What makes MasterClass work? with David Rogier from MasterClass (re-release)

Hello and welcome to found Tech crunch's Podcast that brings you the stories Behind the startups I'm your host Becca Scac and you'll be hearing from My Fabulous co-host Dominic madori Davis in Just a few minutes it's a holiday week Here in the US and we hope wherever you Are you taking some time to do whatever Summer things you like to do best Personally this week you'll find me Chasing after my golf balls in the woods But before I head off to embarrass Myself on the course we have a little Treat for you we're bringing back our Episode with David rajer the founder and CEO of masterclass this was easily one Of my favorite episodes from last year So I hope you enjoy hearing about Roger's quite interesting Entrepreneurial journey and how he's Made the streaming platform for Educational content Work hey Dom how's it going I'm good how Are you I'm good and I wanted to ask you Do you like to like watch video Tutorials or like watch things online to Like learn about new things no um I one Thing I remember from I think I learned This in high school or middle school oh I feel like I'm a kinesthetic learner I Learned that one term and then I kept Running with it I have to like do things And touch things and even in college I Had to rewrite all the notes I couldn't

Type notes I had to write everything Down on paper so I could feel the words No I totally get that when I teach Pilates I have to like write down what I'm going to teach by hand and then I Don't look at it but if I were to just Like do it on my phone I'm not going to Remember it yeah I won't remember at all Why do you ask well I ask because we Have a lovely guest today on the show We're talking with David rier the CEO And founder of masterclass which I'm Sure some of our listeners are already Familiar with but in case you aren't Masterclass is the streaming platform Where you can learn from the world's Experts on a variety of topics from Baking to screenwriting to developing Empathy through sort of high quality Videos and we had a great conversation With David it was super fun and we Learned a lot about his thinking about Master class we touched on his intention His intentional ideation and testing Process of what format would work for Viewers we talked a little bit about why He thinks of masterclass as a creative First company as well as his unique Approach to hiring because this isn't a Traditional tech company or a Traditional creative company it was a Lot of fun so here's our conversation With David hey David how's it going good hi

Becca thanks so much for coming on the Show we're excited to have you thrill to Be here I'm sure some of our listeners Are familiar with your startup but I Think that's probably the best place to Start why don't you start by telling us A little about master class the idea of Master class was can we make it so that Everybody in the world can learn from The very best and so we offer classes From everybody from Steph Curry to Anna Wior and ideas to learn things that you Can actually apply into your life and Also to learn from the very best in the World and it is such an interesting Concept for a company and I'm curious What was the journey like to start Master Class how did you come up with This idea to begin with it was a very Hard and long journey it started I was Working in Venture so I was an investor Started on the dark side Interesting and I honestly I didn't love It on the investing side and I I'm not Sure how good I was at it and I went to My boss one day and I I started talking To him about that and I started to share That with him and I realized I wanted to Start something he asked me what and I Was like I'm not sure the idea you know I'm not sure what and he did something Exceptionally gen kind and he seated me Without an Idea and that was amazing right I mean

That that was so generous and I kind of Freaked out a little bit I Also I don't know if this makes any Sense but actually Became a very dark time for me because I Felt this was a once- in a-lifetime Chance that I did not want to mess up I Didn't have a great idea I don't know if There's a right way to think of a good Idea so much of our life we have Constraints and a path and guard rails And this one I really didn't and you Can't complain about it to anybody Because you're not getting any empathy But for somebody like oh so you have Cash to think of anything you want to do Oh do you want to hug you aren't getting Any hugs right and so you know for Probably a year I was going through Trying to think of an idea and I did Everything from thinking of the needs I Had I thought about what are Trends out There in the world I started testing Things I tested one idea out that um so I am allergic to nuts and I remember I Talking to my dad and he's like David How cool would it be if you could like Wave like a magic wand over some food And would would turn red if there are Nuts in there so I actually like try to Build a that you would stick in the food It's way harder to wave a wand that you Would stick in the food and it would Turn red if there were nuts and we we

