00:02record uh just so we can share it later
00:04with people who could attend uh but I'm
00:07so excited about this uh first because
00:09all of you are rock stars and I'm so
00:12glad you get to uh meet each other um
00:15but also like I was thinking about it
00:17just a few minutes ago I think Raj it
00:19deserves the credit as like probably the
00:24fellow uh because we basically met on
00:27Twitter like when we had
00:30hadn't even started the newsletter like
00:32it was very very very early days so um
00:36I'm excited for all of you to meet and
00:38the topic of today is going to be um
00:41getting people to give a [ __ ] about your
00:43product and it's something we uh talked
00:45about in the most recent Fellowship
00:47under this name of like your startup as
00:49a movement um and Raj has been kind of
00:52digging into uh some of these resources
00:54and he's going to share a little bit
00:56about his experience building stoa
00:58school which is what he's doing now and
01:00how he went about doing it and some of
01:02the stuff he's used um on social media
01:05to to get people to give a [ __ ] so um
01:09since we're a pretty small group I think
01:10we can just kind of all introduce
01:11ourselves so we know who's in the room
01:13and maybe just like a 30 second intro
01:15like or 20 seconds like um name um what
01:20where you're joining from um I guess
01:24what you do and maybe just like the
01:26highlight of your week so far um and
01:30I'll go first I'll just say Alberto
01:32joining from rural Spain um just the
01:36side of Madrid um I run transcend and
01:39you all know what it is and highlight of
01:46um I'm having two friends come over to
01:49this house over the weekend and they
01:50just told me yesterday and they're
01:52bringing all of their music instruments
01:54so we're going to be jamming the whole
01:56weekend so that's that's it and I'm
01:59going to pass it on to um
02:03Wes cool uh hi all my name is Wes uh I
02:07am currently in Caramel Indiana in the
02:10states which is just around Indianapolis
02:12Indiana um highlight of my week I think
02:15was just catching up for an hour with a
02:18a very very very close friend uh I've
02:21been living solo and I think during the
02:22week with the gray I get pretty pretty
02:25down so that was really nice and then uh
02:30uh I joined transcenders the
02:32the uh forget the forget which cohort
02:37exactly summer yeah it was the summer
02:39One Summer 20 summer yeah yeah because I
02:41I I think in numbers but yeah it's
02:44anyway the summer cohort um was working
02:46on like um a an API for income share
02:50agreements recently ended that uh and
02:52now I'm pivoting and working on
02:53infrastructure for for learning networks
02:55similar to transcend so that's what I'm
02:58to and do you want to pass it on someone
03:02yes um let's go beneath me is uh is it
03:08rhm yeah um hi I'm WM I'm the co-founder
03:13and CEO of cluster we are platform for
03:16cohort-based U courses um and live group
03:21experiences uh I was in the LA latest
03:24transcend cohort along with a few other
03:28here um highlight of the week it's been
03:31a pretty tough week it's hard to
03:33find good well we launched our uh yeah
03:37it's it's a good thing uh we launched
03:40our uh four-week free program for new
03:43creators so far it's been getting pretty
03:46good traction um so yeah that's that's
03:52week thanks Alberto shout out uh Ollie
03:57next hello my name is Ollie or Oliver uh
04:01I am messaging in from my bed uh in
04:05London and I run a startup called uni
04:08rise where we're trying to dismantle
04:11educational inequality in the UK by
04:13having any student from any background
04:15getting to top universities and
04:17hopefully soon to be head teacher of a
04:20new school that we're trying to build
04:21but it's proving difficult with the UK
04:23government liking paperwork um and the
04:27highlight of my week uh was
04:30um on Tuesday I had like first band
04:33practice in ages super fun just jamming
04:36with friends and like playing music and
04:37like we're gonna like record stuff and
04:39we've got yeah lots of cool stuff so
04:41Alberto we need to do like a remote Jam
04:46soon I will pass it on
04:53Ry all right hi um I am so the question
04:57was uh what company uh and and what
04:59highlight okay uh so K20 Educators we're
05:03starting a social network for Global
05:05Educators um and we're launching by uh
05:07creating an unconference that's a a
05:09virtual gamified conference um and it's
05:12going to be on January 9th um and uh the
05:15highlight of my week is that uh so I
05:18have this uh group of graphic designers
05:20that are creating like the entire
05:22virtual world and they showed me like
05:25the sketches and then they showed me the
05:27real life sort of like virtual world
05:29sort of classroom that they created and
05:31it is mindblowing how beautiful it is
05:34it's like the the the way that classroom
05:36should look and like you can sort of
05:38walk around in it as an avatar and like
05:40you know like imagine like you know
05:42drawing something and then all of a
05:43sudden you're inside of it was just so
05:46cool and so that that is the highlight
05:51we amazing um cool thanks pretty do you
05:56want to call in someone
06:02hey guys oh I'm Fay um I'm currently in
06:11midnight I always like to just mention
06:13that point um uh and what new campus is
06:18doing is we're doing a business and
06:20Leadership education on a uh membership
06:23model mostly targeting smbs and smmes so
06:27people who've been neglected from the
06:28traditional business education
06:32um my uh it's also relevant to the
06:35highlight of my week what I was saying
06:36earlier which is I realized that this
06:38week I have had over seven hours of
06:41sleep the whole week so that was a win
06:44me um I went through a bit of a weird
06:47period in November and October where I
06:49was like I was having like four or five
06:50hours of sleep at night just from like
06:51late meetings and then early meetings
06:53and I was like I'm getting really burnt
06:55out and tired so I'm catching up on
06:57sleep and mental health this month um so
07:02that oh I am on the one already don't
07:11amazing toas do you want to go and then
07:14yeah yeah last person Hi everybody um my
07:18name is Tomas I'm connecting from
07:22Spain uh I run master meab master meab
07:26offers business Education and Training
07:29on on a cohort based um experience for
07:33individuals and small
07:36teams uh high of the week uh poof I
07:40think well we're we're doing a a book uh
07:44for my father he's having his e eth
07:47birth birthday 80 birthday so I have to
07:51pick I have to go to my phone and
07:54computer and find pictures uh with my
07:57father and and I don't know I spent a
08:01few few minutes looking for that and I
08:05really enjoy it uh having your family
08:08away so we're from Argentina it's a kind
08:10of a a way to connect with
08:15them yeah sorry who I think I was the
08:18last one yeah I think that's that's it
08:20thanks so much Raj do you want to
08:22introduce yourself yep I think I'll go
08:25with the Highlight first um it's it's
08:29right like the whole Co scene and uh we
08:33had a launch we had our launch I think
08:35two months ago and like for the first
08:37time [ __ ] has hit the roof like I I sort
08:41of have a sense of what product Market
08:43feels like and uh like as much as I feel
08:47great about it my B it has taken a toll
08:50on my body and and of course my sleep
08:52and health right like so the weekend I
08:55played frisbee I played ultimate after a
08:58very very very long time and man I want
09:01to do it again this weekend so I just I
09:03I can't wait for the week to come to an
09:06end so that I can go out and play some
09:08more right like yeah and uh so Alberto
09:13thanks for the thanks for the
09:14introduction I've I think I've known you
09:16for about what is what has it been like
09:19a year two years I have I've completely
09:22lost track of time right now uh I think
09:25it's been it's been two years but years
09:27yeah I think maybe that's like a decade
09:31something and uh so when when we first
09:34met I was in fact uh working on uh an
09:38income share agreement based uh coding
09:40boot camp in here in India for uh final
