Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

MasterClass CEO David Rogier's Top Four Tips for Hyper Growth

12/02/2019

In IVP's Hyper-Growth Podcast series, IVP investors talk with CEOs of the fastest growing companies and discuss the ins and outs of company building in the hyper-growth environment.

In our second episode, IVP investor, Roseanne Wincek, sits down with David Rogier, Founder and CEO of MasterClass. David talks at great length about the company, how he thinks about hiring during each stage of growth and scaling quickly - from board members to employees, and what all of this has taught him about being an effective leader for a company during its high growth phase. IVP led MasterClass's $35 million Series C in 2017 and their $85 million Series D in 2018.

It all started with a lesson from grandmother.

Starting with half a million dollars from a trusted VC to help David go think of a great idea, this entrepreneur-at-heart found inspiration from his family roots. His grandmother, who helped raise him, provided one piece of advice that's stuck with him since the third grade.

Education is the only thing that a person can't take away from you.

She was right. So much so, that David used this advice to take the $500K he raised to build an education platform to give the masses access to the expert advice they didn't know they'd longed to learn. Founded in 2013 to give everyone access to genius, MasterClass is a prime example of hyper-growth. Two years ago, when IVP invested, the company employed 30 people and had just released their 13th class. Today, the company has tripled in size, released its 50th class and launched an online subscription streaming service.

Intuition coupled with customer interviews helped David identify what would make people excited to learn online. He found one reoccurring theme: people would pay to learn from the best. If classes are taught by the best in the world, students know that they are getting real, relevant, battle-hardened learnings. To test his thesis, he built a fake website and found that students were clamoring to buy classes from the masters. MasterClass was off to the races.

Since the company's start in 2013, David and the team at MasterClass have built a brand that has attracted the world's best. Serena Williams teaches tennis, Carlos Santana demonstrates the art and soul of guitar, Spike Lee doles out the intricacies of independent filmmaking, Annie Leibovitz shows the art behind photography, and Steph Curry helps even the best ballplayer understand the precision needed to shoot and score.

David tackled attracting the masters but also had to grow his company from infancy to the growth stage in the crowded online learning market.

To do this, David shared a few of the lessons he learned along the way with Roseanne.

Recognize the fundraising process is like an art. Don't ever send a pitch deck before a meeting.

Unless you've got stats like Uber, David says, it's hard to explain your story to an investor who may fail to understand the company's full potential from a series of slides without verbal context. In the early stages of investment, investors look for team caliber and dynamics, market fit and hyper-growth potential - things that are hard to see in a pitch deck in isolation. Wait to send the deck until after the meeting, allowing the ability to highlight the story - and opportunity in person.

Plus, understand that each round is different. A founder story highlighting the genesis of a company may land at the early fundraising rounds but will not secure a growth investment, where illustrating key hires who understand growth and scale become more important to gain capital. Finding the right people to guide each phase of storytelling to investors is crucial - and iterate along the way.

Find board members that support you. Not ones that try to run the business. If you have a bad board member, you're in a world of pain.

A company grows through a robust network of board and investor support. As a leader or CEO, the choice of board members becomes more critical as the company grows. Do lots of homework. Talk to entrepreneurs who have worked with this investor in good outcomes and in bad. Figure out why a person would be additive to the company's culture and growth, as well as a support network and sounding board.

Find an outlet for the inevitable emotional rollercoaster ride of entrepreneurship. Have a great therapist.

With any entrepreneurial endeavor comes high and lows. David's trick combines routines like keeping a daily gratitude journal, talking with a trusted friend or advisor, and regularly speaking to his therapist. Why? Issues at work arise from people dynamics and decision making among them. While a therapist may not understand business goals or growth metrics, they do understand how people interact as well as their patterns of behavior. These can then help leaders predict how a team member may act or respond. This guidance and third-party sounding boards can reduce decision fatigue and ease the growing pains of a high-growth business.

Hiring right is better than hiring fast. If you hire too fast, your bar will drop, and you won't hire great people.