Actually got it to work at 80% of the Time the problem is is that you would Die the other 20% of the time that it's A pretty bad idea and then somebody gave Me a great constraint she said choose an Idea that even if it fails you would be Proud of it that was an amazing Constraint for me and I think sometimes Having a constraint helps you think of Better ideas and I thought really hard About that and I was raised in part by My grandmother who lost everybody in the Second world war in the Holocaust and She instilled in me that education is The only thing that someone can't take Away from you and I realized if I have This one chance what if I could build Something that people can't take away From others and that meant is going to Be an education and I started posting Ads on Craigslist asking to talk to People about their education I started Thinking a lot about why I didn't take Online classes at the time um started Think about things I do take online this Idea kind of came about what if you Could build a school that is for the Rest of your life and it's taught by the Very best in the world and that was kind Of the Inception of Master Class I'm Definitely curious the VC that you were Working with who did give you the money What did he think of this idea when you Came to him and were like okay I finally

Have like this idea I think I'm going to Run with it's a really good question at First if I remember I presented him cuz I would try like every month to go Present him the ideas I'm thinking about And I'm testing and I'm iterating on and I think the master class idea was like It was split up among like two ideas and He's like sounds like one idea to me and Then I think he was just like go do it Already and did you blow like all of Your seed money in the experimental Phase or did you have to like good Question how much money was left when You came to the idea of Master Class Very good question I I didn't blow all Of it but but I probably it's probably Half of it probably half of it cuz it Was a couple hundred, bucks and I was Testing ideas and at that point then I Was practicing to film and testing the Filming so like that's where a lot of The cost went to so it's probably half Of it but you're right I mean like I Mean to your point I'm like I felt on The clock right because that money was Going to run out you yeah when did you Decide to go back and get more funding Once you had an idea so I think the job Of like a CEO the number one job is Making sure you never run out of money That's your number one job because Everything else like if you don't do That everything else stops right and

Then two I was taught to think of a Startup almost as like a science Experiment and where like every phase You're trying to test hypotheses or to Reduce risk so I think for me when I Went back to go raise more money it was Like okay I have this idea but that's Not enough to raise off of what are the Things people are going to think are the Hard Parts is this guy going to be able To sign the best folks in the world to Actually teach right like I don't come From entertainment world like that's Going to be hard for people to believe That I can sign those people two am I Going to be able to make things that are Actually good right that people actually Going to want to learn from and then Three are people going to want to buy it So I said okay with a little money I Have left how do I prove those things Out signing the top people in the world The only way is like actually sign them So I was like okay can I get one or two To say yes before rais or something but The other ones I could prove out more so For example if I'm able to make good Stuff I can film test classes we Actually filmed a bunch of test classes Trying to remember exactly when but one Of the ones we did was with my mom and Dad and we like filmed them and it Wasn't like we weren't going to put Those on the site but it was like are we

Able to make something compelling and Good and you know we get people actually Buy this I did polls asking people if They would buy it actually filmed a Sample class put it up for sale under a Different brand and we actually sold That class but to like almost test like Hey was our math right so I was trying To re kind of reduce the risk and prove Points out so I think the time we raised Again we had filmed some test stuff we Had put it up for sale under a different Brand I think we had a couple Instructors say yes but I don't think we Had anybody signed yet so it was still Risky but I was trying to reduce that Risk I'm definitely curious what it was Like to sign who is now on Master Class Of course because like you mentioned at The top of the call you guys have some Really known and notable names Anna wior Steph Curry Serena Williams What was it like actually reaching out To these people and getting them on Board was everyone sort of oh I love This idea like I'm on board or did you Have to do any education or convincing To kind of get people to sign on I mean Everybody said the idea sucks and isn't Going to work I mean like everybody Really oh yeah oh yeah I mean it was Everybody told me the idea isn't going To work and so I mean tons of NOS I Couldn't even get into the rooms with

The people on their teams and I cold I Mean I was cold emailing trying to find Anybody who knows somebody who might Know somebody else to make the intro and The first one we filmed was with the Author James Patterson and I cold Emailed everybody on his team and then Somebody actually responded back to me And they like wanted to hear the pitch And I pitched them and then I wasn't Sure and then one day on my cell phone I Get a call from a number I don't I don't Know and at the time I guess you didn't Get a lot of spam calls because I Actually answer the phone like now I Would never answer a call from a cell Phone number you don't know about right And the guy who's on the phone goes hi This is James I was like excuse me Patterson I'm like the author I was so Unslick and he's like I saw your Proposal I talk to my team if the timing Works I I actually would love to chat More about it and in my head I'm like is Somebody find a trick on me how do I Know I don't know what James Patterson Sounds like actually right like and I've Read I've read a bunch of his books I Know he sounds like and then it actually Was him and that was the first one we Filmed that's amazing which I'm Definitely curious because of course all Those names are on now was there like a Time where you felt like switch where