09:44year uh undergrads right and uh this was
09:47one of the first income sharing
09:49agreement based boot camps to come out
09:52of India um and a lot of it has to do
09:56with me getting on Twitter and sort of
09:59of you know tuning into Austin Al red
10:01and the whole idea of Lambda school and
10:04sort of transplanting that into the
10:06Indian context Without Really knowing uh
10:10without really having a great sense of
10:12what the market was uh all about it was
10:15I think early days in my entrepreneurial
10:17Journey when when when I started off on
10:20that right so I think I would like to
10:24you know begin this session of course
10:25the session um the way I've planned it
10:28out is I will I I want to walk youall
10:31through my personal story and uh yeah
10:35thanks Alberto I I want to walk you all
10:38through my personal Journey
10:40um before getting to STA and uh talk
10:44about how we have sort of implemented a
10:48bunch of tactics from I think Alberto
10:51shared the article right your your
10:52startup is a moment in fact uh that I
10:55think I took that article a bit too
10:57seriously a few months ago and I'm I'm
10:59going to walk you all through uh how we
11:01went about implementing every single
11:03tactic given in that article uh for my
11:06current uh startup and uh after that we
11:10will definitely talk about you know the
11:14the the problems that that folks on the
11:16call might be facing and I think that
11:19there are a lot of common themes that I
11:20see around C based courses as's business
11:23education right um I I'm sure that we
11:26would be able to you know like
11:29find some interesting intersections and
11:32uh come to uh you know few very
11:35interesting narratives drill down into a
11:37few very interesting points that that we
11:40can all rally around in in our work uh
11:43for for months to come just to add
11:45something Raj uh something we uh as we
11:47were discussing this session that the
11:49two of us uh we both felt important that
11:52um this is not just like a presentation
11:54for the upcoming 45 minutes but just Raj
11:57will share his story and then it' be
11:59great to get all of your questions we're
12:01going to give a a ton of time for Q&A uh
12:04but also maybe we can run through some
12:06um example so if one of us has a almost
12:10like something we can life prototype um
12:13in the call that would also be just
12:14really fun and uh yeah I I I think I
12:16have something planned around uh around
12:19there and uh before we before we head
12:21into that I think let me begin with my
12:24journey as an entrepreneur in the field
12:26of education so I graduated out of I
12:29graduated from college in 2016 with a
12:31degree in physics I was clueless as to
12:34what to do because my PhD admits weren't
12:36working out uh as I expected them to and
12:39the only thing that I knew I liked was
12:42education right and uh I think I'm I'm
12:46super stubborn I've never really held a
12:49a a job all my life the only thing the
12:53the only thing that I I I knew was like
12:55CH I I can you know like I can talk to
12:57people I can build team so why don't I
12:59run a business right and I started off
13:02with a with a friend of mine we ran um
13:05an offline alternative education center
13:09in Goa right India Goa is a tiny state
13:12population of uh 1.5 million right in
13:16the entire State um not not not many
13:20people as compared to not as dense as
13:21the the rest of the country right uh
13:24though we have the highest per capita
13:26income so well a lot of crazy
13:29experiments actually sort of pan out
13:32very well on a very small
13:34scale so since this was in an offline
13:36setting the only Avenue that we had to
13:39go about marketing uh the the services
13:42that we were offering that is helping
13:43school kids learn high level mathematics
13:46explore economics sociology things that
13:49they wouldn't do in Indian schools we
13:50went to schools tapped into our local
13:52networks right begged uh parents to sort
13:55of send their kids to us because we
13:58would be a able to you know help them
13:59explore explore things we so me and my
14:03partner from back then we had uh top
14:06tier Indian technical education
14:08credentials and that really helped in
14:11getting parents to you know open up
14:14their wallet because of course signaling
14:17um we tried we tried launching a lot of
14:20things back then but I think looking
14:23back it was a very small Market too
14:25early in the market wrong timing wrong
14:27place you you know couldn't take any of
14:30the boxes that uh a startup that has
14:34traction uh would so sort of dropped
14:37that when a friend of mine who had uh in
14:42fact he was he was uh husband of a
14:46friend of mine who I met for the first
14:48time of Facebook and uh so he was into
14:52startups this this dude was into
14:54startups into crypto and all of that and
14:55he was like Hey you like doing all of
14:58this you know education stuff why don't
15:01you come on Twitter so this was October
15:032018 when he told me that you know you'd
15:07love being on Twitter it's it's got all
15:09sort of cool cool folks talking about
15:12startups all day all night I was like
15:14why not uh a bit of context in India
15:17most of the startup ecosystem is
15:20concentrated around a few cities
15:22Bangalore is uh the Pinnacle of you know
15:25the the Indian scene followed by Delhi
15:28and Mumbai and so on right and I I was
15:31not a part of any of these circles so I
15:35I did not have the advantage of going
15:37and networking offline right like the
15:39only way I could reach out to people I
15:42could talk to people was over Twitter
15:44the the day I got on Twitter this is I
15:46think around November 2018 was when I
15:48heard of Lambda school and I was like
15:50wow this is a brilliant idea Austin
15:53seemed to be great doing a great job lot
15:55of lot of uh you know Buzz around lot of
15:59people rallying around him right and I
16:01was like why don't I take this model
16:03this financial model and apply it to the
16:05Indian context there are students who
16:07are not getting access to Quality
16:10opportunities because of the way formal
16:12education is structured not many good
16:15institutions uh in India to cater to the
16:17talent pool right India produces 1.5
16:20million uh Engineers like 1.5 million
16:23Engineers hit the job market every year
16:26every single year in India and only
16:2915,000 of them come from like the top
16:31colleges right everyone else pretty much
16:36so I think this this this problem had a
16:38very strong sentiment in the entire
16:41Indian startup ecosystem because well
16:43everyone around the ecosystem had an
16:46engineering background so people could
16:49relate to to this problem people could
16:52relate to the story um and uh we started
16:56talking a lot about lot about it on
16:59talking about the problem about how we
17:01are going to change the landscape for uh
17:03for these students right by uh having
17:07classes um you know introducing income
17:10share agreements which were a strong
17:13rallying point right we've got asking in
17:15the game uh students have to pay nothing
17:17upfront all of those cool things about
17:20income share agreements
17:22now here's here's the good news I was
17:26doing I was doing something which is
17:29incredibly risky in the Indian context
17:32uh I mean and in hindsight incred
17:34incredibly stupid right but I think it
17:37is only when you sort of take these
17:40risks in public it is only when you go
17:43out and uh you know do things which
17:45other people are not willing to do uh
17:48that people take notice of you either
17:50they think I mean people who know the
17:52market really well think that you are a
17:54clueless fool whereas people who have
17:57absolutely no idea of the Market but
17:59want to watch a good show they really
18:01enjoy the show right like they think I
18:03mean they root for you they rally around
18:05you and and all of that so income share
18:08agreements uh was was like a wave right
18:12that Lambda school really triggered and
18:18felt uh India sort of felt these ripples
18:21hit this hit I mean they hit the Indian
18:24shows in 2019 so by the time everyone in
18:28the indan ecosystem was like so hey
