From YouTubers to $3B Founders: Cracking AI English Learning at Scale

📌 Sound like a native: https://clck.ru/3LxyVu 🗣 Get 100 or above on TOEFL: https://clck.ru/3LxyXX In this episode, we talk to Gaurav Munjal and Roman Saini, the founders of Unacademy — a $3B edtech giant that started as a simple YouTube channel. They share how they scaled to 100+ channels, built an AI-powered English learning app disrupting the industry, and grew without spending on ads. We dive into the highs and lows: layoffs, panic attacks, going public, and what it really takes to build a billion-dollar startup in the age of AI. 00:00 – Teaser 00:42 – From YouTube blog to $3B edtech unicorn 02:35 – Why they focused on YouTube for education 06:20 – How their AI app is disrupting Duolingo in just one year 9:20 - The Depressing Phase: No Sleep, Panic Attacks, and not sleeping without a Melatonin for 3 years 10:17 - How they earned $2M/year with zero ad spend The best marketing tools that works best for the past 6 month 11:35 – IPO prep while losing $150M/year? 12:30 – Their strategy to become profitable 13:33 – Did they consider shutting down? 14:19 – Men don’t talk about it: panic, melatonin, smoking 16:02 – Are you replacing teachers with AI? 18:15 – Where AI can disrupt education — and where it can’t 19:14 – The full story from the start of Unacademy: from YouTube blog to billion-dollar company 21:00 – The app that helped them scale 100+ channels into top 20 rankings 21:52 – Decline in viewership when Roman stopped posting; 1000 teachers creating instead 22:40 – Netflix for education: managing 100+ channels 23:55 – How much it costs to run a single YouTube channel 25:00 – New 2024 IP policy: no outside content creation allowed 25:42 – Current marketing for Unacademy: YouTube, events, performance ads 26:50 –Why Some Videos Now Get Only 200–300 Views 28:00 - Laid offs teachers whose videos doesn’t get views 29:27 – Advice for long-time YouTube creators: how to scale – hire, launch new channels 30:12 – Leave your ego behind: let others do the work too 31:35 – Will they move to the U.S.? 33:50 – What will happen in 5 years with AI: robots, self-driving cars, and job loss 34:50 – Advice for first-time founders in 2025 Links: 📌 My Companies & Products: https://marinamogilko.ru/collabyt 📹 Video brainstorming, research, and project planning - all in one place - https://partner.spotterstudio.com/ideas-with-marina 💻 Resources that helps my team and me grow the business: - Email & SMS Marketing Automation - https://your.omnisend.com/marina - AI app to work with docs and PFDs - https://www.chatpdf.com/?via=marina 📱Develop your YouTube with AI apps: - AI tool to edit videos in a minutes https://get.descript.com/fa2pjk0ylj0d - Boost your view and subscribers on YouTube - https://vidiq.com/marina - #1 AI video clipping tool - https://www.opus.pro/?via=7925d2 💰 Investment Apps: - Top credit cards for free flights, hotels, and cash-back - https://www.cardonomics.com/i/marina - Intuitive platform for stocks, options, and ETFs - https://a.webull.com/Tfjov8wp37ijU849f8 ⭐ Download my English language workbook - https://bit.ly/3hH7xFm I use affiliate links whenever possible (if you purchase items listed above using my affiliate links, I will get a bonus). #podcast #unacademy #ai