People all of a sudden started answering Your calls and emails or like when did That change to people wanting to sign on Yeah so first was impossible and you Have to get people who really want to do It and believe in it and want to take That risk then it probably changed Probably after like the first five after The first five we had launched because If you think about it if you're one of Our instructors before this is before Launching you have to think about what Are the risks to you like am I going to Look bad on it is my brand going to be D Destroyed is the class is going to be Things I don't want to be a part of or The other instructors I'm not going to Want to be a part of those right a part Of that school and so I think after five We made sure that we started with the Best in the world and like you start at The top right and you really stay strict To that so that then people feel Comfortable and safe and they start to Trust you we also one of the big Innovations we had was how we filmed our Classes you know most online classes at That time were like a webcam in the back Of a classroom and just put on the web And I think that's part of the reason Why people don't like taking online Classes and we said Hey what if we film It to look like a movie and at the Production levels of feature film and

All of a sudden that not only has the Effect of like it's more interesting Right the amount of effort and work We're putting into that class would be Really maximize how how good it is but Also if I'm an instructor be like I know I'm I'm gonna be okay with how I look on The screen how I'm shown and that that Also helped so I think probably after The first five and then now I mean we Say no probably nine out of 10 Instructors really yeah oh wow how did You um do the instructors get paid to do This instructors are paid to do it but I Mean nobody is doing it because of the Money because like what I that was the Thing like early on I didn't know like I Was like how much are these going to Have to pay them because I only had a Couple hundred thousand dollars right Like I can't pay you know if you pay a Lot you're you're done very quickly and Then what I saw it was interesting was Like they all have other opportunities To earn more money I mean any of them Can do a American Express ad and earn Tremendous amount of money this was Something where it was about them Wanting to to do it now sometimes the Act that we were going to pay showed Them especially early on that this Something that we are investing in and We really care about but like the amount Of time and effort they spend on this is

Not worth how much they would get paid Yeah because I definitely wanted to talk To you about advertising because it Seems at least on the master class side All the instructors it seems like when They get this opportunity to do it it Kind of solidifies them as an expert in The field and I'm thinking that cuz That's so cool to hear you say Dom CU in The beginning that wasn't like that that Was our aspiration and goal so so thank You one of the journalists I follow when I saw she did one I was like oh I guess She's like really about this life um and So I wanted to talk to you about Advertising and how you went about Marketing this to get more or kind of Like to solidify your own reputation Yeah D are you asking like in terms of Two instructors on the consumer brand Side kind of both because I guess you Know the audience Peres this as these Are experts and also I guess when people Do it they're like I'm you know top of My game how did you go about marketing And advertising to I guess both sides of It all yeah okay so I think one is the Choice of the instructors and always Saying that's like the best of the best Right there's so many times when you Have an incentive to drop that bar right In almost anything you do right on brand But like just you have to not drop it Right the second thing was we try to

Make the ads not seem like ads so like Our ads like our main ad is actually What we call it is a trailer right and The people we have work on are movie Trailer folks and so the idea was like How do you not make it seem like an Infomercial and you make it seem like Something it's just all inspiring and Really special and can change how you Work or how you think or how you do any Craft I think that had a big impact on It and then I also think you know a lot Of it especially on the instructor side It is a small world and so how we treat Them is really important and so like it Was important for us early on that this Isn't like a one and done type deal this Is a long longterm partnership and we Want to do right by you and so trying to Make that class as best as possible you Know making sure they get to approve any Big thing in the class it's them who Decides what's in the class how it comes Across the marketing like that answer It's also curious how you guys think About structuring these different Classes because I know some things like James Patterson watching a video of him Talking about his practices for writing Definitely feels like something that can Be captured in a video that you're kind Of sitting down watching maybe taking Notes whereas say Steph Curry or Serena Williams talking about the sports that

