MasterClass is a subscription based online streaming platform of video lessons. The defining feature of MasterClass is the quality (and star power) of its “teachers”, all of whom are successful and well-known in their respective fields. Some of MasterClass’s taglines include “Learn from the Best” and “They changed the world. Now you.”, drawing heavily on it’s unique one-on-one master-student connection offering. MasterClass offers a myriad of topics ranging from Food, Sports & Gaming, Music, Writing, and more. As a subscription-based service, MasterClass offers annual memberships at three separate tiers (Standard, Plus, Premium). A new addition is an “At Work” MasterClass version which offers a one-time 12-month activation code for businesses to provide employees.
David Rogier founded MasterClass (then known as Yanka Industries named after his grandmother) in 2014, with the official MasterClass launch in 2015. He received an BA and an MBA and spent a year post-education working for a seed-stage venture-capital fund run by one of his Stanford professors before launching his own venture. He initially developed the idea for a “education” venture from a discussion with his grandmother on the quality of learning, and the rhetoric surrounding him from colleagues on how what they had learned in formal education was quickly irrelevant (many noted feelings of being “ripped off”, which Rogier himself identified with as a learner with a history of struggles within formal education). When he set about starting the venture, he began by paying strangers $25 on Craigslist to tell him about their experiences with education. These discussions led him to the question “What if anyone could learn from the best?” and fundraising and recruiting began for the first three instructors at MasterClass. MasterClass now has over 150 instructors.
Within MasterClass’s Leadership Team, there appear to be no formally trained educators, but a wealth of business graduates, and notably an award winning film producer who manages Content (which in this case encompasses curriculum development). Other team members exist for general business operations such as legal council, human resources, marketing, finances, and diversity/equity/inclusion. Each member of the Leadership Team, however, has an impressive repertoire of qualifications for their role – example: the current MasterClass Chief Product Officer Paul Bankhead was previously a senior director of product management at Google managing their Google Play Store.
*It is worth noting that when MasterClass launched in 2015, it was attributed two co-founders, David Rogier and Aaron Rasmussen. Rasmussen was the chief technology offiicer and creative director for MasterClass at this time until his departure in 2017. Much of the fomatting of MasterClass’s services were born during this time frame. Rasmussen is a self-proclaimed serial entrepreneur who has since launched https://www.outlier.org/ which offers a similar service to MasterClass within the for-credit online university-level teachings.
The major inspiration that I can draw from MasterClass’s founder David Rogier is that nothing is quite out of reach. One of the main draws of MasterClass is having the “master” instruction, a master whose attention certainly feels out of reach to the average person or entrepreneur. Which budding environmentalist would imagine that they could have a direct instruction from Dr. Jane Goodall, for example? This extensive effort to deliver the “best of the best” inspires me to approach my own ideas this way: if I could do it the best way, what would that be?
As a closing point, I came across this interesting article about MasterClass and the future of education – worth a read!
It’s the Year 2120. MasterClass Is the Only School Left.
Thanks for the post Ally,
I have seen advertisements for Masterclass before and they always seem excellently crafted. David Rogier seems to be a strong role-model for would-be entrepreneurs. I like how he identified a problem and market from his grandmother and colleagues. He developed and analyzed this need by surveying people about their education before starting his fundraiser. It’s an interesting concept to have the “masters” of a field teach others. Although I haven’t seen it in person, I think Rogier’s vision is unique.
Wow, David has a very distinctive venture here. He’s a role model of the role models! I appreciate the idea of “learning from the best,” and think students would find it “cool” to learn from a “master” who, in some cases, is a celebrity. The only problem I have with this venture is; are all masters necessarily the best teachers? Upon doing a little digging it appears that the masters get paid quite well for the content they help create. I can’t help but feel that some of these people with their fame and wealth shouldn’t’ be getting paid at all, but rather be donating their expertise pro bono. However, then I guess the argument could be made that David should then too be offering the masterclasses for free and that wouldn’t be very entrepreneurial at all! I personally would like to take the tennis master class taught by Serena Williams!
Meagan, you’ve struck the nail on the head for one of MasterClass’s biggest criticisms: not all of these masters can “teach.” I’ve pulled an excerpt from the article that I included at the bottom which captures this nicely. MasterClass isn’t SUPPOSED to be a replacement for school according to Rogier, but it does certainly walk that walk in some marketing material…
—————————–
The MasterClass method is not devoid of its skeptics, who speculate if the masters may possibly not be best narrators of their personal prowess. (“We are not a replacement for school,” Mr. Rogier advised me.) “These men and women are not instructors,” stated Cole Steffensen, who works in electronic internet marketing though pursuing a occupation as a stand-up comedian. “It’s that dreadful declaring, folks who just can’t do, teach. But the opposite is also legitimate: men and women who are out there carrying out stuff never essentially make very good academics.”
—————————–
Given your note, you may also be interested in the Rasmussen’s new venture which features MasterClass stylings but in the context of university level accredited education: https://www.outlier.org
David Rogier is definitely a role model for entrepreneurs, I also love how the idea was rooted in conversations with his grandma. I will say that I find it interesting that there are no formally trained educators on the Leadership Team for a learning platform. That said, as mentioned in some comments above, the allure in MasterClass does not seem to be through the quality of education (those who have been trained to teach) but more so from those are celebrities from being experts in their fields sharing their knowledge. What is there secret? Why are they the best? People are curious – and this is where I see the magic in MasterClass as you get to learn about their perspective and get a glimpse in their thinking. It is very interesting.
I love the quote “Learn from the Best”; People do learn from educators, but tend to emulate the professionals they see out in the field. I think David’s philosophy of finding the “best” and having them as Teachers does move away from our “Professor knows all” attitude in education; an attitude most educational facilities are working hard to transform. I think the other remarkable aspect of this venture is the star power David has been able to pull in to make his master classes quite legitimate. It really does attempt to epitomize “the best of the best” concept!
I like Rogier’s story as it feels obtainable for an average person. He received a standard education, noticed a problem, and created a successful venture around something that could address the pain point. It appears that he has found what appeals to the public and has assembled a team around that vision, which likely focuses on flashy marketing and attracting big names rather than educational content. I say this because there are no educators on the board and one does not become a good teacher/educator just by being the best at what they do. For the vast majority, I think for an average person, the advantages of learning from a master over learning from someone slightly more experienced is neglible or even nonexistent, since masters could be geniuses who never struggled through the same obstacles.
I really enjoyed this business model from the very start. They appear to have began with a minimum viable product, and expanded it over the years. At the very least, having this collection of renowned experts recorded is a tremendous asset for the future. I have often considered purchasing either a single course, or a pass, deciding not to only because of the lack of time. I think this approach could be re-created in smaller markets, such as music.