Co-founder of Masterclass. Founder and CEO of Outlier.org. Aaron Rasmussen is most known for founding these two phenomenal EdTech companies but he is a very prolific builder who has successfully started and sold companies in the gaming, robotics, and consumer packaged goods industries. With Outlier.org, a company that creates beautifully shot online college courses, Aaron has for mission to create the world's best online college courses. The GV-backed company has been named as one of TIME's Best Inventions of 2020 for its work in making education accessible. Students enrolled in Outlier.org courses earn real, transferable college credit for $400, which is approximately one-sixth the cost of a traditional college course in the USA.
Aaron is a fascinating entrepreneur, inventor, — and artist with a huge TikTok following. In this episode, we talk about how he started Masterclass and Outlier, discuss the future of education, and could not help but ask about what he is doing on the popular social media platform with over 130k followers!
Topics
00:22 — Introduction with Cindy Yang
01:17 — Aaron Rasmussen’s background and beginnings into the entrepreneurial journey
03:34 — How Aaron ventured into the EdTech space
06:17 — The beginnings of Masterclass: How Masterclass managed to get access to high-level speakers as an early-stage company
10:23 — Fascinating things that Aaron has learned while building Masterclass
14:19 — Why Aaron left Masterclass
17:28 — How the idea of Outlier came about
19:30 — Outlier’s model for online education based on educational psychology
21:44 — Working with the University of Pittsburgh and their shared vision of making education more accessible
23:41 — How online classes work on Outlier
25:20 — Aaron on online vs. in-person education
29:58 — How Outlier finds the best teacher for each class
32:40 — Outlier’s long-term vision
36:67 — High-level thoughts on education: the university vs. the anti-university model, the purpose of education, and more.
42:29 — Aaron’s TikTok with 130k+ followers 👀
45:34 — Aaron’s advice for early-stage entrepreneurs
This episode is supported by TikTok, hosted and produced by Cindy Yang. Art is by Gaëtan Lefebvre.
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