They play those kind of things are Sometimes better learn in doing or Someone showing you in person as you're Trying it yourself and so I'm curious Because you have such a broad span of Different types of talent who do these Videos how do you think about making Everybody's Talent fit into this format Because some definitely Lear better than Others yeah I mean Steph Curry you can't Have him sit in a chair and just talk About it right like you're going to miss A lot of it so like for Steph Curry we Went to like his practice court that he Plays on and he breaks down the drills He does how he shoots and he brings in Other people that he has worked with Right in there on it and then the parts In the chair are almost like we haven't Breakdown game footage right and explain What's happening on it there are some People who would I mean always love I Mean instead of being able to watch St Like I want to train with Steph like of Course but like Steph can't do that at Scale right and so the idea is like this Is a way for him to share it with tons Of people at scale that otherwise you Would not have access to it and there What we also learned is I don't know Have you ever been to like a question Answer talk by somebody and like people Are anxious to ask a question or are Hesitant to raise their hand and talk

About it or ask a question and part Because they are they is this going to Be a good question is the person going To think it's a good question part we Found is like by it not being live is People feel more safe to be able to Think about it and really reflect on it Then the times we do have a live Component or live Zoom with the Instructors then people feel more Comfortable to ask a question because They're like I was able to really think About it and prep about it and think About when you guys did launch Masterclass to Consumers what was growth Like since then because I know you guys Were founded a number of years ago at This point you weren't founded like last Year so how was no we eight years ago Eight years ago eight and a half I think Now eight and a half so what was it like Launching what did you hear from Consumers and how have you guys thought About growth since then yeah the day we Launched this is like my own stuff I Assume the world's going to want to hear About this right it's been the thing I've been working on for years so Obviously people are going to want to Hear about it and we're going to get Tons of press and going to be a huge Sales day I remember some person our Team gave me a backup phone charger cuz He's like your phone's going to be off

The hook ringing so I came in with like A lot of you know maybe false or high Expectations and that first day I'm Trying to remember we sold like a 100ish classes and you're like I am Screwed I am Screwed I went home and like I actually Cried because I was like I convinced Three you know the biggest people in the World to do this and I've been working On this for two years to get off the Ground and a 100 people signed up like I'm dead and I remember I called my mom And dad and they told me to to fake it Until I make it and at the you know I Was like I mean like I didn't know what Else to do and I went back to the office Next day and I walk in and somebody in Our marketing team has a big smile on His face and I said hey what's going on He's like this business is going to be Huge and I was like what and he's like If I look at the cxs I'm spending on Marketing I can scale this very quick Very fast and you're like wait what and Then day two sales were pretty good day Three and you're like all of a sudden Okay if this is just the Bas you're Going to climb up every day like okay so Probably like day one I thought we were Screwed on day to I knew was going to be A big business um what do you think Attracted so many people to like want to I guess use Master Class like what is it

About master class that people are like Really into I think people want to learn I think that's inherent trait to I think People actually love to learn I think School often beats that out of us though I mean okay let me ask you I still have Dreams that I'm late to a f an exam or I'm one CR I'm one CR readit short of a Class do either of you like have bad Dreams about school yeah yeah the trauma From middle school is there high school Sometimes it is like PTSD I mean like it There is trauma there right I think lots Of people share that and so if you can Build a school that people want to go to And doesn't have that then I think that Taps into some very core needs of Everybody so what does that look like Where you say hey one like tests and Quizzes that gets in the way sometimes I Want to learn right two is like you know For the first 18 years of your life you Were required by law to keep your butt In the seat so like what if you make a School where like it's your choice and Things are so good that you want to stay There and watch it I mean how many of us Have sat in a lecture or class that You're like this thing could have been Done in three minutes right and so like That's our bar so we our team tests Every class right and I remember in our First class with James Patterson he Starts a class with hi I'm Stephen King

And I was like James I don't think That's funny he's like it's funny I was Like I really don't think so we test it We test every class and everything in it And when you include that joke people Watch more and you're like James is Right right and so like we are like Trying to make it to a science right of What is GNA engage you more and I also Think I mean how cool is it that you can Learn from like the best in the world There's something about that that's just I think just awesome sure yeah and now We're going to take a quick break but We'll be right back in a second One interesting thing we see is that What people want to learn how they want To learn changes over time so in the Beginning we launched with single Classes and that was out of like that's One thing we had we only had a few right So we launched single classes but we saw That landed very well with consumers Because they're like hey I'm an actor I Want to take an acting class right like I want to write I'm G take a writing Class then what we started to see a Shift was that people started much more To think of themselves as multi hyet Like hey I'm an who also loves to dance Who also loves to play chess and we Changed our model to have an option that You could like take one class if you Want to or you could pay to take