When a company hits the high-growth stage, recognize hiring the right people will take first priority. At this stage, roles and responsibilities change - and fast. Figure out how to remove the people or candidates who can't or don't have the ability to scale. Companies start off with a gaggle of original employees who build the business through blood, sweat, and tears. During a growth-stage hiring stint, however, it's vital to differentiate current employees who can grow into the next role, while also finding future A player new hires through an honest dose of reviews from all levels of staff during the hiring process.

As a company grows, the touch point from employee to CEO diminish. Putting trust i
LINK: https://www.ivp.com/news/podcast/masterclass-ceo-david-rogiers-top-fou...
See more stories from ivp

Most recent headlines

03/06/2024

Dalet and Veritone Reach Agreement to Distribute, Transact and Monetize Media Archives

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...

28/04/2024

Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with URSA Broadcast G2

Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with U...

29/03/2024

Dalet to Demo AI-Enabled Production, Automation and Monetization at NAB Show

PARIS Dalet has announced that during the 2024 NAB Show (booth #W1713), attendees can experience firsthand Dalet's collaborative, AI-enabled workflows that ...

29/03/2024

DirecTV Inks Deal to Carry 2024 Colorado Rockies Games

DENVER AND EL SEGUNDO, Calif. DirecTV has announced a new agreement with Major League Baseball that will allow Colorado Rockies fans to see this season's ga...

29/03/2024

S&P: Media, Telecom M&A Plunges to 13-Month Low

S&P Global Market Intelligence has released new data showing that dealmaking in the North America for media and telecom companies remains in the doldrums....

29/03/2024

NAB Show: Pebble Launches PRIMA Software Platform

EPSOM, Surrey, UK The automation, content management, and integrated channel specialist Pebble, has announced that it will be launching a new software platform ...

29/03/2024

Gray Television to Air Arena Football League Local Games

ATLANTA Gray Television Inc. has inked a multi-year agreement with the Arena Football League to bring Saturday arena football games over-the-air to local audien...

29/03/2024

Muvhango: Thursday's episode, 28 March 2024 [VIDEO]

Muvhango: Thursday's episode, 28 March 2024 [VIDEO]Stay up to date with the latest episodes of your favourite South African soapie on The South African webs...

29/03/2024

Gqeberha: The Empire - Thursday's episode, 28 March 2024 [VIDEO]

Gqeberha: The Empire - Thursday's episode, 28 March 2024 [VIDEO]Stay up to date with the latest episodes of your favourite South African soapie on The South...

29/03/2024

My Brother's Keeper: Thursday's episode, 28 March 2024 [VIDEO]

My Brother's Keeper: Thursday's episode, 28 March 2024 [VIDEO]Stay up to date with the latest episodes of your favourite South African soapie on The Sou...

29/03/2024

Umkhokha: The Curse - Thursday's episode, 28 March 2024 [VIDEO]

Umkhokha: The Curse - Thursday's episode, 28 March 2024 [VIDEO]Stay up to date with the latest episodes of your favourite South African soapie on The South ...

29/03/2024

Skeem Saam: Thursday's episode, 28 March 2024 [VIDEO]

Skeem Saam: Thursday's episode, 28 March 2024 [VIDEO]Missed an episode of Skeem Saam? No problem! Watch the latest episode of your favourite South African s...

29/03/2024

House of Zwide: Thursday's episode, 28 March 2024 [VIDEO]

House of Zwide: Thursday's episode, 28 March 2024 [VIDEO]Stay up to date with the latest episode of South African soapie House of Zwide on The South African...

28/03/2024

No votes for all

Out of an estimated 20,000 journalists in Pakistan, less than one thousand are women according to a recent Gender Disparity Report published by the Internationa...

28/03/2024

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know 8 Women Filmmakers With Shorts at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival

A still from Jasmin Baumgartner's Bye Bye, Bowser, which screened as part ...