18:30who's building Lambda school for India
18:32we which was like two three random bunch
18:35of people on Twitter with some
18:36credentials here and there had already
18:39you know like gone out and said that no
18:41we are the first people in India to be
18:43building out an income share based
18:45career accelerator and and all of that
18:48jazz now a year year and a half down the
18:52line in hindsight I can say that it was
18:55incredibly uh crazy business to to run
18:58right like um we had to you know shut
19:01shop because uh hi myang uh uh myang is
19:07triggered yes yes but but I think like
19:09mang's context is a bit different right
19:11like we were running it for webd and uh
19:14I mean I think at the end of
19:182019 since there was no mo at all in
19:21this particular uh industry there were
19:24around 8 n 10 income share agreement uh
19:27boot camp in India focusing on web
19:30development alone and everyone had
19:32raised Angel money and and and all of
19:34that jazz but but but yeah like but by
19:37the time that had happened I think i'
19:38had already established my sort of
19:41positioning uh as this person who was
19:43talking out loud on Twitter about this
19:45particular space right and uh and and
19:49that sort of got me to a good 3,000
19:51follower sort of Mark uh and although
19:54everyone I talked to told me it was a
19:56stupid idea I was stubborn did did not
19:58really believe that uh believe in what
20:02people are telling me right about the
20:04risk that India does not have a evolved
20:07um Financial system to handle income
20:10share agreements our legal system is is
20:13not in like you know the best of shapes
20:15I mean contracts pretty much it's it's
20:19the norm to not even think that
20:21contracts are something worth honoring
20:23right and I'm sure West has heard enough
20:26of this from uh you know like his his
20:29days dealing with income share
20:31agreements all around the the globe
20:34right and uh so yeah by the time we sort
20:37of wound down the experiment I already
20:40had picked up enough momentum as this
20:42guy from Goa who was into edtech you
20:46know and people would start tagging me
20:48on Twitter when there was some random
20:49edtech thing uh happening so I think
20:52this part of this this background to the
20:54to to to the story is very essential
20:57because I sort of had my first go at you
21:00know building a movement or getting
21:02people to give a [ __ ] about uh you know
21:08um our Venture and building an audience
21:11on Twitter so by the time sta School
21:14happened which was uh three two three
21:17months ago I already had 3,000 plus
21:21following on Twitter I had belted out
21:23more than 15,000 tweets over you know
21:25like a decade being around on Twitter so
21:28I had a platform which I could stand on
21:31and there were people you know who were
21:34eager to know what I was going to talk
21:36about right so yeah the the the risk
21:40right like not making any money over the
21:44last two years sort of like I mean we
21:47didn't make any Financial Capital but
21:49there was a ton of Social Capital to be
21:52unlocked especially when covid hit
21:54because here's an interesting bit when
21:57offline networking you know just just
22:00broke down the only place people could
22:03sort of tune into for for for for the
22:05buzz was uh was Twitter right and uh I
22:10had I sort of had uh I was already you
22:14know past out of the gate right like
22:15long out of the gate by the time people
22:18started because I was not in Bangalore
22:23uh I think a few things few pointers I
22:26would I would like to talk about uh
22:28personal brand right I think there are
22:30two or three things that I want to talk
22:31about one is owner Niche all right I
22:34think uh your bio is the most important
22:36thing when it comes to Twitter
22:38especially now I can't talk a lot about
22:40LinkedIn or uh or Instagram or Facebook
22:43yet but Twitter is something that I can
22:45definitely uh talk about your bio
22:47matters a lot your PIN tweet matters a
22:49lot the the photo that you have on
22:52matters a lot in fact uh you if if
22:55anyone's been on Twitter you know there
22:56are a bunch of people with with with
22:58cartoon DPS right and
23:01uh I made a choice to switch over to a
23:04cartoon DP um around six seven months
23:07ago and I think there's a very
23:09interesting signaling aspect there right
23:11like and I think people should adopt
23:12this if you're trying to use Twitter as
23:15a you know part of your
23:17GTM um of course if if you have time and
23:21money and all that enough to get a
23:24cartoon DP for yourself people register
23:27it as oh this person is probably you
23:29know like doing well right you're
23:31getting a portrait commissioned almost
23:33which which of by the way you can do it
23:35for $5 of of Fiverr or you know like I
23:38can connect you with people who do it
23:39for dir dir cheap prices here in India
23:42right but but having that cartoon DP on
23:44makes you like appear a notch or two
23:47above what you probably you know
23:49consider yourself to be and uh it's a
23:52very I don't know I'd call it a slimy
23:54tactic not not not too many people would
23:57be comfortable sort of going ahead with
23:59it but if if you are a bit edgy I would
24:02say go get a cartoon DP right like uh
24:05and uh and and make a brand out of
24:08yourself essentially right show people
24:10that I am investing in my my presence in
24:13putting myself out here it matters to me
24:16my personal brand matters to me and that
24:18makes people take you seriously right
24:21it's it's a lot of interesting
24:23psychology uh in that um I think also
24:27have a very clear cut Mission uh defined
24:30for for yourself right like a tenure
24:33Mission uh that that you'd want to put
24:35out there right and put it out there
24:37very often so for me my mission uh
24:40something that I I think I've been
24:42living by for the one last decade is
24:44using the power of the internet to
24:46unlock human potential right and uh this
24:49is something that I keep on repeating
24:51every now and then when I appear on you
24:53like my my YouTube channel or on Twitter
24:55or Twitter bio LinkedIn bio whatever
24:57ever the cas is make h i mean have a
25:01grand statement for yourself own it and
25:03you know take it every single place you
25:06go to right I just question there so um
25:11Beyond kind of specifics of how to use
25:13uh Twitter one of the things in this
25:15idea of your startup as a movement is
25:17like like having a Cause right like why
25:19are you on Twitter like what why are you
25:22talking about the things that you
25:23talking about and I want to kind of like
25:26double click on that that you were
25:27talking about in terms of like that that
25:29mission um so and maybe you'll get to it
25:33later with so so feel free to disregard
25:36this question but um how did you define
25:39that thing that kind of that cause that
25:42um that you wanted to kind of use
25:44Twitter for uh almost like um yeah like
25:49how do you define that and um what what
25:52does that look like um because right now
25:54with sta for example you talk a lot
25:56about business school and how how [ __ ]
25:58up of a system that is and you
26:00constantly describe it in ways that
26:02people resonate with so I'm curious to
26:05to learn more about that process so I
26:11think I think and this is something that
26:13will apply to all of us in fact I think
26:15all of us are building something that
26:18has to do with the internet that has
26:19something to do with technology right
26:21like I mean I I understand that a few of
26:23us would be doing offline education
26:25Ventures but there is an element of tech
26:28uh to to what of us do and knowing the
26:31sort of people who are a part of
26:32transcend I'm sure that people have
26:34chosen the problem that they've chosen
26:35because they are super passionate about
26:38that space and that's in general the
26:40case with education uh entrepreneurs as
26:43as I've experienced right so in my case
26:46uh I was not born in a Metro uh city in
26:49India my only access to the to the big
26:52wide world was the internet right and I
26:54have personally benefited a lot from
26:57from being online like I used to be I
