General Assembly raises $35M Series C
blog.generalassemb.ly
General Assembly raises $35M Series C
1–10 of 43 posts
Re: General Assembly raises $35M Series C
#2Wonderful, now they can send me even more spam.
Re: General Assembly raises $35M Series C
#3Slightly off-topic: does anyone have any experience with GA's courses? I'm considering taking one now, but I don't know anyone else who has.
If so, would you recommend them?
Re: General Assembly raises $35M Series C
#4I liked them better when they were a gorgeous co-working and hackathon space. They really had a "future of NYC tech" vibe.
Their pivot/focus on education seems to be unfortunate, not sure how they can get money back for their investors when education's future is more likely things like coursera (especially with their specialization tracks) udacity and edx.
That said, I do hope they succeed, I never had a bad time sitting on their couches.
Re: General Assembly raises $35M Series C
#5I liked them better when they were a gorgeous co-working and hackathon space. They really had a "future of NYC tech" vibe. Their pivot/focus on education seems to be unfortunate, not sure how they can get money back for their investors when education's future is more likely things like coursera (especially with their specialization tracks) udacity and edx. That said, I do hope they succeed, I never had a bad time sit…
I think the in-person element is crucial to the future of education. While there are many people who live in rural areas or internationally who benefit immensely from online platforms like Coursera, there are also a ton of people who live close enough to a city that it's worth it to pay more for the opportunity to learn in a physical environment. That's why GA is great - it takes the best of both, and can provide online education that is greatly bolstered by an in-person experience. Excited for them.
Re: General Assembly raises $35M Series C
#6So much money for such terrible(http://www.yelp.com/biz/general-assembly-san-francisco) classes!
Some highlights from Yelp:
"Their web immersive is a joke, but you'll never hear anyone admit that because they make you sign a waver/NDA that you promise not to tell anyone anything truthful/negative about your GA experience."
"Most of the money goes towards the advertising and marketing team, they have more marketers running around doing nothing all day than actual instructional staff."
"Sup-par teaching conditions: we were in a kitchen with a loud fridge in the back"
"Our teacher for our immersive was so underprepared and unenthusiastic and unqualified that the students tried to get him fired."
"The tables were jammed so tight in the room that we used to joke if there was a fire, no one would get out alive."
Re: General Assembly raises $35M Series C
#7We want to build General Assembly to still be thriving 75 years from now
There's a lot of negativity here on their pivot and marketing. I just like that they're talking about building a company to last. (Of course the VCs will want their money back well before 75 years)
Re: General Assembly raises $35M Series C
#8I liked them better when they were a gorgeous co-working and hackathon space. They really had a "future of NYC tech" vibe. Their pivot/focus on education seems to be unfortunate, not sure how they can get money back for their investors when education's future is more likely things like coursera (especially with their specialization tracks) udacity and edx. That said, I do hope they succeed, I never had a bad time sit…
I think the in-person element is crucial to the future of education. While there are many people who live in rural areas or internationally who benefit immensely from online platforms like Coursera, there are also a ton of people who live close enough to a city that it's worth it to pay more for the opportunity to learn in a physical environment. That's why GA is great - it takes the best of both, and can provide onl…
I agree that live interaction is important to the quality and results of education, but as far as making money from it, I believe many will choose the option that requires the least possible effort on their behalf.
Look at fad diets, get rich quick schemes, "one strange trick to perfect x," all those hilarious exercise machine informercials... people love the idea that they can get something for next to nothing, in terms of both effort and cost.
I imagine there's room for both (and for the middle ground, which apparently this is), but for many reasons, I don't see the online-only model going away (or even stalling).
Re: General Assembly raises $35M Series C
#9I liked them better when they were a gorgeous co-working and hackathon space. They really had a "future of NYC tech" vibe. Their pivot/focus on education seems to be unfortunate, not sure how they can get money back for their investors when education's future is more likely things like coursera (especially with their specialization tracks) udacity and edx. That said, I do hope they succeed, I never had a bad time sit…
I think the in-person element is crucial to the future of education. While there are many people who live in rural areas or internationally who benefit immensely from online platforms like Coursera, there are also a ton of people who live close enough to a city that it's worth it to pay more for the opportunity to learn in a physical environment. That's why GA is great - it takes the best of both, and can provide onl…
Don't want to be "that guy" but compare these offerings:
GA Data Science (4000$ and taught by MBAs): https://generalassemb.ly/education/data-science/new-york-cit...
Johns Hopkins Data Science via Coursera (490$, taught by Professors of Biostatistics, and granting a cert with Hopkins' name on it): https://www.coursera.org/specialization/jhudatascience/1?utm...
Now I'm not taking either class, but going to be very hard for GA to compete with things like this (and not to mention the outrageous quality codeschool.com pumps out). Let alone the rent they must pay for their awesome spaces.
Spanish, Chemistry, EE, Woodworking, Gross Anatomy and other classes with a serious lab component need an offline element for sure. But they are teaching things that most people usually pick up better from blogs, coursera, etc. (IMHO).
Re: General Assembly raises $35M Series C
#10Slightly off-topic: does anyone have any experience with GA's courses? I'm considering taking one now, but I don't know anyone else who has. If so, would you recommend them?
I took several of their classes about a year and a half ago, one of which was a long-form evening class. I never had a good experience... I get more out of watching a good meetup presentation on youtube. GA is defined by over promising and under delivering. At least all of their operations out in San Francisco have been terrible, i hear they are better in NYC where they started.