28/03/2024

The Best Shared Storage For Video Production

alt= class=wp-image-12214 data-lazy-src=/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Best-Shared-Storage-EVO-logo-960x540-1.jpg/> Embarking on a cinematic journey or crafting a ...

28/03/2024

Future-Proofing the B-52

L3Harris is upgrading critical electronic warfare systems to ensure the iconic aircrafts spectrum superiority for decades to come....

28/03/2024

Supporting the RCAF for more than 25 Years with L3Harris' WESCAM MX-Series

L3Harris' WESCAM MX-Series EO/IR systems have supported the RCAF for more than 25 years....

28/03/2024

ENCO to Add AI News Anchor to Qimera Virtual Production Set

NOVI, Mich. During the 2024 NAB Show, ENCO will be showcasing an AI-driven virtual anchor delivering live news from a realistic 3D virtual news set....

28/03/2024

Johan de Nysschen Named President and CEO of ARRI Americas

MUNICH ARRI has announced that Johan de Nysschen has been put in charge of the ARRI Americas team as president and CEO ARRI Americas Inc....

28/03/2024

Fubo Inks Carriage Deal with YES Network

NEW YORK The YES Network and FuboTV have reached a multi-year carriage agreement that will allow Fubo to launch YES in its Pro base channel plan in time for YES...

28/03/2024

Dalet to Demo AI-Enabled Production, Automation and Monetization at NAB 2024

PARIS Dalet has announced that during its 2024 NAB showcase (booth #W1713), attendees can experience firsthand Dalet's collaborative, AI-enabled workflows t...

28/03/2024

Blackmagic Design Used on 2024 Oscar Nominated Films

Blackmagic Design Used on 2024 Oscar Nominated Films Brie Clayton March 28, 2024 0 Comments Blackmagic Design congratulates the many film professional...

28/03/2024

Arkona to Introduce BLADE//master Control and Orchestration Service at NAB 2024

Arkona to Introduce BLADE//master Control and Orchestration Service at NAB 2024 Brie Clayton March 28, 2024 0 Comments New option for BLADE//runner ke...

28/03/2024

Join Maxon for NAB 2024

Join Maxon for NAB 2024 Brie Clayton March 28, 2024 0 Comments Maxon returns to NAB with presentations by artists from around the world and demos of t...

28/03/2024

Boston Conservatory to Present Center Stage Production of A Midsummer Night's Dream at The Huntington

Boston Conservatory to Present Center Stage Production of A Midsummer Night'...

28/03/2024

The 4K cameras giving audiences an astronaut's view of Earth

TVBEurope meets Charles Black, founder and CEO of Sen, which has sent a payload of 4K cameras to the ISS to livestream images of Earth to audiences around the w...

28/03/2024

2024 Big Night In Raises $145k to Support Triangle Arts Councils

Capitol Broadcasting and WRAL-TV once again proudly supported our local arts community with the broadcast of Big Night in for the Arts Thursday, March 7, 2024. ...

28/03/2024

JIC, MRC Announce Accord On Roles In Judging Measurement Companies

With more companies offering different approaches to measuring television viewing and campaign effectiveness, two of the groups that evaluate potential media bu...

28/03/2024

Hulu Added to Disney Plus App for Bundle Subscribers

The Walt Disney Co. said that it launched Hulu on Disney Plus, which makes Hulu programming available via the Disney Plus app....

28/03/2024

GroupM To Double Ad Spending On Women's Sports Programming

Giant media buyer GroupM said it plans to double its media spending on women's sports....

28/03/2024

Scripps Renews State Farm As Sponsor of Friday Night WNBA on Ion

Scripps Sports said that State Farm has signed a new multi-year agreement to continue as the title sponsor of Ion's Friday night WNBA telecasts....

28/03/2024

Elisabeth Moss, Kerry Washington Sign On for Imperfect Women' on Apple TV Plus

Elisabeth Moss and Kerry Washington will star in, and executive produce, Imperfe...

28/03/2024

Telemundo Station Group Addresses Climate Change With Month-Long Initiative

Telemundo Station Group launches the month-long climate change initiative Our Planet Thursday, March 28. The multiplatform campaign ends on Earth Day, April 22,...