27:00was blogging in my 10th grade which is I
27:02think 2010 i' I've had a blogger blog uh
27:06a WordPress blog right uh throughout my
27:08college and I've benefited a lot from
27:11having a presence on the internet from
27:13you know consuming content from the
27:14internet uh like stories of me starting
27:18from MIT ocw uh when I was in my way
27:22back in 2011 we used to torrent
27:25like entire uh physics lecture series of
27:30uh you know of of whatever I think
27:31Pirate Bay at that point of time uh and
27:34and consume it so that is how we sort of
27:36went through school me and a few of my
27:37friends so I think I have that backstory
27:40which sort of helps me go out there and
27:43talk about why I really love the
27:45intersection of education and uh and the
27:48internet right and I'm sure that all of
27:50you all in your Journeys respective
27:53whether you're focusing on K12 on higher
27:55ed would uh would have something around
27:57it right I think the personal angle that
28:00I have to business education is that I
28:02do not have an MBA right and uh not
28:06having an MBA sort of made
28:09me um learn a lot of things the hard way
28:13right like I could have learned about
28:15markets and about marketing and finance
28:18and operations uh by just going through
28:20an MBA program but I sort of had to
28:23struggle a lot picking these things as
28:26and when they need be uh by just diving
28:28into the deep end of the pool right so
28:31that is what I bring to the whole
28:33business education picture that if I had
28:36access to something like this I would
28:38have probably been doing much better
28:41right I would have been far ahead in my
28:42own Journey so that is how I sort of
28:44bring the business education bit to the
28:47to the picture right I think I'll take a
28:49few um questions here um so vti about
28:56good bad prct practice to have a company
28:58Twitter account and how would you use
29:00that account I think um you need to be
29:03having a company Twitter account but I
29:06think on Twitter people want to see the
29:08founders uh talk out as well
29:11so try and have a very interesting scene
29:15happening between your brand Twitter
29:17account and your personal Twitter
29:19account I think both of these need to
29:21have personalities of their own both of
29:23them have need to have voices of their
29:25own and you need to be using using both
29:27of them to you know make points that the
29:30other wouldn't like as a Founder you can
29:32say things that your brand account
29:33cannot say and as a brand account you
29:36can claim things that you know would be
29:38a bit too pompous or cocky to claim as
29:41uh you know from your personal account
29:43right uh so have a very nice interplay
29:47between both of these and people like
29:49watching that uh people like people like
29:52watching this this entire scene play out
29:54in in in in front of them right so so
29:58yeah I think that is how I'd look at
30:00that uh it's super hard to stand out
30:03there are so many voices out there any
30:05tips on overcoming that yeah I think
30:07I'll jump into um the the tactics I'll
30:11jump into the tactics but before I do in
30:14I mean I jump in what I'll do is I'll
30:16share I'll launch tweet uh in in the
30:20chat and I'll probably let youall go
30:23through the I'll probably let you all go
30:27the launch tweet one
30:30second so that then we can you know
30:36like yeah R I was gonna suggest that we
30:39go through like some of those tweets and
30:41like kind of learn more about the St
30:44story because um that tweet really blew
30:47up and really helped you with your with
30:49your launch yeah so I think let me just
30:51share my screen if that's
30:54cool right so I put the street out on
30:57October 2nd uh before this tweet we had
31:01conducted around 100 plus user
31:04interviews right so of course a lot of
31:07into arriving to the to the thesis
31:11validating that there is probably some
31:13Demand right like some demand uh but to
31:17be to be extremely honest um before
31:20launching this my sense was that we will
31:23have to do sales all right my sense was
31:26that maybe 10 15 20 people are going to
31:29you know drop in their details uh make a
31:33serious application and then we'll have
31:34to probably call them and chase them uh
31:37to you know get them to pay up
31:40$1,500 for this 12 week experience so we
31:43were pretty much thinking of discounting
31:47the program to like 70 80% and giving
31:50the the first CAU you know an
31:52opportunity to come on
31:54for around $200 $300 we we were we were
31:57convinced that we will have to do that
32:00to build this out to you know prove to
32:02the world that um look there are people
32:05who are you know happy uh with with what
32:08we've what we've delivered I mean given
32:11given them right but I think the way
32:14that this this this message was put out
32:16really sort of changed changed that
32:19equation because of this tweet thread we
32:21generated around 2,000 leads 200
32:24applications for a 20 person cohort all
32:27right and uh we did not have to do any
32:29sales in fact we we had to run an
32:31admission process and actively say no to
32:33people at this point of time we have two
32:36more cohorts lined after this which
32:38people have put down a deposit for just
32:40because of the foro uh that this created
32:43right and uh I think let's start I
32:46mean let's start with the I'll walk you
32:49through the through the thread and
32:53then une a few principles that I used
32:56and I think that all of us can use in
32:59our own work all right so starting with
33:01the first tweet itself I've used the
33:04word [ __ ] in in the very first
33:06sentence and that was to of course a
33:08grab attention B uh tell people that I
33:12am not trying to say I mean I'm I'm
33:14talking to them as a person right I'm
33:16not trying to make like a chill lawn
33:19saying that hey friends like you know
33:21this is my thing here it is here we are
33:23like I did not want to have a lukewarm
33:27launch at all right and this is the
33:30first principle I think more most
33:31startups die because not enough people
33:34give a [ __ ] about them right not enough
33:36people care or hate it hate what people
33:39are doing like hate I think hate or
33:41angry customers I take that any day over
33:44people not even bothering over what
33:47you're doing right and I wanted to make
33:49it very clear to people that listen you
33:51have to pay attention to what is going
33:53on here uh so second sentence I've inv
33:57all the nation right which is
33:59like which is um of course a bigger
34:03cause right we're talking about India
34:05here like India has this whole thing
34:07that we want to go from a two2 trillion
34:09doll economy to A5 trillion doll economy
34:12and how do we go about that by you know
34:14encouraging entrepreneurship by
34:16encouraging uh you know people to start
34:18businesses people to get better at
34:20running uh growing uh you know whatever
34:24ideating businesses right not as
34:27business owners but also as operators
34:29and employees right so the whole the
34:31whole narrative started off with the
34:33fact that without good business
34:35education which is Affordable the
34:37country is not going to go anywhere
34:40right and mbas have pretty much failed
34:44us because they are pretty expensive
34:45kill a lot of time and you know like uh
34:49most of the people who are reading this
34:50tweet I'm sure do not have an MBA and
34:52they sort of have a thing against people
34:55who hold an MBA because is people who
34:57hold an MBA really signal the the life
34:59out of that degree right so the people
35:02who do not have that signal of course
35:04are waiting to throw stones at them uh
35:07you know but of in the dark right they
35:09don't want to come out in the open and
35:10say that hey these NBA guys are too much
35:13so there was that underlying sentiment
35:15in here that we really uh really Juiced
35:19so the other thing was that in India
35:21there's a scene that you know you're not
35:23supposed to get your hands dirty with
35:25business uh what's whatever you're
35:27supposed to just study do your best and
35:29then think about you know earning money
35:31once you're done right and what happens
35:35people at the age of 22 when they come