Everything that worked really well in The pandemic it shifted again all of a Sudden people are like I have a lot of Time and I have a new hobby right so What they wanted was like give me an Eight hour 12 week class or whatever it Is on gardening and I want to go really Deep into that and those things then Worked and we change evolved now people Are like eight hours I don't have eight Hours to spend like there's no way I'm Going to sit down for eight hours and do Stuff and I might have some passion Areas and hobbies but like the world is Changing and I need to learn how to Adapt to it or up skill myself so like Now much more the things people want to Learn about are things around Professional growth right and how like Skills for them at work two a lot more On the personal Wellness side right on Sleep on the Rel relationship side and Then three a lot on like Science and Tech and so one of the things I love Most is just like seeing how that Changes and then our jobs are constantly Evolve yeah I was actually I just got The idea of I wonder how much of the Trends that you see are also tied to Like the rise in like hustle economy Having multiple side gigs the gig Economy and then now like everyone's Back to work back in the office and now You have like people who are working you

Know I guess there was like a new trend Overemployed where people are working Multiple jobs they want to upskill they Want to like pivot so I wonder like if You tie everything back to that yeah no 100% we did a class with Chris Voss who Was the lead FBI hostage negotiator Right on how to negotiate that class did Great we did a class um with Esther Perell Ester is a leading psychologist And it was about how the relate how your Relationships in your personal life Affect them at work and I think one of Her HP which I think is really right is The level of instability uncertainty in The world is more than it's been in a Long time and that puts a lot of Pressure not only on us but then also we Seek help from our loved ones on it Right and that changes how we engage and Interact there and then we have a class That's going to come soon we have a Class coming up with Kevin Hart but what Kevin Hart does in his class is teaching You how to use different parts of comedy To actually achieve what you want in Life and actually work in sales and how To lead right so it's much more how do You apply these skills into your life And you've mentioned a couple things Here that while more consumer focused Are based on people's professional lives And I did want to ask you about how you Think about Enterprise with a product

Like this like of course I'm not going To know who's the person to learn from For founder driven sales of a startup But I'm sure there are people people Look up to and people emulate in that Space and have you guys gone into that Area at all like Enterprise contracts of More like almost upskilling training Just through the corporate customer yeah That was a total surprise to us we got Approached by some large companies that Their employees were using us to help do Their job training and that wasn't like A use case that we had thought much About and so over the last you know year Or two we have started to invest in There and that's done exceptionally well And it's the same content in classes and Then there's things now that we film That just for that for example one class That we've done is with Kim Scott on Radical cander and that's something like It started in the workplace but you can Do it at home too in your relationships And we have seen huge impact from it and I think what's happening in the Workplace is one there's been a Regression in soft skills in the Pandemic being home we actually got Worse at empathy influence and so what Firms are starting to see is like that Is so important to actually retrain Employees on because that's also one of The last things that AI can actually

Like affect right so we're seeing that Number one number two is a feeling that The lessons and how to lead that are out There are from a different era and that The world has dramatically changed over The last couple years and how you lead Has to change too and I think then three Is the bar on training has just gone up I mean how we think internally is even Though this isn't it's not a competitor To us we have to compete against Attention and time that people are Spending on Instagram or on Snapchat and So like the bar the quality of that Content has just risen and I think that Has led to us being where companies look For for their employee training and I Think at last count over half of the Fortune 100 are now our customer And we've spoken a lot about what Masterclass does for other people but I Would love to talk about how you run the Company and your leadership style and so How many employees do you have right now Yeah we have about 300 fulltime and any Given time probably 1 15 that are on the Contract side are working on one of our Classes you know on set and how would You describe your leadership style it's A really good question in three Different ways one I don't care like if I win or who has the right answer it's Like I want us to win and so I think That is like I'm trying to find what the

