Arite, so for the last year, particularly through the pandemic, one of the things that I’ve been
immersing myself in is online learning platform MasterClass. You may have seen ads for it online,
maybe a billboard, or even your favorite celebrity talking about their new class.
So in this video, I’m going to break down what you need to know about the platform, talk about my
experience with it and let you know whether it’s worth purchasing and if I recommend it or not.
So Masterclass has been growing rapidly, receiving more rounds of funding and seeing
its valuation shoot up really high. As an online course platform, this is pretty much
the only one of its kind where you can learn from the best and I mean, the very best in
any industry. Want to learn about film from Martin Scorsese or cooking from Gordon Ramsay
or Chess from Gary Kasparov, Masterclass will have it for you. That’s basically the value
proposition. Through these courses, these experts talk about their journey and the
things that you need to know as you navigate becoming better at that particular skill.
Masterclass initially had the option to charge per course but has now opened up access to all
of its courses for the price of $180 per year. The main hook for me, as it might be for you, was
wanting to access one particular course from one person. For me, that was the Business
Strategy and Leadership course by Disney CEO Bob Iger. For you that might be different,
but what I found was that I ended up consuming so many courses from so many other people as well.
Bear in mind, that to start off with, you kinda need to be somebody who’s
really interested in learning whatever you can about a variety of things. This is true in my
case. Even though I started on a business course, over the course of this year, I’ve
watched courses on Acting, Fashion, Filmmaking, Entrepreneurship, Sleep Science, and Magic.
My favorite course ended up being the one on Small Business Entrepreneurship by Sara Blakely,
the founder of Spanx. She shared really practical tips and broke down the process of moving from
an idea to a successful business, all while using her own personal examples. I’ve even
condensed key points that I’ve learnt into my notebooks so I can refer back to them later.
Most of the courses on here will also give you a downloadable workbook that you can use after
your membership runs out as well. These will give you a breakdown of some of the important
ideas that were explained by the expert, which you can keep studying and reminding yourself of
over time. The one thing I noticed about this platform that I thought was truly impeccable
was the production quality. The image is so crisp, with a slightly blurred background.
The insert cards help divide the lessons up into sub chapters so that it’s easily digestible
and it just makes you want to keep watching because of how great it looks.
Now, you might be thinking. Ok Vihan, I hear what you’re saying, but I’m not really going
to become an expert just by watching a course. And that’s true, you’re not. It’s virtually impossible
to become a great tennis player just by watching Serena Williams on Masterclass. You have to go out
there and hit tennis balls for years before you’re reasonably good. But what this platform does,
is it gives you access to these experts who have credibility and know what they’re talking about.
I’ve always believed in standing on the shoulders of giants and learning from those who have done
it before you. Honestly, each course is going to be very different. The structure that each
instructor creates varies greatly. Some of them will give you more of a practical step by step
approach to the subject, and some others will be a little more like a high level discussion about
ideas and thoughts. So really experiment with a few to see which ones work for you. For instance,
I noticed that there was a significant difference between the way that Gordon Ramsay structured
his course and the way that Wolfgang Puck did. And you might just prefer one over the other.
What Masterclass does is give you perspective and a supportive voice to know that it is possible to
learn the basics and hone your craft over time. One of the only other platforms that does this
is Skillshare, which you’ve probably seen many of your favorite YouTubers talk about. The primary
difference is that these courses are not taught by world renowned experts as in MasterClass.
One of the primary value points of MasterClass that I’ve found is that it really does bridge
the gap between entertainment and education. It’s obviously entertaining to watch some of
your favorite people talk about their craft and share tips and advice for 2-4 hours, but there’s
a lot that can be learned from them. I’ve always thought that one of the keys to long term growth
is to choose education over entertainment. So when you’re home in the evening after a long day
at work, instead of tuning your mind out for hours watching Netflix, maybe you could pick up a book
that could show you how to start that business, improve your finances or learn that skill.
Somehow, something like MasterClass makes that switch seem much more doable.
Even if you don’t have a lot of time during the day, you can even listen to the courses
while you’re commuting to work, or before you go to bed. I generally watch a lot of
the courses when I’m doing my cardio at the gym. Learning doesn’t just have to be just confined
to professional skills, it can be hobbies that you might have and want to get better at. There
are new courses and instructors released every month so there’s likely going to be
a bunch of courses that will appeal to you. I don’t know. Maybe you want
to learn more about something like Wine Appreciation or Dog Training.
Now, having said all of that. Is MasterClass worth its $180 a year price tag? In my case,
it really was. Whether it is for you depends on how much value you are willing to extract
from it. If you’re willing to explore a bunch of subject areas and learn whatever you can, then it
might just be worth every dollar. It can be easy to forget that you subscribed to the platform
and instead binge the next season of whatever show you’re watching. But if you can regularly
carve out time to explore the courses and find subjects and instructors that interest you,
I can assure you that there’s plenty to be gained from it. Once again, manage your expectations with
regard to the level of proficiency you’ll hope to have at the end of the course and instead use it
as a great way to access the mind of the experts in the fields that you want to become better at.
As always, thanks so much for watching. Go ahead and make love to that like
button and subscribe button. There’s a little bell there right next to it. If you hit it,
great things might just happen. You never know. See you next time.