Who Owns Skillshare? The Visionaries Who Created It

One of the many good things about Skillshare is its easy access, as you don’t need any qualifying accreditations to join your first class and an affordable subscription is all you need to join discussions and get involved with projects.

We can go a step further by looking at who owns Skillshare, Michael Karnjanaprakorn and co-founder Malcolm Ong, and their ambitions for the service and how innovation has changed how people view educational resources and their accessibility.

This can give us some insight into what makes the company what it is and if there is any room for innovation and improvements on the education platform, which you can find below. 

Who Owns Skillshare?

Karnjanaprakorn and Ong have prior experience in technology, as they started in social media products and a flash game studio, respectively. 

One of the most significant contributions both owners received for raising startup capital for their platform idea was an initial $3.1 million in series A funding from venture capital firms.

By late 2013, this was raised to $4.65 million and totaled $10 million by February 2014. 

Alongside non-profit organizations that aim to make education more accessible, a great school Codecademy, which offers coding classes, discussed the educational system and how it can be reformed, so it seems that Skillshare had a pretty ambitious goal for its initial purposes.

From 15 self-paced courses online in 2012 to an open platform with a membership model.

The service grew to have over 30,000 online classes with some 8,000 teachers, so there’s no wonder why there are over 12 million registered users as of 2022 and it continues to attract more people.  

Innovation And Affordable Education

Attending a university or college has a lot of value that is a highly significant investment of time, resources, and money.

In traditional education, you have professors who teach their material in person in a way that might not appeal to every single person. 

This is where an online course platform like Skillshare comes in.

You remove any barriers that can appear between students by giving them a simple monthly fee of $32 a month that offers more interactive courses that deal with topics you may not find in a university course. 

With an open platform such as this, a teacher or expert can make their own curated course that covers a subject in a way that is easier to understand and removes any unnecessary material with the option to respond to each lesson with a discussion with other students.

This platform is ideal for creative projects and skills that have some degree of skill, which is excellent for those who want to go freelance or need materials that aren’t too hard to find.

The teacher can set work assignments so you have something to show for your efforts.

How Skillshare Is More Accessible 

If you find the costs are too much for you if you’re on a budget, you have free trials but also apply for a scholarship which gives you unlimited access to the platform for a year.

If you’re a college or university student, you can use it to get 50% off a yearly subscription. (See ‘Skillshare Student Discount.‘)

Some Issues With This Type Of Learning 

As innovative as this platform is, there is still the feeling that some people prefer a face-to-face type of learning so they can ask questions, and here is the first issue.

You must rely on the teacher to respond to your comment or question in the discussion section. 

There are live courses you can find, but these are still lacking in some areas as you only have access to prerecording.

So you can’t ask questions in real-time, plus some of the selections may be a bit simple for some, and you may want access to more advanced resources and tools.

So the platform can’t wholly replace a college or university education but instead could be used alongside this type of education so you can work on your own development.

Which may be something you’re lacking by going to a college or university. 

With your teachers, you’ll also find they have expertise in their area but aren’t accredited, as anyone can set up an account and start teaching.

So if you need to learn about advanced subjects like coding or the sciences, you may have to look elsewhere to learn a new skill. 

Some More Interesting Facts About Skillshare

Find out who the CEO of Skillshare is

When was Skillshare founded?

How To Use Skillshare 

As of 2021, the free courses you could access on the platform moved to the paid subscription model.

So while you can browse classes and see previews for free, you’ll have to subscribe to find out if a course is relevant to you, so here is where a free trial is useful. (Check out ‘How Much Will Skillshare Cost You?‘)

Suppose there is a course you found helpful. In that case, you can follow the teacher and see what other courses they offer.

So you can find advanced classes to hone your skills and learning experience to apply this to a career or as a side hustle, so you have flexibility. 

With courses being self-paced, you can explore and watch them in your free time, and there aren’t any strict deadlines for completing a section, doing an assignment, or any outside work that has been set.

As you don’t have to partake in these, it can be an excellent way to get a hands-on personal experience.

So for courses like how to edit videos or use Photoshop, for example, it may help for you to put this knowledge into practice and see what results you come up with. 

Conclusion 

While this does sound good for some, you have to fulfill specific requirements, such as giving proof that you can make some impact in your field, which catered mainly to creative industries. 

While there are a few options on how you use the platform, it’s down to your requirements and schedule as to the potential value you can get from the courses that could improve many aspects of your life.