Sebastian Thrun Steps Down as Udacity's CEO
fortune.com
Sebastian Thrun Steps Down as Udacity's CEO
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Re: Sebastian Thrun Steps Down as Udacity's CEO
#2> Thrun, who will remain as president and chairman of Udacity, said that he will continue to work full-time at Udacity, but he will take on a role focused on what he is passionate about—innovation.
Just personal interpretation whenever someone says he or she is focusing on innovation without too much information: "I am not sure what I want to do, I am going to pretend I know what I want to do with the company's money here."
What is innovation these days?
Re: Sebastian Thrun Steps Down as Udacity's CEO
#3> Thrun, who will remain as president and chairman of Udacity, said that he will continue to work full-time at Udacity, but he will take on a role focused on what he is passionate about—innovation. Just personal interpretation whenever someone says he or she is focusing on innovation without too much information: "I am not sure what I want to do, I am going to pretend I know what I want to do with the company's money…
A bit too cynical, I think. This kind of arrangement, where one of the cofounders steps down to let someone else run the company, is very very common. Especially when the person stepping down is more technical/scientific. Remember that Thrun used to be a professor and used to do/lead research at Google.
Re: Sebastian Thrun Steps Down as Udacity's CEO
#4> Thrun, who will remain as president and chairman of Udacity, said that he will continue to work full-time at Udacity, but he will take on a role focused on what he is passionate about—innovation. Just personal interpretation whenever someone says he or she is focusing on innovation without too much information: "I am not sure what I want to do, I am going to pretend I know what I want to do with the company's money…
I disagree, I'd say it means there's too much day to day running of the org that their key people aren't able to focus on the longer term. That's pretty common.
Re: Sebastian Thrun Steps Down as Udacity's CEO
#5I wonder what is hidden behind the phrase "the college partnerships failed".
I took some great courses on Udacity, Coursera, and edX back in the days when they regularly offered amazing comprehensive college courses for free.
They do still offer free courses. However, it seems that the atmosphere of free accessible education is somehow lost, with the advent of the "specializations" and "nanodegrees" and the like. Or maybe I just got older and more cynical, I'm not sure.
Re: Sebastian Thrun Steps Down as Udacity's CEO
#6Professor Thrun changed my life, I and many tens of thousands around the world graduated from his classes, gaining an education that would have been impossible for many of us.
I am forever in his debt for his tireless work as an educator and his work on SLAM & Self Driving Cars.
Being taught by practitioners at the cutting edge of research like Thrun, Norvig, Ng, & Hinton is the education I dreamed of. I hope that Udacity develops into a full research vehicle and offers its own qualifications, the UKs Open University is a good model for this.
His 2015 talk on democratising education is visionary, practical and disruptive. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=898S7o9UnPA
Re: Sebastian Thrun Steps Down as Udacity's CEO
#7I wonder what is hidden behind the phrase "the college partnerships failed". I took some great courses on Udacity, Coursera, and edX back in the days when they regularly offered amazing comprehensive college courses for free. They do still offer free courses. However, it seems that the atmosphere of free accessible education is somehow lost, with the advent of the "specializations" and "nanodegrees" and the like. Or…
They need to make money? We should be thankful they haven't resorted to advertising or selling our information.
Re: Sebastian Thrun Steps Down as Udacity's CEO
#8$24mm annual run rate and 30% m/m revenue growth (2015) with a $1B valuation (2015)
Per the article...
Re: Sebastian Thrun Steps Down as Udacity's CEO
#9I wonder what is hidden behind the phrase "the college partnerships failed". I took some great courses on Udacity, Coursera, and edX back in the days when they regularly offered amazing comprehensive college courses for free. They do still offer free courses. However, it seems that the atmosphere of free accessible education is somehow lost, with the advent of the "specializations" and "nanodegrees" and the like. Or…
I feel somewhat the same. I took a couple Udacity courses that were great and quite a few from Coursera. Coursera's free offerings are now partially gutted by restricting non-paying students from taking tests and submitting assignments.
Re: Sebastian Thrun Steps Down as Udacity's CEO
#10I wonder what is hidden behind the phrase "the college partnerships failed". I took some great courses on Udacity, Coursera, and edX back in the days when they regularly offered amazing comprehensive college courses for free. They do still offer free courses. However, it seems that the atmosphere of free accessible education is somehow lost, with the advent of the "specializations" and "nanodegrees" and the like. Or…
I feel somewhat the same. I took a couple Udacity courses that were great and quite a few from Coursera. Coursera's free offerings are now partially gutted by restricting non-paying students from taking tests and submitting assignments.
Who would have guessed that the new online education revolution™, where effectiveness is measured in similar status/signaling games, would pander to the status quo?
That being said, there's an amazing wealth of knowledge on the internet completely free to consume not locked behind any particular walled garden awaiting those who dare step out of their comfort zones of consumption/absorption, but its not nicely packaged in the latest fad de jour… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