Welcome to In Depth, a new podcast from First Round Review that’s dedicated to surfacing the tactical advice founders and startup leaders need to grow their teams, their companies and themselves. Hosted by Brett Berson, a partner at First Round, In Depth will cover a lot of ground and a wide range of topics, from hiring executives and becoming a better manager, to the importance of storytelling inside of your organization. But every interview will hit the level of tactical depth where the very best advice is found. We hope you’ll join us. Subscribe to “In Depth” now and learn more at firstround.com
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Welcome to In Depth, a new podcast from First Round Review that’s dedicated to surfacing the tactical advice founders and startup leaders need to grow their teams, their companies and themselves. Hosted by Brett Berson, a partner at First Round, In Depth will cover a lot of ground and a wide range of topics, from hiring executives and becoming a better manager, to the importance of storytelling inside of your organization. But every interview will hit the level of tactical depth where the very best advice is found. We hope you’ll join us. Subscribe to “In Depth” now and learn more at firstround.com
Starting an education giant in a “bad market” | ClassDojo’s story | Sam Chaudhary (Co-founder and CEO)
In Depth
1 hour 12 minutes
4 months ago
Starting an education giant in a “bad market” | ClassDojo’s story | Sam Chaudhary (Co-founder and CEO)
Sam Chaudhary is the co-founder and CEO of ClassDojo, a multi-product education platform used in 95% of U.S. schools and over 180 countries globally to connect teachers, students, and families. In this episode, Sam shares the full arc of building ClassDojo, from early skepticism about education and a failed group-making tool, to creating a communication platform loved by millions.
In this episode, we discuss:
Why ClassDojo was built for consumers (teachers, students and parents) instead of schools
How ClassDojo grew entirely by word-of-mouth
Sam’s unusual approach to building multiple new businesses
The founder mindset required to build an industry leader
Why relentless resourcefulness is an underrated skill
And much more…
References:
Accel: https://www.accel.com/
Airbnb: https://www.airbnb.com/
Bill Gates: https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamhgates/
Brendan Kereiakes: https://www.linkedin.com/in/product/
ClassDojo: https://www.classdojo.com/
Dominick Bellizzi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominickbellizzi/
Geoff Ralston: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoffralston/
Gonzalo Aguilar Málaga: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gonzalodecheck/
Hamilton Helmer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hamilton-helmer-42983/
Imagine K12: https://www.imaginek12.com//
Khan Academy: https://www.khanacademy.org/
Liam Don: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liamdon/
McKinsey: https://www.mckinsey.com/
Paul Graham: https://x.com/paulg
Plaid: https://plaid.com/
Reid Hoffman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reidhoffman/
Roblox: https://www.roblox.com/
Sal Khan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/khanacademy/
Superhuman: https://superhuman.com/
Tim Brady: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-brady-7a632510/
Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/
Where to find Sam:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samchaudhary/
Twitter/X: https://x.com/samchaudhary
Where to find Brett:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-berson-9986094/
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/brettberson
Timestamps:
(01:36) Why education is a “bad market”
(02:52) Why enterprise education is broken
(03:35) Building for families, not schools
(06:53) Early challenges and insights
(09:45) Sam’s unusual background
(11:42) Meeting co-founder Liam at a hackathon
(13:22) Getting into Imagine K12 with a group-making tool
(19:47) The conversation with Reid Hoffman that changed everything
(21:52) Building a network to reach more families
(23:30) Scaling by building a community
(33:18) Designing for delight and word-of-mouth growth
(40:09) Launching the first monetization feature after 7 years
(41:35) How to pick markets and when to go broad
(46:04) The explosive expansion into the tutoring industry
(55:11) Creating safe online spaces for kids
(58:01) Harnessing AI in education
(59:52) Lessons from ClassDojo’s playbook
In Depth
Welcome to In Depth, a new podcast from First Round Review that’s dedicated to surfacing the tactical advice founders and startup leaders need to grow their teams, their companies and themselves. Hosted by Brett Berson, a partner at First Round, In Depth will cover a lot of ground and a wide range of topics, from hiring executives and becoming a better manager, to the importance of storytelling inside of your organization. But every interview will hit the level of tactical depth where the very best advice is found. We hope you’ll join us. Subscribe to “In Depth” now and learn more at firstround.com