Best answer is and the right answer is But that can come from anybody and That's often means that's not my idea Right two is to really lead with a deep Curiosity I think our company attracts Those types of folks because like that's Tied to what our mission is but I think That from that breeds a sense of like I'm more I'm more humble because like I Don't know all the answers and like I Want to figure out but also leads to Actually getting the best answer and Then I think three is trying to be like As transparent and honest as possible I Think lots of parts of our culture Encourage you to not do that a lot of The time but I think that actually hurts You in the long run and I wanted to ask A little bit about hiring too especially Because what you mentioned a little bit Earlier about how you guys filmed Not to be like a traditional classroom Type experience but like a movie you Film them as if it's sort of a feature Film someone's going to go see at a Theater and of course you're a tech Company you're a venture back tech Company but you're also doing this movie Side it's very content heavy like how do You think about hiring because you do Have such an interesting internal Structure yeah I mean we are a creative Company and so I think there's times you Can figure that on the role right and

What what you need enroll but I think There's times also where sorry I don't Believe in consensus interviewing so What I mean by that is like a lot of Companies that I've worked for in the Past too is like anytime you want to Hire somebody interview somebody there's Going to be a slate of people that You're are going to interview them and Like you're basically seeing if Everybody's going to be a thumbs up or Be a thumbs down the person and you hire The person if everybody's a thumbs up That to me gets rid of the people that Are often might be amazing at what they Do but might not have like the full Skill set and what I mean by this is Like like what it misses out on is the Intensity of that belief in that person So if everybody's a 10 out of 10 on Somebody like great that's like an easy Hire but what you want to get is like There's somebody who you interview who Might not be good on the let's say on The process side but is really good on The creative idea side if you're going To try to like get a 10 out of 10 from Everybody who's interviewing them you're Not gonna employ that person you're Going to get somebody instead who's like A five on on all those Dimensions Because they every will check Everybody's box but like so if the Person for us isn't good on the process

But is really good on thinking the ideas Let's find a role for that person that Really is going to play into that Person's strength and the same thing on The vice versa right if they're really Good on process but they're like hey I Am very risk adverse right like you're Not gonna have them work on necess on The brand new stuff but you're gonna Have them work on the stuff that really Is important to you but has to go right Does that answer your question BEC out No definitely okay I think we just have Time for one last question here and Something I did want to ask you about Which I kind of alluded to a bit earlier Is master class is obviously a great Approach to so many different things and So many different topics and areas and Things to learn but it isn't necessarily Going to be the right approach for every Sector on the planet everything you Could possibly learn as well as on the Flip side speaking for myself personally Like I can't watch something and learn From it I have to be doing it with my Hands I have to be with someone Hands-On That is just like how I learn hearing And seeing I just I wish I could learn That way it would make things quite a Lot easier but it's just not necessarily How I approach things so I'm thinking Like how do you guys think about scale From here you've mentioned you guys have

Evolved the company based on what people Want which makes a lot of sense but Where can master class go from here when There are both so many opportunities but Also this isn't a product and a solution For everyone yeah okay can I ask you Becca like how did you find school I bet There's probably bunch of it that you Found very frustrating to you there's Probably some instructors that landed With you yeah but I'd love to hear how You solve that in your life definitely a Mix I mean some classes you feel got a Lot out of other things you felt you're Really teaching yourself on the side so I mean yeah it definitely depends on who Is in charge yeah no I I think it's Really true like I'm not quite the same As you but like I can't hear things and Actually retain them like I have to Watch it or actually engage in it to do It so how we think about it is you have To address those things so for example In our classes there's ones that are Project based right so like yes is there Something to watch to help set up the Project yes but actually most of the Class work is you're going to go and Work on something you're then going to Share you're going to put it back in the Class and get everybody's reactions and Thoughts to it so we try to address that But I think in the future to your point Is like one is you know we only have 200

Classes which like there's still lots of More things for us to go and explore but I also think some of the things we're Working on are expanding how you can Learn so like to your point so on the Artificial intelligence side you're Going to see a lot of things on the Interaction side imagine how neat would Be that you could submit a piece of work And get notes and thoughts back on it in A certain point of view for the people Who engage more imagine artificial Intelligence like you can actually Engage more right and ask questions and Engage and so I think that's going to be A big area in push the Enterprise Offering going to be a big area and the Consumer offering I mean there's so many More things actually teach us and those Things that we need to learn are Constantly changing so we are working on All those areas wait okay so I I have Two questions now we're gonna grap I Promise but okay would you ever use like Those deep fake AIS to do a master class Unlike somebody who is like somebody who Is not alive anymore or I guess anyone Like whatever you feel comfortable with Would you do it yeah we have talked About it a lot I think if we did it I Think it'd be somebody who is dead and Somebody who's dead for like a while but That like imagine if you could learn From Abraham Lincoln or Shakespeare

