The Growth Podcast How Maven Builds Product, and Whether You Should Take a Maven PM Course with Maven CEO Gagan Biyani
Oct 12, 2024
Gagan Biyani, co-founder and CEO of Maven, shares his journey from Udemy to leading a new wave of cohort-based learning. He discusses why many online courses struggle and how Maven’s approach offers a unique solution. Gagan dives into the exciting dynamics of product management, emphasizing the importance of hiring the right talent and continuous learning. He also reflects on Udemy's branding challenges and the strategies Maven uses to grow and engage instructors. Tune in for insights on building successful products in today's education landscape.
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Cohort Learning Is Evolving To Scale
- Cohort-based courses evolved from bespoke, high-cost offerings to scalable platform models that let specialists thrive.
- Maven automates operations and lets instructors keep 80–90% margins while focusing on audience and course quality.
Automate Operations; Expect Instructor Ownership
- Automate operations and require instructors to own the last 10–20% of their course delivery to make cohort businesses sustainable.
- Pivot away from full-service instructor ops when creators won’t pay operational costs and target experts willing to run some operations themselves.
Format Trumps Content Distribution
- Marketing and teaching are different skills, so courses that gain traction often excel at marketing but not instruction.
- Cohort-based formats restore accountability and raise engagement from ~5–15% to ~80–90%.