35:38out of college they realize that there
35:39is more to the world than you know stem
35:42uh and [ __ ] I've been missing out on
35:45these things what do I do now usually
35:47they jump into an MBA degree right so
35:49here I have used anecdotes right I've
35:53I've put put it down I've quoted things
35:56that almost everyone has heard in their
35:59life right like and I'm sure this is
36:01something Universal you all can use this
36:03for any given context right A Beat uh
36:07very specifically if you're helping I
36:09mean business education I'm sure you'll
36:10find a lot of context K2 I'm sure there
36:13are things to pick up from the way
36:15parents say things to their uh Wards or
36:19the way teachers interact with students
36:21you can definitely pick up anecdotes
36:23from there right and uh yeah another use
36:28of the word [ __ ] to just create that
36:31drama to create that
36:34um very clear line when confusion
36:37strikes aspiration there is chaos now
36:39this is this is true of almost everyone
36:43I'm sure that everyone on this call
36:45would also resonate with this there's
36:47nothing specific to the business
36:48education context it's it's a universal
36:51thing but again people just connect to
36:54just connect to the message right it is
36:56perspective of whether they are in for
36:58business education or not so like
37:01pricking that existential crisis that is
37:04typical of this Twitter audience aged 20
37:08to you know 27 of sorts everyone is
37:11going through this phase in in their
37:12life and sort of taking a jab at people
37:15who pay get into loans for you know like
37:18just getting mental Clarity so sort of
37:20ridiculing dissing uh you know more
37:23drama in that so yeah like talking about
37:27Roi [ __ ] that [ __ ] there's got to be a
37:29better way out there like making this an
37:31adventure getting to that cresendo right
37:35like that now we are going to reveal
37:37something right and yeah like enter
37:41store week now so I've introduced what
37:43we are in the third or the fourth tweet
37:46right uh if I had done this in the first
37:48tweet itself that hey hi guys like this
37:51is my new Venture star school is a
37:53business education boot camp people
37:55would be like ah cool like just another
37:58thing out there cool let's see how this
38:00goes but because they did not
38:03immediately get what we are doing they
38:05read on they got uh invested in the The
38:08Narrative got sold right um that helped
38:13the screenshot I used is actually one of
38:14a mock mock sessions that we did before
38:17we launched so it looks as if people
38:20have already gone through this
38:21experience right like Porters five
38:23forces people jamming over Zoom all of
38:27that here you will yawn out of
38:29exhaustion not boredom this is I think I
38:31mean this copyrighting right at the end
38:35of the day trying to be edgy that is
38:39that is what what what we did here and I
38:41mean of course then we're introducing
38:43what we are doing right like nothing
38:46uh I would say nothing special in here
38:50for more because 20 other Shar
38:54PE brand signaling that hey we have
38:57hiring Partners blah blah 20% cohort
39:00filled up 13 seats right if this
39:03interests you drop your applications all
39:05of that so this is uh if if you notice
39:09I'm not trying to sell
39:11people right I'm not trying to urge
39:13people to come apply we really want you
39:15in here it is more of a side note saying
39:18that hey this is what I'm doing but you
39:19know in case you're interested maybe
39:21perhaps try applying right I'm not
39:24edging people to apply and again ending
39:27it with this is not what it is about
39:29there's something bigger to this and
39:31then reiterating on the Indian sort of
39:35uh you know dream that millions of
39:37people want to start a business or get
39:39effective at running one we stand for an
39:42education that's effective affordable
39:44accessible I'm sure these are common
39:46themes that all of us are trying to work
39:48on right and uh yeah like ending it with
39:53our vision that we want to become a
39:55go-to destiny ation for business
39:57education in India so that sort of gets
40:00people invested in our journey because
40:01if we fail it'll be a epic fail right so
40:06like inviting people into watch us watch
40:09us fail in public essentially that
40:12because that is really what people want
40:14to watch right people don't want to
40:15watch other people succeed in public uh
40:18deep down right people want to watch you
40:20fail in public and we just presenting
40:22people that opportunity to come take
40:29uh as I mean I'm sure a lot of people in
40:33this hierarchy of things a lot of people
40:35who come under us would definitely be
40:37cheering us on a lot of people who you
40:39know sort of are above us uh would would
40:42pretty much you know how I'm sure as
40:44Founders how skeptical we are about any
40:48anything that we hear right any idea
40:50that we have from someone else some
40:52Market that we've not really gone deep
40:54down into we are always we tend to be
40:56skeptical whether you know I think
40:59people are doing makes sense or not so
41:01there's enough action in there for for
41:03everyone right uh that was a tweet
41:06thread which sort of blew up of course I
41:08asked people to retweet it um I had
41:11created enough tension uh in a week that
41:14preceded it saying that I'm going to
41:15launch something blah blah blah lot of
41:17people commented excited excited so dm'd
41:20each and every one of them saying that
41:22hey we've launched please retweet right
41:25got that initial track
41:27and once of course uh it's it compounds
41:29it once people see that there is enough
41:32traction out of like just sure Mania
41:35people start retweeting stuff even
41:37though they have nothing to do with it
41:39so you just need to take it to that
41:41escape velocity wherein people run with
41:44it because they don't know what else to
41:46do right because everyone else seems to
41:49be talking great about it yeah um well
41:52first of all thanks for for sharing this
41:54this is super cool um but but uh what
41:57one question I want to ask you is like I
41:59guess to not make it too specific about
42:02the Dynamics of Twitter um one thing
42:04that is very clear is you knew exactly
42:07who you were talking to like you knew
42:09that you were talking to the Indian um
42:12Stu like young person who is um kind of
42:16interested like thinking about an NBA
42:18but like not really convinced who is
42:20like on Twitter and and like looking for
42:22some of this like really high energy
42:24like you want to do let's [ __ ] do
42:25this uh that kind of thing um in my mind
42:30you built that because you were building
42:32in public for many years what is the
42:34kind of stuff that you share in public
42:37as you're going about um your daily life
42:40um U what what type of information do
42:43you share with people um that then
42:46allows you to know that audience really
42:48well and then after this we're going to
42:50open it up for any questions so I think
42:54I think I was just unfiltered I think
42:56all of us have very interesting thoughts
42:58that we sometimes I mean talk to our
43:00friends or we just you know swallow them
43:03uh because we don't know if someone else
43:05will find our thoughts interesting our
43:07perspectives interesting right so what I
43:09used I I have a habit of just putting it
43:12out there right like um stuff that i'
43:15say in WhatsApp groups I would just put
43:17it up on Twitter right and just keep on
43:19keep on turning content like get juicing
43:23content out of conversations that I
43:25would have with people
43:26and just keeping on posting it uh in
43:29there right so uh just I think I was
43:33just unfiltered there was nothing
43:35special um just the ups and downs of the
43:38founder Journey things that I find
43:40interesting on the internet if I find an
43:42interesting Tik Tok video I would post
43:44it on my Twitter right I would not I
43:47think uh uh one thing that people you
43:50know like play wrong is that they make
43:52it too professional and that is when
43:57know keep distance from you if you [ __ ]
44:00talk [ __ ] post if you're like having fun
