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Conversation
Highlights
Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech’s most innovative B2B founders. In today’s episode, we’re speaking with Jason Lavender, CEO & Co-Founder of Electives, a corporate learning platform that has raised over $10 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
- Electives’ Unique Approach: Electives offers interactive, live classes led by a diverse range of instructors, including FBI agents, athletes, professors, and authors, rather than traditional corporate trainers.
- Engagement and Interactivity: Addressing the lack of engagement in corporate training, Electives emphasizes live, interactive sessions that allow employees to connect with peers and instructors.
- Customer Profile and Traction: Initially targeting mid-sized tech companies, Electives now serves a wide range of enterprises, celebrating milestones such as 100 companies hosting classes and over $1 million paid to teachers.
- Teacher Recruitment and Referrals: The platform sources instructors from varied backgrounds, often through referrals from existing teachers, ensuring a wide array of unique and engaging content.
- Market Disruption and New Category: Inspired by the book “Play Bigger,” Electives aims to create a new category in corporate learning, moving beyond traditional training models to offer comprehensive human development.
- Future Vision: Electives aims to be a staple in every company, providing diverse learning experiences that enhance personal and professional growth, while continuing to refine their category definition.
Actionable
Takeaways
Diversify Learning Content:
Offer a wide range of learning topics and instructors from diverse backgrounds to increase engagement and provide unique learning experiences.
Prioritize Interactivity:
Replace static, pre-recorded training videos with live, interactive sessions to foster engagement and meaningful learning.
Leverage Internal Recommendations:
Utilize feedback from employees to identify desired learning topics and instructors, ensuring the content is relevant and impactful.
Streamline Procurement:
Simplify the procurement process by consolidating training resources onto a single platform, reducing administrative overhead for HR teams.
Measure and Optimize:
Collect and analyze feedback on each class and instructor to continuously improve the learning experience and ensure high-quality content.
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