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