44:04uh people will join in on the party
44:06right so I would say do do do stuff that
44:09makes you feel that you're having fun
44:11right um I think I'll take this question
44:15how effective is retweet and increasing
44:17exposure I think um retweet some people
44:20who have a following of course matter a
44:22lot there's no doubt about that uh but
44:25retweet retweets on people who do not
44:27even have a following matter when it
44:30comes to fooling the uh Twitter
44:33algorithm into giving your Tweet more
44:35visibility right so just getting the
44:39getting into the algorithmic highway so
44:41to say Twitter sees that oh a lot of
44:44people probably like this right and uh
44:50time spent on Twitter every week I think
44:51I live on Twitter uh it's it's a tweet
44:54for a living at this point of time I
44:56would say like I'm scared to think about
44:59what will happen if I don't tweet for a
45:00week or two right uh so that's the
45:03downside right of building in public
45:05it's it takes a mental toll on on doing
45:09this but gets you distribution so uh
45:12yeah that's that's about it I think
45:14before we jump into questions right I
45:16just wanted to run through nine points
45:19from that article uh your startup is a
45:21movement right I'm not going to
45:23elaborate much but yeah a Define a Lar
45:26cause and I actually want to play out an
45:27exercise with uh someone who wishes to
45:31volunteer on how does one take the
45:35specific problem statement of your
45:37startup and tie it to a to a bigger
45:39problem I would say let us do it with
45:42someone who is having the hardest of
45:44time you know like attaching yourself to
45:47a bigger problem statement second thing
45:50is articulate the problem better than
45:51anyone else n The Narrative matters if
45:54you do not have experience in it I would
45:58copywriter right but invest in this uh
46:02invest invest in getting a good
46:03copywriter and getting that very razor
46:05sharp narrative invest in getting your
46:08brand done incredibly well I think most
46:10of you all have done a good job the good
46:12part about India is that people do a
46:14shitty job at at branding right people
46:17do not invest anything when it comes to
46:19branding and even if you do uh even if
46:23you invest some peanuts into that
46:26you stand out as simple as that right so
46:28that helps in the Indian context attack
46:31the status quo that definitely helps
46:33people like watching a David versus
46:34golad sort of fight that is what
46:37happened with Lambda School attacked
46:39colleges we we were attacking like the
46:42MBA debt not the MBA colleges or people
46:45who have mbas but the MBA debt something
46:48impersonal attack institutions not
46:51specific people or people's habits right
46:56institutions I don't think anyone Minds
46:58institutions being attacked right uh
47:01Define a Define a category for yourself
47:04right I think again typical positioning
47:06activity you need to be defining that
47:08category and owning that uh mind space
47:12and I think this is something Alberto
47:13really like helped me uh think through
47:16uh when we were at noas he emphasized on
47:18how we should be using the word only or
47:20the word first right um and and find an
47:25intersection till you become the first
47:27in that particular category in that
47:29particular geography in that particular
47:32format of delivery right uh yeah like
47:37Define a category for for yourself own
47:39that category uh irrespective of what
47:43people tell you that you know La have a
47:46launch uh you know just keep iterating
47:49all of that is incredibly cool but I
47:52would say you need to have a big big
47:54launch right because if if you are just
47:56building um you can be building slow you
47:59can be building you know in in public
48:02you can be iterating in public no doubt
48:05about that but you need to be having a
48:07big bang launch on Twitter on Linden or
48:11on I mean Facebook is a weird place but
48:13if you're a part of interesting groups
48:15probably Facebook groups right but have
48:18a big bang launch on a social network
48:21wherein you can go viral so to say right
48:28um nurture your community of you know
48:31like fans anyone who gives you even a
48:34attention give them like twice the
48:36attention back right as a Founder people
48:39love it so what what I have done in fact
48:41is made a WhatsApp group called the stoa
48:43movement and I've sort of added any and
48:46every single person who who's dm'd me
48:48saying that hey I like what you're doing
48:50it's like if you like what I'm doing
48:51come join join in the party right like
48:53come join in from the inside I'll give
48:56you like you know dope on what we're
48:58going to be launching next week or uh
49:00you know I I'll give you access to
49:02things that we're going to put out
49:04content whatever the case is but make
49:07people's feel special even if they are
49:09not your Target customers and I think
49:12this is super interesting because when
49:14your when when when your customers see
49:16that people who are not your Target
49:19customers are cheering on for you they
49:21tend to believe you more as compared to
49:23let's say some investor or you know like
49:25other potential customers or even um you
49:29know alumni or whatever cheering you on
49:32right people really love it when I mean
49:34people pay attention when random
49:36strangers start cheering on so pay a lot
49:38of attention to your fans or people who
49:41fall for what uh narrative you're
49:44driving be Fearless right I think this
49:47goes without saying it's okay to fail I
49:49mean I'm sure we've all failed as
49:52entrepreneurs multiple times just still
49:56failing there's this's interesting um
49:59analogy that I like to draw walking is
50:02uh technically a series of controlled
50:07Falls right um so is entrepreneurship I
50:11mean it is the act of controlled failing
50:13that's that's the way I like to look
50:15about it look at it and uh I think like
50:18live that be vulnerable accept your
50:21mistakes in public people love it when
50:23founders are coming down on their knees
50:24and you know like accepting that they've
50:26made mistakes they screwed up here and
50:28there people just love Founders are not
50:32the most ideal uh you know people out
50:35there and the last one is do not
50:37alienate everyone right even though you
50:39might be attacking the status quo and
50:41there's a larger cause and problem do
50:45anyone um because yeah I mean at least
50:49explicitly do not alienate anyone right
50:51I think if you keep these things in mind
50:54and I think if you look at that tweet
50:56thread you will see that it sort of
50:59ticks most of these these sort of
51:01pointers right uh of course I'm not
51:04saying that you should go out on Twitter
51:06and build it maybe your audiences are
51:08different but be it LinkedIn or be it
51:11Facebook uh Beat YouTube right like
51:14follow these principles and uh I think
51:17you'll do you'll do good so now time for
51:21the exercises anyone want to volunteer
51:23for the defining a larger cause activity
51:28does any is anyone here struggling with
51:35bit especially the B2B folks I think
51:37it's much more easier to you know like
51:39build a narrative in b2c as compared to
51:42B2B right because uh yeah I mean who
51:47really you don't see much drama in B2B
51:50right so does anyone want to sort
51:56here Alberto do you want to pick someone
51:59up yeah I don't mind I can I can
52:03great so uh what is on your mind right
52:06now like why I mean why do you think
52:08people should care for what you're doing
52:13do I actually had a conversation about
52:15this with one of our advisers today that
52:18we're actually struggling with figuring
52:23proposition simple way
52:26um because we kind of do different
52:28things we focus on uh learning
52:31communities and we focus on the Creator
52:34space and how to create like a
52:36successful course um and like all the
52:39hardships that has to do with with
52:41building a successful course but we also
52:44focus on the experience itself and we
52:47kind of have two sides that we are
52:49catering to um like the learner side and
52:52the Creator side so it makes her
52:55messaging very difficult uh to craft and
