I do not see much happening in economics and politics in 2013. As a result, I am going to focus my blogs on the education and the Internet space. I have been there many times before, but it will be my entire focus next year.
Why? Because I had to take 50 hours of worthless courses in college and another 30 hours from teachers who could not teach.
Clayton Christensen a professor at Harvard has said that 50% of the universities in America will go bankrupt in the next 10 years. The disintermediation of education has begun and it is accelerating at break neck speed. How do I know? Because the VCs are starting to fund on-line universities. They sense a disruptive event. I am the choir, particularly when universities charge $700 a credit hour and require 150 hours to graduate with a BS degree, no job guarantee and no refunds for a poor education.
One such VC funded firm is Udacity It was founded by 3 people who believed much of the educational value of their university could be offered on-line. They attracted $15 million of Venture capital and now have 160,000 students in more than 190 countries enrolled in their first class. If those numbers do not grab your attention, then you are asleep. Further, two of their university colleagues formed another such company with $16 million in venture capital called coursera.
Stay tuned.
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