{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"The Luba Show","title":"He Co-founded $2B Udemy. Now a16z Gave Him $42M To Rethink College - Gagan Biyani","html":"<iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless src=\"https://share.transistor.fm/e/e333eb52\"></iframe>","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3118,"description":"Today I walk with Gagan Biyani, founder and CEO of the Horowitz Andreessen Academy. Gagan co-founded Udemy, which grew into a multibillion-dollar public company, built Sprig, co-founded Maven, and started his first profitable business at 13, and now he's building a16z's new school for young builders, backed by $42 million. He gets into the $60M company he had to shut down, why his investors backed him again anyway, and why a Harvard dropout means nothing to him.\nWe get into:\n-Starting a debate camp at 13 that ran 50% EBITDA margins, and landing in the principal's office for it\n-Sprig: $60M raised, 1,300 employees, a shutdown, and investors who backed his next company anyway\n-Why the Academy flips college around, with students building instead of attending class\n-The call from Andrew Chen and ten meetings with Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz that became the Academy\n-Why he tells 18-year-olds that raising VC is a ten-year commitment\nso much more!\n𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒\n(00:00) Trailer\n(01:01) Gagan Biyani, Founder & CEO, Horowitz Andreessen Academy\n(02:23) A one-year fellowship built around building, not class\n(03:55) The three skills that are AI proof\n(08:16) Grandparents from Rajasthan who never finished high school\n(09:31) Starting a debate camp at 13 with 50% margins\n(12:59) Why schools are afraid of student agency\n(18:33) Seven jobs, three years, and rarely going to class\n(18:46) Why most professors don't care about teaching\n(25:41) What Udemy and Maven taught him\n(33:32) Raising $60M at Sprig, shutting down, and getting backed again\n(38:16) Why raising VC at 18 is a ten-year commitment\n(39:21) The call from Andrew Chen that started the Academy\n(41:18) Why the best builders will pick a16z over MIT or Harvard\n(43:17) 50 founding students, tuition-free\n(45:46) Why a Harvard dropout means nothing to him\n(51:42) Outro\nFollow Gagan\nLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaganbiyani/\nX: https://x.com/gaganbiyani\nFollow Luba\nInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifeoflubaa/...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/YqzaHw3n0IkFjbaJ3P1-kJdgx8xK8KM9hpwhFomu37c/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS8yNTdk/NDE1ZWFmMmZiMGJk/YWZmODg0ZDZmMDYy/M2Q1Mi5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}