Mike Silagadze, founder and CEO of Top Hat, shares how Top Hat pivoted away from traditional enterprise sales cycles in higher education.
Opinion
Silagadze: Teaching quality is a very low priority for universities
“Teaching, as surprising as it may be, is really very low on the total pool of priorities in higher education. In fact, that's just, it's not how universities get funded. You know, universities are not known generally because of the quality of their teaching. I…”
Assertion Partly supported
Silagadze: Companies should measure IQ because it strongly correlates with performance
“Most companies don't measure IQ at all, and that's wrong. I mean, there's a zero-point-six correlation between IQ and job performance, and that is, in fact, if you could base your hiring decision on one factor, you could only base it on one factor. IQ is actua…”
Opinion
Silagadze: Higher education is a luxury good, not a productivity investment
“I think many people believe that education is an investment that makes you more productive. In a sense. And I think beyond some of the very basic stuff that you learn in primary school, I don't actually think that's the case. I actually view education as a con…”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Silagadze in 2018: Crypto bubble could dislocate the global economy
“You know, it seems like certainly the crypto mania is concerning. I worry that it's going to get large enough to where I'll actually dislocate the global economy just like the real estate bubble did not too long ago.”
Assertion Partly supported
Silagadze: Only 10 to 15 EdTech startups have reached $10M+ revenue
“Out of the, you know, thousands and thousands of companies that have been funded over the last decade or so, only a handful, I would say probably 10 or 15, have really broken out past the, let's say, tens of millions in revenue milestone and, you know, are on …”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Silagadze: Most venture capital investors in EdTech have lost money
“Most people that have invested in EdTech have lost money in EdTech, and so, yeah, there's good reason to be skeptical.”