52:59to be very clear about and also makes
53:03blurry um when it comes to like who do
53:07we focus on when we when we build um so
53:12yeah it's been pretty pretty tough like
53:19out so I think um before in fact Alberto
53:24would know this and so would West before
53:26we uh started out with stoa school me
53:30and adya who's also a transcend Network
53:32fellow we were working on some I mean we
53:35were working on this iteration called
53:36quo wherein we were we were trying to be
53:38an OPM for for creators right we were
53:41trying to help creators run their online
53:43communities we did not launch that in
53:45public because we ourselves couldn't
53:47build enough conviction uh and traction
53:50around around that but uh given the
53:53space right I think since this is a B2 B
53:55Toc business the way I think about it
53:58your the people who would be actually
54:00using your products are people who would
54:03be taking up courses you know and so
54:07on um these are your you know people who
54:10would pick up your product
54:12but I think it is pointless trying to
54:15reach to these people specifically right
54:18I think uh if you've noticed what gagan
54:21biani and West cow have have done
54:27the name in public but but they they've
54:30taken this whole Cod based courses the
54:32category that we used to call it all
54:34different things and now suddenly cbcs
54:37a overnight right I think
54:42um gagen talked about his personal
54:44experience right how he cried in one of
54:47the courses that he was uh a part of I
54:51think if you pick up elements from
54:55billion people problem let's say is
54:58loneliness right and I think you can
55:00approach it from from that Angle now
55:03that's a very like it's it's a problem
55:05everyone Associates with and uh I think
55:09one good solution to that problem is uh
55:13well like learning together right doing
55:16things together and doing things
55:18together in a community is one way of
55:20going about solving that problem if you
55:23drill down you know if you take a very
55:25specific uh niche in there is learning
55:29together with other people so I think if
55:32you start from hey How loneliness is is
55:34a big problem uh that is this is one one
55:38slice one way of slicing your cause
55:41right loneliness and come down to what
55:44you're doing and talk about
55:46how uh your product you're offering will
55:49solve will contribute towards solving
55:52this problem of people you know not
55:55finding the the the the space not
55:57finding the niche not finding uh the the
56:01groove and not finding the tribe so I
56:03think you can sort of have a very
56:05interesting play around that so that
56:07even the end consumers are excited by
56:10what you're doing right they would sort
56:12of you would want to be at a place where
56:13people share what you're doing with
56:15their friends who probably would be a
56:17good you know uh Target customer for you
56:22so that is one way of slicing this that
56:24the lonely problem I think the the other
56:27problem the yeah I think that that is
56:30like a billion people suffering from it
56:32sort of a problem right I think that
56:35that is the only way so you can talk
56:37about this from universities do not do
56:39things right and so on right but I don't
56:43think that has a very interesting uh it
56:47it won't run far no we actually we do
56:49focus on M Mo's and like
56:51on the to be like a counterpart to the
56:55udmi and other kind of very uh not like
57:04experiences Etc uh so like being being
57:10being able to offer like a more
57:12interactive fun experience then that you
57:15will actually graduate and not F like go
57:195% and never look at it again yeah and
57:23Raj before you before you answer I'm
57:25just going to say that we're at the one
57:26hour Mark um I'm gonna stay for a little
57:29bit more uh Raj is that cool if we stay
57:31in for a little bit more by me that's
57:34cool by me right I think I've conveyed
57:37what I had to convey but but I think
57:40uh yeah I think uh yeah thanks thanks
57:42Ollie and if anyone has to leave uh I'll
57:46just stay here alone with roaj
57:50good see you later guys thanks Raj
57:57you have a good night's sleep oh yeah 1
58:01a.m. yeah so I think I think uh that bit
58:05is cool I mean it's it's cool but it's
58:09cause what I'm saying it's not a cause
58:13um it's interesting right it'll work you
58:16know it'll work because of you know
58:18completion rates will be met but I don't
58:20think moo completion rates is a societal
58:22problem m no it's more of the
58:26accountability like it's a it's a
58:28symptom not a not a reason it's more
58:33people having goals but not completing
58:35them so I think um um like the whole CBC
58:39movement that Raj you hinted at right
58:41like I think it's been something that
58:42I've been thinking about because
58:43internally we do the
58:45CBC exactly like 18 20 people haven't
58:48even crossed ever 20 by Design right so
58:52personally what I've seen is that there
58:53is strong stickiness if you have a
58:56common sort of a threat that unites
58:58people beyond your platform right like
59:00it has to come from within right so for
59:02us that was like passion for games right
59:05like that's the thing that unites people
59:07when they come in so if you have
59:10something that you can while it is a
59:13Tech play that what you're building but
59:16if there is something that you can fix
59:17on that can bring people together and
59:22have a core purpose uh
59:25Beyond um you know just this
59:28relationships that they're forming there
59:29right like I mean transcent is a good
59:31example right like we are all building
59:33something connected to education right
59:35like that that's a common threat whether
59:37transin exist or not it's still a common
59:40threat that nobody can take away right
59:42so so if if you can pick up some Niche
59:45aspect learn how to [ __ ] play chess
59:48right like chess is getting a boom
59:49because of all the AI crap that's
59:52throwing attention at it if there's a
59:54cohort of people learning how to play
59:55chess together now you have a stickiness
59:58aspect to it right so I think um well
01:00:01like one thing that I've picked up from
01:00:03the last two and a half three years of
01:00:05being in education is that people come
01:00:08together naturally form relationships if
01:00:11they have something beyond that puts
01:00:13them together right like otherwise we
01:00:15just trying to force people into a
01:00:17funnel and then you end up being into
01:00:19that selling motion rather than getting
01:00:22a Buy in from the people so so I think
01:00:24that's how probably I look at it like uh
01:00:27the loneliness aspect was very different
01:00:29because I never think in that direction
01:00:30so myang if you think about it like I
01:00:33think the interesting bit here is a
01:00:34sense of purpose right people like games
01:00:37people love games and come together with
01:00:38games is one level of it people love
01:00:41sports people come together over Sports
01:00:43is another level of it people love
01:00:45physics let's say and come together over
01:00:47of it one level but in the end they're
01:00:49coming together because they are all
01:00:51seeking like that sense of purpose and
01:00:53meaning in their lives mhm right that I
01:00:56mean games is just one level above way
01:00:59people solve for that so I think when it
01:01:02comes to communities I think you should
01:01:04go all the way in talk study religion
01:01:07bring that ele in in your narrative I'm
01:01:09not saying it needs to be on your
01:01:10company page it does it should your
01:01:13landing page probably should be you know
01:01:15a very formal thing which stands by it
01:01:17uh by by itself but when you go talk on
01:01:20your social when you trying to build a
01:01:21movement around it you need to things
01:01:24that other people are not willing to say
01:01:28think this context it would be very
01:01:30helpful for you to talk about how
01:01:33communities give people a sense of
01:01:34purpose and how I want to see to it that
01:01:38everyone should uh should have that
01:01:41should have a community that they belong
01:01:42to right everyone should press in their
01:01:47lives yeah with the community right so I
