Michael Karnjanaprakorn and Malcolm Ong are the co-founders of Skillshare, a learning community for creators who want to share their skills through self-designed courses.
About Skillshare: Skillshare allows individuals to share their knowledge of their particular skills whether that be through photography, illustration, or marketing. The diversity of the skills on the platform is large and growing. The range of skills allows users who are looking to gain knowledge in niche industries to have access to instructors and information that might be more challenging to find in formal educational spaces. For instance, it’s unlikely that many Universities will offer a course on how to build a Youtube Channel or how to become a content creator. Skillshare is designed to work more as a bartering system, where individuals can exchange knowledge and skills. The mission of Skillshare is to create decentralized and democratized learning so that education is affordable and accessible.
About Michael & Malcolm: Micheal and Malcolm started Skillshare in New York in 2010, first launching the site officially in 2011. Micheal initially led a product team with Hot Potato, a company that was acquired by Facebook. And Malcolm was the product manager at OMGPop. Through a series of funding the duo ultimately raised $10 million within the first three years of the launch. Both founders sought to create a platform that revolutionized education with accessibility. In the early years, the platform became open-source, allowing instructors and creators to participate for free. However, they then later moved to a subscription-based service, though still kept costs and fees comparatively low.
Some Thoughts: My first interaction with Skillshare came from the Youtubers I had been following who had joined Skillshare and were promoting their courses. These YouTubers had capitalized on their followers and taught many who were interested, in how to replicate their specialized skills. Many YouTubers were setting up courses like digital design and how to gain followers on social media, or how to build a YouTube channel. These courses cost significantly less than their traditional counterparts. Many Photoshop courses can run up hundreds of dollars, if not more. Whereas this platform is subscription-based, meaning for 32 dollars a month, users get access to several courses. I think Skillshare is a fine example of the new age of learners shifting away from formal institutions for quality learning, especially for hands-on skills.
Sources
https://startuptalky.com/skillshare-success-story/
https://www.skillshare.com/en/?via=header