The TechCrunch Live Podcast

Who's playing the long game in edtech?

Episode Summary

Today's interview was led by TechCrunch Senior Reporter and edtech expert, Natasha Mascarenhas. Natasha spoke to Sam Chaudhary, the founder of ClassDojo and Chris Farmer, the founder and CEO of SignalFire, about playing the long game in edtech, investing in companies that aren't rushing to monetize, and the "outsider advantage."

Episode Notes

Today's interview was led by TechCrunch Senior Reporter and edtech expert, Natasha Mascarenhas. Natasha spoke to Sam Chaudhary, the founder of ClassDojo, who spent eight years building the edtech consumer app that focuses on student classrooms, before introducing a formal revenue model. Joining Sam is his investor Chris Farmer, the founder and CEO of SignalFire, a seed-stage venture firm that recently raised $900 million across four new funds.

Sam and Chris spoke to us about:

• How Sam played the long-game in edtech and what he’d do differently if he had to do it all over again
• Why SignalFire chose to navigate the edtech space, specifically the connection between kids and consumers
• How Chris sees investing in companies that aren’t rushing to monetize
• The "outsider advantage" and its tension with insider knowledge

We closed out the show with a new batch of founders for Pitch Practice. And as always, if you want to check out the full video of today's conversation, head to our YouTube channel and stay tuned for more TechCrunch Live!

The TechCrunch Live Podcast drops at 6:00 a.m. PT every Monday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast,Spotify and all the casts.