Starting an education giant in a “bad market” | ClassDojo’s story | Sam Chaudhary (Co-founder and CEO)
Description
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
United States