Right like how awesome would that be but You have to do it in a way that isn't Creepy right is authentic to them right As much as you can so like you know if We're going to do something I'd want to Work with a bunch of Scholars who you Know are experts on that person and try To do it and then we'd have to honestly We'd have to test it out and try it more Because I've seen some and they are Creepy and like that doesn't work but Like there is in my head I can picture Something where like it'd be awesome to Do that so it's something that we are Thinking about but I haven't made a call Yet and my last question you probably Get asked this all the time if you could Teach a master class what would it be Okay I don't think I have anywhere close To that level but um probably something On on the learning process and how you Learn and how to teach I would try to do That um is area I would love to be an Expert in like I I still think I have More to learn can can I ask both of you If you could take a master class from Anybody in the world who would be it Could be dead or Alive oh well I would love to talk to James Baldwin I don't know that's kind Of just a writer I that be fun awesome Awesome that'd be amaz would be Incredible I know maybe yeah I'd Probably say John MC if I were to pick I

Love his writing style but I'm going to Flip it back to you we really do need to Wrap after this but what is your Favorite Master Class you guys have so Far it's like asking me to like pick Like what friend I like the most or Something I don't know like um it Changes all the time because like taking New ones but some of the ones we Launched one a little while ago from Gome Chomsky on how the Press can can Shape how you think about things that is Really interesting fascinating we just Launched one you know run Entrepreneurship that is with Whitney Wolf herd the CEO of bumble that's Awesome and another one I really like The Kevin Hart one isn't out yet but It's awesome cool yeah well great well We'll have to look into it when it comes Out but thanks so much for coming on the Show to David this has been great yeah Thanks I really Appreciate so that was our conversation With David Dom what did you think I Cannot stop thinking about the fact that We need to see the cold email template He used to get James Patterson and Serena Williams I know no that's such a Good point cuz talking about cold Emailing like obviously like we get cold Emails all the time from startups V's PR Firms and like some are like oh yeah I Want to interact with this and others

Are just like oh my God why on Earth Would you send this to me so I'm like he Obviously did a template that worked to Get some of these names so like you're Right now I'm gonna keep thinking about That how did he find them how did he Find Serena I'm like how did you find Her was it through like PR like how did You I need to know that clearly like we Need that template that was my first Thought what were your thoughts I Definitely can see why watching these Videos would be like enjoyable Especially if it's on an area that You're interested in or someone that you Would like to follow anyway but the Model of it's interesting to me because I feel like I would want to use this on Like a oneoff and I guess that you can Like go on and pay per video but I just Don't know how often I would use it Personally if it's just like oh one Person I liked came up with a video on There I went and watched it and then What yeah like I don't know if I would Be like oh time to find more cuz like I Don't generally just like sit like I Love documentaries but like long form Interviews with people or I mean these Aren't all long form interviews by any Means but that kind of a format I don't Know it's just like not necessarily for Me personally I need to know who these Master Class loyalists are that are

Doing this all the time CU it seems Someone is us it all the time yeah I Wonder if it is tied to how people Really do want to upskill and how they Download new programs and you know There's a lot of tech stuff out there as Well that people used to upskill so I Imagine that maybe this is we should Have asked maybe more about the Demographic breakdown in terms of who is The consumer like is it someone living In New York working in white collar job I don't know JP or something or is it Somewhere in like Middle America or like Who is the customer cuz I think that That could also help us or figure out Who is constantly and continuously using The product for sure no that's a great Point cuz like you mentioned stuff with Upscaling or also he talked about like The Enterprise potential here like They're totally use cases for this Absolutely of like the thought of like Really high quality videos where you can Like learn from the best of the best on Like a specific topic but like some of Them like I don't know like I love to Cook but like I don't know if I would Would watch one that had a chef in it Talking about cooking or their Journey Like even though I like that space I Don't know if I would watch that but I Could see totally if it's like oh I'm Trying to get a job in X Fields well why

