Gagan is the co-founder & former President of Udemy, an online education company that's worth more than $2bil.

He later co-founded Sprig, a food delivery startup & went on to become the interim head of growth marketing at Lyft.

Gagan recently announced a new education startup with Wes Kao. They've raised $4.3mil from investors like First Round Capital, Naval Ravikant & Li Jin.

Let us know what you think on Twitter:

@bzaidi @gaganbiyani

Watch the full interview on YouTube: https://youtu.be/IifuGSaEkkU

In this conversation, we discuss:

lessons in building Udemy + Sprig, from high-highs to low-lows
why cohort-based courses will play a major role in the future of online education
what it was like being fired by a co-founder
the impact of financial struggles & the unique pressure of being the child of immigrants
perspective gained from traveling to all 7 continents

Timestamps:

00:00:00 Intro
00:02:47 Who is Gagan Biyani?
00:05:20 Udemy Origin Story
00:10:54 Starting Up a Business When You Have A Work Visa
00:12:57 Setting A Timeline
00:16:54 Parental Pressure + Traditional Careers
00:20:53 Struggles
00:26:54 How Do You React To Financial Troubles?
00:29:27 Living Within Your Means
00:30:34 Being Content
00:33:27 Getting Fired By A Co-Founder
00:42:20 The Rise & Fall of Sprig
00:44:05 Chamath: "You're Going to Fail"
00:50:07 Failure + Cognitive Dissonance
00:52:40 3 Years of Travel
00:57:20 Finding Hidden Gems
00:59:24 Figuring Out What's Next
01:00:59 Naval's Advice
01:04:51 Evaluating Business Ideas
01:07:28 Gagan's New Startup: Cohort-Based Courses
01:13:37 Opportunities In Online Education
01:17:29 Formats That Work Best
01:21:19 Wrap-Up

Gagan Biyani, Udemy // Lessons From Building An Education Unicorn + The Future Of Online Learning