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