Don't I learn a little bit more about How to do it from like the person who's Known for it and stuff like that like Before a job interview or like something Like that like there's so many use cases For it yeah there is I'm interested to See how it grows and expands from here Cuz there's also even a lot of Opportunity to work or like to partner And do iners stuff cuz maybe like you Buy a Gordon ramsy master class and then A benefit of that is going to one of his Restaurants oh yeah like that would be Like a totally different pairing stuff Like that like I could totally be into That oh you watch this thing and then we Go and put it into practice or like Something or we go and see it in person Or you go and try it yourself I know This reminds me this is definitely not The same but like once when I like During Peak pandemic my aunt decided That we should all make risotto over Zoom she had this like quote unquote Famous Recipe so we all got on zoom and She like taught us how to make it so we Like watched her make it and then we all Made it ourselves but like that was fun Cuz we all know each other we like Joking and laughing the whole time but Like stuff that makes it more Interactive I could see like definitely Kind of expanding the audience yeah cuz She also shipped us the ingredients

Which was insane that's fun know I I was In a French Club and I think that they Tried to do cooking lessons once and They shipped us ingredients and stuff But I think I just took the ingredients And I ate the food um so I guess there's Two types of people in the world um but No what we do need to parse though we You need to talk about him quitting his Job and then getting a seed Chuck I know I'm like good for him like I mean if Someone offered that to me I'm great but I totally get why he was talking about How it's weird to talk about how it was Like a dark time for him but like I Would feel the same way same like I Remember my sister had this project in College over the summer there was Supposed to come back in the fall with An idea of a company they would start And my sister was like well I feel like I have ideas like that all the time but Now that I have this like set deadline And it needs to like fit all these Criteria she's like I can't think of Anything and it's like I feel like Having the money like oh the money you Could start anything you want it's too Broad so I get what he was saying of he Needed some constraints and boundaries Before he could actually think of Something I know cuz he didn't even have Like an idea it would have given me a Lot of anxiety I think yeah same I I

Would have been freaked out for sure Especially too cuz like company's now Like eight years old so I mean 500,000 Is still a ton of money but like back Then like so he started that 2015 took Him a while to come up with the idea We're talking like 10 years ago 500,000 Was even more money then than it is now That's a lot of money I know I would Love if someone gave me 500,000 I could Definitely force myself into a corner to Think of an idea I'm not saying it'd be Good but I could definitely try I know I Was O I suddenly I have ideas who wants To give me $500,000 to see if they come true I know But wait would you actually watch a deep Fake master class I don't know why this Is on my mind but would you do it I Don't I wouldn't watch a good deep fake Anything Q's totally right though like The people who have tried to do them so Far he's like they look really creepy And I'm sure there is a way to make them Less creepy and like maybe I'd be into It then but like he's totally right that Like I haven't seen it yet so I like Don't know because it's like I have yet To see an example where I'm like oh yeah That seems worth watching and doesn't Disturb me internally in some way I know I'm always like like they were doing What the Holograms of like Tupac and Stuff I'm like put them back put them

Back oh yeah I'm like it's a little bit I'm good no but okay so if you had to Teach a master class what would it be oh I would not consider myself an expert in Like anything I've gotten really into Like barbecue smoking over the last few Years maybe I do a master class on that Like how to how to hack a $200 charcoal Smoker from Amazon to create something Actually that's wait that might and That's incredibly timely you know Holiday seasons wait a minute you might Be on to something we got to get you What would you do what would I oo that's Rough um I have no idea H how to dress For a conference okay yes how to dress For a conference that's probably all I Got that's all that's all I got y'all Wow well I would definitely watch that If you filmed it we should do that we Should reach back out to him and say hey We have ideas we have thoughts we have Ideas 500,000 please he's going to be Like okay he's going to say Okay found is hosted by myself TechCrunch senior reporter Becca scac Alongside senior reporter Dominic madori Davis found is produced by Maggie Stamitz with editing by Kell our Illustrator is Bryce Durban F's audience Development and social media is managed By Morgan little Alysa Stringer and Natalie chman techcrunch's audio Products are managed by Henry pikovit

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