#002 Sal Khan, Founder of The Khan Academy - Pivots Through Growth - a podcast by Ann Hiatt

Welcome back to another episode of Bet On Yourself! This episode is one you absolutely will not want to miss!!

Are you an entrepreneur who is facing the challenges of massive scale and booming growth? Could you use some advice on how to pivot fast and build a team for resilience? Or are you a parent struggling with getting your kids education back on track from lockdown and trying to make the switch to online learning? Well, my guest today has all the expert answers you’re dying for!

Sal Khan is an entrepreneur who founded the not-for-profit Khan Academy, a free online education platform where he has created and uploaded thousands of bite-sized videos, step-by-step problems and teaching a wide variety of subjects, from mathematics and sciences to arts, humanities and life skills with instant progress tracking.

Khan Academy offers learning for all levels, from pre-K all the way up to university. Their mission is to provide a free, world-class education to anyone, anywhere. Before running Khan Academy full-time, Sal worked as a hedge fund analyst. He also has three degrees from MIT and an MBA from Harvard.

Since March of this year, the Khan Academy has seen a 300% increase in users. Over 30 million kids have been using the videos. And as of 2020, it has more than 6 million subscribers on YouTube. During this chaotic year full of pivots and exponential growth, he also found the time to found schoolhouse.world, an initiative to connect people around the world to learn together for free.

If you, like me, are wondering how Sal has pulled all of this off and is saving the future of the world through education I hope you will listen to the very end where he shares his answer which - spoiler alert - involves benevolent aliens. Haha!

OK, without further ado, Sal Khan!

Minute by minute summary:

2.45: Khan walks us through the foundational history of the Khan Academy

5.30: Did Sal anticipate that Khan academy would be this big? What is the foundational philosophy around Khan academy and making it free and a non-for-profit right from the beginning?

9.30: Sal walks us through what they offer at the Khan Academy, and the labels that kids are often given; gifted average or struggling.

14:00: Dealing with growth. How are they keeping it together through the massive growth periods they’re currently seeing?

20:30: The Khan Academy team

22:00: What about this massive period of growth has challenged you most as a leader?

25:40: What is the best approach for ed tech? What are you trying to do?

29:00: the digital divide. How can we reach those who don’t have access to tech and what are some easy tools for the younger one who are having to be their own guide?

35:40: Sal talks to us about some of the formal relationships that they’re doing with schools, parents and students directly to give them a semblance of control back.

39:45: how can the listeners engage with you? Is their ways in which the Khan Academy can be financially supported?

42:00: what gives Sal hope for the future?

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