01:01:50think catch on to that bigger cause
01:01:52bigger thread and then sort of like your
01:01:56guess what what I feel is there's
01:01:58already so many people saying the same
01:02:00thing and I don't want to kind of state
01:02:02the obvious so I'm constantly like
01:02:04trying to find like a unique thing to
01:02:07say about it it never feels unique
01:02:12think sorry I think the the obvious bit
01:02:15here is the mukes having a 5% completion
01:02:19rate I think that is something that
01:02:20everyone is parting right it is it is
01:02:23very common place but not enough people
01:02:26are talking about the loneliness problem
01:02:28from and then tying it with
01:02:31education people are talking about the
01:02:33loneliness pandemic and so on on its own
01:02:36as a societ problem but no one is using
01:02:38it as an agenda to funnel people towards
01:02:41a a company a corporate mission right I
01:02:44would say that is an interesting
01:02:46intersection as compared to just saying
01:02:47hey move completion rates are 5% this
01:02:49will give better completion rates yeah
01:02:51but why should I care right like
01:02:55right that why should I
01:02:58care I had a quick followup uh just to
01:03:02get your thoughts on um so you've
01:03:04already done a few beta um courses and
01:03:08I'm curious when you think about um your
01:03:11average user of these courses versus
01:03:14someone who would be taking a a course
01:03:16like one of these CBC courses that um
01:03:19West and gagan are doing or like an
01:03:21average corsera udemy course like I
01:03:24guess if if you put all of those people
01:03:26in a room like what what are some of the
01:03:28patterns that you'd see uh because maybe
01:03:30there's something there that you can um
01:03:32kind of touch on when you're kind of
01:03:35addressing that that you mean the
01:03:41um I think well in our case it was
01:03:44definitely well our we had 100%
01:03:47graduation rates first of all like on
01:03:50all of our courses so everyone that
01:03:52started finished um
01:03:55um and they all like they they all paid
01:03:59the the premium for it in general had we
01:04:01had no problem with like uh charging
01:04:03money for for even like kind of
01:04:09coaches um but what what is like the
01:04:12most I think it was definitely like
01:04:15rallying people around a specific uh
01:04:19Challenge and a specific uh the the more
01:04:22Niche and more specific it was the more
01:04:24successful it was usually uh when it
01:04:28course um if like you you know launch
01:04:31your podcast in like two months or uh
01:04:35you know start meditating uh 10 minutes
01:04:39a day in in like 30 days or something
01:04:42like that had a very uh kind of
01:04:45specific uh goal in mind and all the
01:04:48people that were there were kind of all
01:04:51had like they had different reasons to
01:04:53be there but they all had a very
01:04:56similar uh cause that they were rallying
01:04:59around so why why specifically then
01:05:02you're not focusing on like these Niche
01:05:04segments any specific reason why you're
01:05:07not doubling down because you've already
01:05:08clearly seen some success metrics there
01:05:10right you mean like on the
01:05:12topics or I I don't have much
01:05:15understanding about the business uh so
01:05:17so that's I'm just generally
01:05:18open-endedly asking because you men we
01:05:21have a we have a hard focus on on soft
01:05:25mostly uh on things that are like
01:05:27require some communication and feedback
01:05:29to be successful at um so we're like
01:05:32we're not going to teach uh you know
01:05:36coding even though we do see ourselves
01:05:39like being able to be a
01:05:41complimentary product for coding school
01:05:44for and there's already so much noise in
01:05:45the coding Direction I don't even go
01:05:48that yeah but we are focusing on like
01:05:50human based skills like uh skills of to
01:05:53of tomorrow like communication
01:05:56leadership this kind of stuff this is
01:05:58like what we're doubling down on and the
01:06:00kind of creators that we're trying to
01:06:02bring on okay so I think a few pointers
01:06:05that I have to make uh is one like
01:06:09everyone thinks that they are capable of
01:06:10completing every course so if you tell
01:06:12them that hey 100% people complete this
01:06:15course versus 5% uh complete this course
01:06:18people think I would be in that 5%
01:06:20anyway yeah so people don't see that as
01:06:23like uh people are so confident that
01:06:25they don't think that no but creators
01:06:28do creators do see it as a problem
01:06:31creators do but I think uh they also
01:06:35think that they will be able to pull off
01:06:36courses which you know 100% folks would
01:06:40be able to clear off so I think uh and
01:06:43these are again often repeated themes
01:06:46right and the other thing is I think the
01:06:48niche Niche thing is good I think you
01:06:50should also talk about how niches niches
01:06:54that's the way people Network that's the
01:06:56way people build that sense of purpose
01:06:59yeah I think pin it to a very
01:07:02psychological very deep human Primal
01:07:05sort of a need and I think that would do
01:07:07a good job at conveying the message to
01:07:11to everyone because it instantly makes
01:07:13it look more Timeless Mo completion
01:07:16rates is so last decade it's a last
01:07:18decade problem but I want a sense of
01:07:21connection I want to feel like I can
01:07:23express that is the soft skills bit
01:07:26everyone wants to express and
01:07:28communicate right uh business
01:07:31communication and so on is again very uh
01:07:34you know like a lot of people talking
01:07:36about it but if you say that hey you
01:07:38fundamentally want to express as a human
01:07:40being leave the business aside then you
01:07:42will probably have get more
01:07:45eyeballs right so I think look at it uh
01:07:48from that that angle great right so
01:07:52that's been super helpful thank you very
01:07:55much so yeah I Alberto I think happy to
01:07:59take questions on this on slack as well
01:08:01I think this merits and other I
01:08:03mean yeah I will I will definitely do
01:08:06that I'll definitely reach
01:08:08out right especially on this cause bit
01:08:11um what would be like
01:08:14a yeah no I think this is like
01:08:16definitely something that I think we we
01:08:19need to be building more curriculum
01:08:21around like basically introduce it um at
01:08:24some point in the fellowship and like
01:08:26get everyone to think through these
01:08:27questions together um and do more
01:08:29sessions around so um yeah um we're I
01:08:33think a lot of people will definitely
01:08:34watch the recording and maybe like yeah
01:08:38like we can do like questions on on a
01:08:41slack thread and then just kind of keep
01:08:43brainstorming what might be a good way
01:08:45to um kind of keep up this momentum
01:08:48because I think a lot of people want to
01:08:50be thinking about this and I think this
01:08:51is like a very collaborative thing like
01:08:53we're all working on like very adjacent
01:08:56problems where like rtim like you
01:08:59understand the like the needs of the
01:09:01creators and the and the Learners and if
01:09:04I'm building something else that is kind
01:09:06of adjacent to to that like there's
01:09:09probably a perspective or a lesson that
01:09:11you've learned that I can incorporate
01:09:13into my definely U project so I'm I'm
01:09:16all ears I don't know if if you guys
01:09:18have any thoughts around how we can keep
01:09:19up like doing like maybe just doing
01:09:22another session um on this that is kind
01:09:24of like focus on people sharing their
01:09:27causes um I think a workshop would be
01:09:30great right like we can just like dive
01:09:32straight in and talk about people's
01:09:35problems and do it in breakout rooms
01:09:37perhaps but that'll probably take you
01:09:40know like 45 minutes or an hour of its
01:09:44yeah I think you should open it up to
01:09:46the general audience just you know that
01:09:52help as well so totally well I'm gonna
01:09:56um share some ideas with you guys later
01:09:59and we can keep up just perfect awesome
01:10:03thank great yeah thank you Raj this is
01:10:05awesome gonna stop recording now so by
