I recently came across this LinkedIn post by Enzo Cavalie, creator and host of Startupeable Podcast and I was blown away:
and then I read the Tech Cruch article on the recent Platzi series B round, John Freddy Vega, the CEO and founder, shared the following in a LinkedIn post:
"Since 2014, Platzi has achieved:👩💻 3M students
However, LATAM is at a very delicate inflection point:
In 2020, two thirds of high school students didn't complete their scholar year.
Only 6% of people in LATAM speak English
Only 12% will be able to go to college"
This reflects our reality, both in the good and bad sense. So many things come to mind, I will try to lay them out. I believe we, in LATAM, are at a disadvantage because most of the tech, research and publications are made by people in English speaking countries and even the UN and international organizations not always carry the most updated translated versions of their studies. So language is a big factor on being "behind". Now, this is also an opportunity to create our own versions for our own reality, that is why this VC money is great, because we need money to build this.
Regarding the college attendance, so many issues to address here too, they mostly involve the long history of violence, corruption, unstable economy, monopolies taking advantage, etc. impacting every fiber of our society. Kids can't go to college because they need to work to help their families. Add to that, the teen pregnancies and the short availability of spots in public universities. Plus the content is not up to date and the teachers are paid badly. I know, I am being simplistic and pessimistic, sorry, I will try to work on it.
Now, the big name universities are expensive, very expensive, God knows what world they live in, since most of the salaries are very low that you cannot afford the degree itself. So they target the 1% that can afford this.
Here comes the EdTech sector, to fill this wide gap for the middle class.
I must confess I thought Platzi was a bit expensive for me but then I was offered a couple of days of free access and then it was on sale , so I ended up buying a subscription and let me tell you, the service was great. The platform's UX could be better but I see they are working on it. Even if I had options from Coursera, Udemy, Skillshare, I could not find the particular class I was looking for (Product Management). I also researched options in the US and I found courses for 3, 6 up to 10 thousand dollars!
I liked Platzi's course because it was offered by Juan Pablo Rojas Parra, a guy that looks like me, latinx, that worked in a LATAM startup, that explained great, felt closer, more personal and based on experience. A good mix of theory and practice.
However, I wonder if a fancy university's stamp is still needed in order to get a job, since right now for digital careers it feels very much like a marketing gimmick to have that seal of approval. Most importantly, once the course is done, How can you show that you know? More to come :)
What are your thoughts on this?
Hit me up!
xoxo