Vator is the home to entrepreneurs who embrace their passion and follow their dreams.
We are a diverse community of dreamers, builders, and trailblazers, who want to change the world, build great products, and better the lives of others.
Today’s Entrepreneur showcases the diversity of entrepreneurs on Vator, and gives our entrepreneurs an opportunity to share their journey with the community-at-large.
Our entrepreneur today is Gagan Biyani, co-founder and President of Udemy, a website that enables anyone to create an online course and teach over the internet.
Gagan was born and raised in the Bay area. He attended college in Berkeley, and moved to Washington DC to take a job with Accenture. A year later he met his (now) co-founder, Eren Bali, was so enthused by his idea, that he decided to moved back to San Francisco to start Udemy.
Back in San Francisco, he spent a lot of time attending events, and building a network, soaking up the Silicon Valley scene, and meeting many people over coffee. For those who have met him, his enthusiasm and passion are contagious. Udemy won the Vator Splash completion in May last year, and soon after closed a seed round from top angel investors, including Dave McClure, one of the VC/judges at the May Splash event.
I am an:
Entrepreneur
Name companies you’ve founded or co-founded:
Udemy
If you are an entrepreneur, why?
I want to change the world.
List your favorite startups:
Micromobs, Quora, Airbnb, Hipmunk
What’s most frustrating and rewarding about entrepreneurship/innovation?
Frustrating: Realizing you can’t do everything.
Rewarding: Accomplishing something nobody thought possible.
What’s the No. 1 mistake entrepreneurs make?
Timing is everything. The best entrepreneurs have mastered the art of timing; they don’t force things when the market isn’t ready and are guns-a-blazin’ when the market is. Most entrepreneurs have great ideas, but few of them get the timing right.
What are the top three lessons you’ve learned as an entrepreneur?
1. Get out of your own way.
2. Opportunity is everywhere.
3. Nothing is impossible.
