"Usually I reach about 200 students and now I reach 160,000," he told CNN. "In my entire life of education I didn't have as much an impact on people as I had in these two months."
A New Trend in Free Education
That experience inspired Thrun to launch Udacity, an online platform that teaches beginner- to advanced-level courses in computer science, mathematics, business and technology. The company offers classes free of charge, generating revenue by connecting top performers with prospective employers.
Thrun isn't the only one creating a free education marketplace. Stanford computer science professors Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller founded Coursera to connect professionals with classes in business, finance, math and technology at top universities including University of Washington, University of Maryland, Stanford and University of Virginia.
Other platforms include Udemy, a peer-to-peer marketplace where instructors can teach classes for free or for a small fee. General Assembly is an organization that hosts seminars both online and in cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York. Khan Academy is a nonprofit that hosts more than 3,000 on topics ranging from physics to finance and history.
Business owners and their employees can now learn almost anything for free.
Building Skills at Your Pace
"It's the way of the future," says Nathan Yerian, director of strategy at Houston-based Small Business Marketing firm Adhere Creative. "Even Harvard and MIT are creating open source education platforms. We are on the verge of a major education reform."
Yerian regularly works with small-business owners who need to quickly learn new skills to support their online marketing and technology efforts.
"Client involvement varies greatly," Yerian says. "Some clients get involved in every aspect and basically become part of our marketing team. Others hand us the keys and walk away."
The key to making the most of what you learn in free online skill-building courses? "Learn by doing," Yerian recommends. "There truly is no better way."
Online marketing, for instance, is a high-value field that small-business owners need to understand in their customer acquisition and growth efforts. Beyond courses, small-business owners have a range of options to accommodate their personal learning styles.
"Marketing is constantly changing," Yerian says. "To stay up to date, a person needs to read marketing blogs, keep tabs on new technology, attend Meetups and complete courses. Read blogs every day on marketing trends and tips. You could listen to podcasts or audiobooks on your morning commute to work or while working out at the gym."
New Venture Growth
An area of opportunity for business owners to learn new skills is in new venture growth. For example, James V. Green from the University of Maryland hosts a Developing Innovative Ideas for New Companies class through Coursera. This class teaches core business principles including real market needs, opportunity assessment, business models and selecting the right industry.
Stanford University teaches a course on Advanced Entrepreneurship through Venture Lab. This course allows students to work together and network with one another. The class is designed to help students understand the role of boards, manage board meetings and engage in peer reviews with one another.
Udacity also teaches a course on How to Build a Startup, where students learn the key steps of the customer-development process as well as how to target customers and integrate feedback into a product, marketing and business model.
Business owners can pick and choose lectures or complete courses with assignments in full. A range of free courses is available for almost any need.
Read more articles on Business Growth.
Ritika Puri is a San Francisco-based blogger who writes about trends in business, internet culture, and marketing. She's inspired by the intersection between technology, entrepreneurship and sociology. Ritika blogs via Contently.com.
Photo: Udemy