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Nikhil KamathEp #5 | EdTech What’s Broken, What’s Next? With Nikhil, Ronnie Screwvala , Gaurav Munjal & Jay Kotak
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At a glance
WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT
EdTech’s next era: motivation, access, and learning beyond credentials
- Nikhil Kamath hosts Ronnie Screwvala (UpGrad), Gaurav Munjal (Unacademy), and Jay Kotak (Kotak811) to explore education’s purpose, edtech business models, and what real learning should optimize for.
- They contrast Unacademy’s “tournament” (competitive exams) model with UpGrad’s workforce-skilling model, arguing outcomes and motivation matter more than content alone.
- The panel debates whether online learning can match “real-life” education and elite networks; they converge on peer-to-peer learning, better learning experiences, and more inclusive access as key unlocks.
- They critique the fundraising/valuation era, discuss why capital can distort execution, and predict major shifts from AI, gamification, and changing job credential requirements.
IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING
5 ideasEdtech is ultimately an outcomes business, not a content business.
Across test-prep and upskilling, the product’s value is judged by tangible outcomes—exam success, job mobility, career progression—so “better videos” alone won’t win without clear pathways to results.
Unacademy’s core wedge is competitive-exam leverage (“tournament” dynamics).
Munjal argues millions treat exams like UPSC/NEET/JEE as the most reliable route to change socioeconomic status; Unacademy positions itself as coaching infrastructure for those tournaments, with wide price bands from low-cost SSC to premium JEE.
UpGrad’s wedge is lifecycle learning for working professionals.
Screwvala frames education as wrongly treated as a one-time “calendar event”; UpGrad targets ongoing skilling/reskilling and workforce readiness, where learning experience and application matter more than star faculty alone.
Peer-to-peer learning is a major next unlock for online education.
Screwvala predicts the biggest change comes from learners interacting and learning from each other—mirroring what makes elite programs valuable—rather than relying on a single “sage on the stage.”
To scale learning, you must solve motivation, not just curriculum.
Munjal contends most learners don’t learn “for the sake of learning,” so edtech must engineer motivation via clearer incentives, reinforcement loops, and products that feel rewarding (analogous to how games create progression and wins).
WORDS WORTH SAVING
5 quotesTop three percent of kids get into these good colleges. What about the ninety-seven percent?
— Gaurav Munjal
I think I’ve been blessed by not being spoiled with a lot of fundraising.
— Ronnie Screwvala
No. I hate balance.
— Gaurav Munjal
Today, I’m not looking for problem solvers anymore. I’m looking for problem spotters.
— Ronnie Screwvala
Unacademy… we don’t think we are in the education business, we think we are in the tournament business.
— Gaurav Munjal
High quality AI-generated summary created from speaker-labeled transcript.
