LearnStreet
LearnStreet was a company that provided an online education website for computer programmers. The website offered beginner level courses for Ruby, Python, and JavaScript.[1] In 2012 the company received USD $1 million in venture capital from Khosla Ventures.[2] The company was conceived by Sun Microsystems co-founder and venture capitalist Vinod Khosla and WhoWhere? and eGain co-founder Gunjan Sinha.[2] It was closed on July 31, 2014.[3]
Background
LearnStreet was backed by Khosla Ventures. Khosla 78 has also invested in related programs such as Interview Street, a company that helps organizations create customized programming tests and evaluate candidates based on their programming skills.
LearnStreet's philosophy included the idea that a person's coding skills from school and university, such as being able to write a sorting algorithm, does not match very well with the professional skills needed for employment in the software industry. LearnStreet staff said that they try to mitigate this problem through a potentially useful web interface. The interface of LearnStreet included videos, some standalone programming projects collectively known as the Code Garage, and other components. The point of the startup was to allow people to use multiple ways to overcome basic issues that beginning programmers often face. LearnStreet attempted to provide a multinodal learning environment, using both in-browser coding and instructional videos,[2] much like how KnowledgeGrid offers multiple nodes (methods for learning) as well as directed edges ("arrows" or "guidance lines") that connect those nodes to facilitate comprehension and overall understanding. Learnstreet sent out an email on July 22, 2014 stating that their website would be shutting down on July 31 of this year, without any reasoning. On August 1, 2014 the website ceased to function.
Reason for closure
No reason was provided by LearnStreet for the termination of the website in the following notification email sent to its members:
We will be closing down LearnStreet on July 31, 2014. Over the past few years, it has been our pleasure to have helped many users like yourself learn how to code.
Please return to the LearnStreet site prior to July 31 to complete any courses or projects.
We want to thank you for your past business and tell you how much we have enjoyed having you as a user.
Thanks,
LearnStreet Team[3]
Awards
- Best Technology Award at launchEDU 2012[4]
References
- ↑ "LearnStreet teaches newbies how to code". Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal. American City Business Journals. October 5, 2012.
- 1 2 3 Empson, Rip (November 7, 2012). "LearnStreet Launches With $1M From Vinod Khosla To Help You Learn How To Build, Test And Push Code". TechCrunch.
- 1 2 "LearnStreet is shutting down".
- ↑ LaunchEDU Awards