

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In This Episode We Cover:

(04:24) Why Sal founded Khan Academy as a non-profit

(06:10) How his day job as a hedge fund analyst made him think longer-term

(09:26) How turning down venture capital has put Khan Academy in a better position for growth 

(11:24) Creating value as a non-profit

(12:54) How nonprofits can fill in for government in education and healthcare

(13:30) Sal’s skepticism about non-profits

(16:01) The social return on investment framework 

(18:22) Khan Academy by the numbers

(21:19) On making enough money and taking a risk to pursue a dream

(22:17) The counter-intuitive hiring benefits of being a non-profit

(27:46) Khan Academy as a leader in AI and education

(30:05) Khan Academy’s top fears around adopting AI 

(32:36) How being trustworthy led to early GPT-4 access

(34:04) Khan Academy’s AI experiments and results so far with Khanmigo

(36:55) Sal’s hopes for AI and special needs education

(38:52) Sal’s new book, Brave New Words

(41:51) AI as an amplifier of human intent

(43:38) The necessity of using technologies and tools we’re afraid of

(44:45) Balancing material needs and self-fulfillment

(48:20) Why Khan Academy has gone to fully remote work

(53:18) Lightning round!

You can find the transcript and references at https://www.ericriesshow.com/sal-khan/

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Eric may be an investor in the companies discussed.