Udacity Raises $105M Series D, Bringing Valuation to $1B
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Udacity Raises $105M Series D, Bringing Valuation to $1B
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Re: Udacity Raises $105M Series D, Bringing Valuation to $1B
#2I taught myself to code on Udacity, and in a couple weeks I'm going to be launching a social network that I built with one other person. Shit works.
There's no reason why everyone shouldn't be on there.
edit: Obligatory link to sign up for the private beta: http://fwdeveryone.com/
Also, here is what I wrote about the experience at the time: http://alexkrupp.typepad.com/sensemaking/2013/11/2012-my-yea...
Re: Udacity Raises $105M Series D, Bringing Valuation to $1B
#3Mind. Boggles. "Nanodegrees"? "now recognized by some of Silicon Valley’s biggest companies, including Google and Salesforce"? What does that even mean?
And this is a company that has essentially "pivoted" to being a sort of vocational training in the CS space. There may be a business model there but it doesn't seem like anything particularly unique or deserving of out-sized evaluations.
Re: Udacity Raises $105M Series D, Bringing Valuation to $1B
#4Mind. Boggles. "Nanodegrees"? "now recognized by some of Silicon Valley’s biggest companies, including Google and Salesforce"? What does that even mean? And this is a company that has essentially "pivoted" to being a sort of vocational training in the CS space. There may be a business model there but it doesn't seem like anything particularly unique or deserving of out-sized evaluations.
Nanodegrees aren't the only thing Udacity does; they're also the content delivery platform for Georgia Tech's OMSCS program (http://www.omscs.gatech.edu/) that was in the news not so long ago (the "$7,000 master's degree"). I'm not sure how much revenue that partnership generates, but maybe they plan on having similar relationships with other universities in the future?
Re: Udacity Raises $105M Series D, Bringing Valuation to $1B
#5I used to think these online educational companies wouldn't be very profitable in the long run. Then I discovered Udemy. In the last two months I've bought three courses on Udemy (at about $10-$20 each). The courses aren't your conventional CS classes. I bought a course on Photoshop mastery. Another on Android programming, and another on Adobe Illustrator skills. I've enjoyed the material so far.
I have undergrad and grad degrees from respected US schools, so I don't really need certification, but I still find myself taking these online courses.
In the case of Photoshop and Illustrator, its not even for the sake of employment (although it might be useful in the long run). There's something satisfying about acquiring skills in an area you are really deficient in.
Re: Udacity Raises $105M Series D, Bringing Valuation to $1B
#6Mind. Boggles. "Nanodegrees"? "now recognized by some of Silicon Valley’s biggest companies, including Google and Salesforce"? What does that even mean? And this is a company that has essentially "pivoted" to being a sort of vocational training in the CS space. There may be a business model there but it doesn't seem like anything particularly unique or deserving of out-sized evaluations.
I assume "recognized" means that when a recruiter for those company sees that, their reaction is:
"Nanodegree in... what the what? Oh, wait a second. Yeah, this is that PR from the Khan Academy or whatever. Sure, I recognize that from the other wave of applications."
Depending on the savvy of the recruiters they might start to figure that nano = one billionth, so a nano degree is roughly an eight of a second of a four year degree.
Re: Udacity Raises $105M Series D, Bringing Valuation to $1B
#7Mind. Boggles. "Nanodegrees"? "now recognized by some of Silicon Valley’s biggest companies, including Google and Salesforce"? What does that even mean? And this is a company that has essentially "pivoted" to being a sort of vocational training in the CS space. There may be a business model there but it doesn't seem like anything particularly unique or deserving of out-sized evaluations.
Nanodegrees aren't the only thing Udacity does; they're also the content delivery platform for Georgia Tech's OMSCS program ( http://www.omscs.gatech.edu/ ) that was in the news not so long ago (the "$7,000 master's degree"). I'm not sure how much revenue that partnership generates, but maybe they plan on having similar relationships with other universities in the future?
Some of the mixed education initiatives actually make a lot of sense. There are aspects of many classes where one-to-many broadcast and automated grading serve a useful role. Not sure they're "unicorn" valuable, but they're valuable.
Re: Udacity Raises $105M Series D, Bringing Valuation to $1B
#8Relevant interview with Sebastian Thrun(CEO) on the raise: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2015-11-12/sebastian-th...
Re: Udacity Raises $105M Series D, Bringing Valuation to $1B
#9Mind. Boggles. "Nanodegrees"? "now recognized by some of Silicon Valley’s biggest companies, including Google and Salesforce"? What does that even mean? And this is a company that has essentially "pivoted" to being a sort of vocational training in the CS space. There may be a business model there but it doesn't seem like anything particularly unique or deserving of out-sized evaluations.
I wouldn't be so down on vocational training for software...It is a field that has an unusually high requirement for ongoing learning. And when you have to learn some new tech, usually you have to do it now, and in-place, not next September, in the nearest college town. Given the high ongoing learning requirements that software has, I think there is a pretty clear need for training that's delivered where you are and when you need it, and traditional schools won't be able to do that.
Re: Udacity Raises $105M Series D, Bringing Valuation to $1B
#10Mind. Boggles. "Nanodegrees"? "now recognized by some of Silicon Valley’s biggest companies, including Google and Salesforce"? What does that even mean? And this is a company that has essentially "pivoted" to being a sort of vocational training in the CS space. There may be a business model there but it doesn't seem like anything particularly unique or deserving of out-sized evaluations.
really? Companies pay _sooooo_ much money for employee training. a billion for this makes a hell of a lot more sense than billion dollar valuations for companies in races to the bottom.