Redefining Education in the Age of AI with Amir Nathoo (Outschool)

In this episode of The Eric Ries Show, I’m joined by Amir Nathoo, Co-Founder and CEO of Outschool, an education platform offering live online classes for K-12 learners. Amir’s own childhood inspired Outschool—while he went to traditional schools, his parents always encouraged his self-driven coding projects at home.

Outschool is about empowering kids to take control of their learning and building a lifelong love for education. It’s a mission-driven company that’s impacting how we think about education and social change.

In today’s conversation, we explore the intersection of business and social good and why education needs disruption. We talk about the following topics: 

• Amir’s thoughts on AI’s role in education 

• How maximizing profit and benefiting society can go hand in hand

• The value of allowing children to pursue their interests 

• Why engagement is the number one metric at Outschool

• What Amir learned from the secular homeschool movement

• How traditional investors sometimes hold back disruption and why that’s a problem

• And more!

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Where to find Amir Nathoo:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirnathoo/

• X: https://x.com/amirnathoo

• Website: https://amir.io/

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Where to find Eric:

• Newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ericries.carrd.co/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

• Podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ericriesshow.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

• YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@theericriesshow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

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In This Episode We Cover:

(00:00) Intro

(02:58) Outschool’s launch at the height of the pandemic 

(03:38) What a fiscal sponsorship and Outschool’s relationship with the Edward Charles Foundation

(05:18) Why Amir is thinking of having kids on his board

(07:40) How the pandemic was a critical moment for Outschool to launch their non-profit 

(10:00) A case for tying for-profit with social missions 

(17:56) Why younger generations value purpose-driven brands

(20:27) Outschool’s mission-tied metrics and why Amir is against double bottom lines 

(23:10) Amir’s early experiences coding 

(24:50) How Amir came up with the idea of Outschool

(28:52) How secular homeschooling inspired Outschool’s direction

(31:22) Why engagement became Outschool’s biggest metric and guided their mission

(36:55) What Amir learned from homeschoolers’ dynamic education journeys 

(44:00) How systemic deficits are driving changes in education

(46:40) How Outschool supports diverse educational perspectives

(50:10) Outschool’s first value: stand with learner

(52:38) Outschool’s unique structure and how they keep employees tied to the mission

(54:45) The case for truth and open-mindedness in business leadership

(58:06) Eric’s bad experience working with an unscrupulous leader 

(1:02:00) Amir’s thoughts on disruption 

(1:05:08) The role of alignment in Outschool’s positive investor relationships

(1:08:31) The value of human-to-human interaction and AI’s role in education 

(1:12:50) Amir’s thoughts on using AI to write an essay

(1:13:41) Lightning round

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You can find the transcript and references at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.ericriesshow.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Eric may be an investor in the companies discussed.