28/03/2024

Circle City Broadcasting Renews Nielsen Ratings Deal

Nielsen said that Circle City Broadcasting, owner of WISH-TV in Indianapolis, has renewed its local TV measurement deal....

28/03/2024

Lionsgate Extends Deal With Seth Rogen's Point Grey Pictures

Lionsgate Television said it extended its deal with Point Grey Pictures, the production company led by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg and James Weaver....

28/03/2024

Ariana DeBose Back as Tonys Host

Ariana DeBose returns as host of the Tony Awards Sunday, June 16, on CBS and Paramount Plus. It is her third consecutive time hosting, and it will be the 77th T...

28/03/2024

The Steve Wilkos Show' Renewed for Season 18

The Steve Wilkos Show has been renewed for its 18th season in national syndication, Tracie Wilson, executive VP, NBCUniversal Syndication Studios & E! News, sai...

28/03/2024

Sinclair Selects Embrace as Its Media Orchestration Engine

PARIS Embrace, a developer of advanced automation and orchestration software solutions, has announced that Sinclair Broadcast Group has selected Embrace's P...

28/03/2024

Nielsen and Circle City Broadcasting Renew Local TV Measurement Deal

NEW YORK Nielsen has a multi-year renewal with Circle City Broadcasting, Indianas only locally owned and operated broadcast and digital news media network, for ...

28/03/2024

JVC to Demo Its First Ever 40x Zoom PTZ Camera Series at 2024 NAB Show

LAS VEGAS JVC Professional Video has announced that it will debut its new KY-PZ540 Series PTZ Cameras with 40x zoom at 2024 NAB Show (Booth C4720)....

28/03/2024

Brightcove Launches Cloud Playout 2.0

BOSTON Brightcove has announced the launch of Cloud Playout 2.0, a platform that the company said will offer customers new ways to create linear channels, monet...

28/03/2024

NBC Sports Chicago to Air First-Ever Animated Real-Time Local Sports Telecast

The Chicago Blackhawks and NBC Sports Chicago have announced a collaboration with the NHL to bring fans the first-ever local animated real-time sports telecast....

28/03/2024

The Best News Coverage is Real, Live, Balanced, Professional

The Best News Coverage is Real, Live, Balanced, Professional Andy Marken March 28, 2024 0 Comments Hero image source News of the World, Perfect Wo...

28/03/2024

DJ Sbu makes shock return to SABC radio after almost a decade

DJ Sbu makes shock return to SABC radio after almost a decadeRevered radio host, media personality, philanthropist, and businessman DJ Sbu will finally be back ...

28/03/2024

Smoke and Mirrors: Thursday's episode, 28 March 2024 [VIDEO]

Smoke and Mirrors: Thursday's episode, 28 March 2024 [VIDEO]Stay up to date with the latest episodes of your favourite South African soapie on The South Afr...

28/03/2024

VEON Pays Back Outstanding Balance and Cancels its Revolving Credit Facility

28 Mar 2024 VEON Pays Back Outstanding Balance and Cancels its Revolving Credit Facility Amsterdam, 28 March 2024, 09.30 CET - VEON Ltd. (Nasdaq: VEON, Euronex...

28/03/2024

TNT Sports Gets Its College Game On for March Madness Audio

TNT Sports Gets Its College Game On for March Madness Audio Marching bands, crowds make up for lack of court FX and wired players By Dan Daley, Audio Editor ...

28/03/2024

Cosm/ESPN Deal Will Bring NBA, NHL, Tennis, College Football, and More to Shared Reality' Venues

Cosm/ESPN Deal Will Bring NBA, NHL, Tennis, College Football, and More to Share...

28/03/2024

MLB 2024: The Famous Group, Miami Marlins Team Up for AI-Powered Intro for All 2024 Home Games

MLB 2024: The Famous Group, Miami Marlins Team Up for AI-Powered Intro for All 2...