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Re:Big Cuts at Airy Labs, Ex-Employees Blame Management by Alex3917 on Saturday February 11, 2012 @09:59PM (#3580970)
"As far as I'm aware, the #1 education startup was created by someone who was poorly versed in the 'science' of education."

If you're talking about Khan Academy, they're a non-profit not a startup.

Re:Big Cuts at Airy Labs, Ex-Employees Blame Management by yummyfajitas on Saturday February 11, 2012 @11:07PM (#3581072)
I don't see how that changes things, unless you believe "underqualification" only matters for people with a profit motive.
Re:Big Cuts at Airy Labs, Ex-Employees Blame Management by Alex3917 on Saturday February 11, 2012 @11:23PM (#3581086)
The difference is that Khan would be underqualified if he were trying to do something innovative, but he's not. He's just making a bridge technology, a collection of mostly mediocre content that's designed to be moderately useful until something better comes along. There's no way a for-profit could get funded if this were their goal, at least not if they were upfront about it. Plus even if it's not the greatest site ever, at least it serves a purpose and he's not actively trying to scam people.
Re:Big Cuts at Airy Labs, Ex-Employees Blame Management by yummyfajitas on Saturday February 11, 2012 @11:46PM (#3581124)
The lectures are fairly standard, the exercise scheduling system he's attempting to build is not. While I've criticized him for not being ambitious enough (Khan often stresses he doesn't want to replace teachers), he is building far more than just video lectures.

Also, he had several funding offers from VC's, so your assertion about what VC's might fund is incorrect.

Re:Big Cuts at Airy Labs, Ex-Employees Blame Management by ladon86 on Sunday February 12, 2012 @12:38PM (#3582358)
John Resig and Craig Silverstein didn't join Khan Academy to generate "mostly mediocre", "moderately useful" content until something better comes along.

I think it's important, especially with startups, to look to the future rather than to sit around judging the present.

In the beginning, Microsoft were making a limited Altair BASIC that only appealed to a handful of hardcore geeks, but later they had a computer in every office and home. You don't get there if you try to solve the world in step 1.