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Creator Lab - interviews with entrepreneurs and startup founders

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

Jan 21, 2021
01:23:24

Episode guests

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

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