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The Surprising Origin of Crash Course

2021-06-25 · story · Hank · 3:56 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Projects · mode: Personal essay · tags: self promotion, community lore

Reading a 2010 Gchat in which John pitched a funny five-minute French Revolution video, Hank tells how Crash Course was born, argues that never taking venture capital kept it free and focused on lowering barriers to learning, and marks the last day of the Crash Course coin, whose first $500 coin went to their mom.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Gchat transcript of John's 2010 French Revolution video idea

  • ★★★ Hank found in his Gchat archives the story of how John told him the most impactful idea they ever had, in a chat on September 26, 2010. — 00:00:00 · John Green
  • ★★ John Green (quoted): In the chat John proposes a hilarious, fun five-minute video with lots of visual aids covering the whole French Revolution, which no one in education treats as interesting. — 00:00:15 · also in: We Just Sold Our Company for $0

00:00:29 — How Crash Course was born, the venture-capital pitch never made, staying free and lowering barriers to learning

  • ★ John Green (quoted): John's chat calls the deal made in an indoor tennis court the most interesting moment in world history, except for when the prince of Nepal became a serial killer. (playful) — 00:00:29
  • ★★★ Hank replied that it was a great idea, John said he would do it, and that, Hank says, is how Crash Course was born. — 00:00:29 · Crash Course, John Green
  • ★★ Hank admits he left something out: John wanted that video to be their entire pitch to [redacted] and other venture capitalists. (playful) — 00:00:51
  • ★★ Hank says they were sure Crash Course could have impact but could not imagine funding it without traditional venture capital. — 00:00:51 · Crash Course
  • ★★★ Hank thinks Crash Course could have succeeded on venture capital, but then a lot of it would be behind a paywall now. — 00:01:12 · Crash Course
  • ★★★ Thanks partly to John advocating for Crash Course over Hank's terrible other ideas, they never had to take investment, which kept Crash Course focused on staying free. — 00:01:12 · John Green, Crash Course
  • ★★★ Hank says John's chat already spoke of what they call lowering barriers to learning: making history boring is one needless barrier, costly educational video another they aim to prove unnecessary. — 00:01:42 · lowering barriers to learning
  • ★★ Hank admits it is really challenging: some days he thinks the cost barrier may be necessary, and he doesn't know. (unsure) — 00:02:00
  • ★★ Hank says making Crash Course work takes weird thinking about earning money without charging and making it as inexpensively as possible; they need to essentialize. — 00:02:11 · Crash Course
  • ★★ Hank says educational content has corners that cannot be cut and others they could cut but don't want to: they want to do more, do it better and treat teams and contractors better. — 00:02:25

00:02:40 — How Crash Course makes money; last day of the Crash Course coins; Mom bought coin 001

  • ★★ Hank says Crash Course and Complexly have funded themselves creatively: advertising, grants from organizations that understand the mission, Subbable, then Patreon, and now the Crash Course coin. — 00:02:40 · Crash Course, Complexly, Subbable, Crash Course coin
  • ★★★ Hank says today is the last day of the Crash Course coin: a $100 and a $500 coin, each a piece of the budget to reach 2,000 or 10,000 students. — 00:02:54 · Crash Course coin, Crash Course
  • ★★ Hank says each coin is minted at a small family-owned mint in Arkansas from hand-etched dies. — 00:03:09 · Crash Course coin
  • ★★ Hank says the coin has been so successful that there will be a different 2022 coin next year (2022), but today is the last day for the 2021 coins. — 00:03:09 · Crash Course coin
  • ★ Hank says the $500 coins are probably sold out by the time the video goes up, but maybe not. (hedged) — 00:03:09 · Crash Course coin
  • ★★★ Hank shows the first coin minted, numbered 001, going to the first buyer of a $500 coin: their mom; he meant to fake cry and started to really cry. — 00:03:09 · Sydney Green, Crash Course coin

00:03:39 — Patreon pointer and sign-off

  • ★★★ Hank says that after Friday, June 25 the coins are gone, but viewers can still support Crash Course on Patreon. — 00:03:39 · Crash Course
  • ★★ More than 10 years in, Hank says they are excited to keep finding ways to lower barriers to learning, and tells John it was a great idea. — 00:03:39 · lowering barriers to learning, John Green

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The description says the Crash Course coin is available until midnight tonight, linking crashcoursecoin.com. — video description · Crash Course coin, Crash Course
  • ★★ The description says that while most viewers can't get a coin, the few who can make the resource available to all, outside a system designed to capture value rather than lower barriers. — video description · Crash Course coin
  • ★★ In a comment Hank adds that, in fairness, Crash Course almost didn't make it through its first year without Google funding either. — creator comment · Google, Crash Course
  • ★ In a comment Hank says the terrible idea he had in that chat was a platform for adding commentary to videos, like reaction videos. (playful) — creator comment
  • ★ In a comment Hank names the Arkansas mint as Shire Post Mint, lovely to work with. — creator comment · Crash Course coin

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Crash Course · Crash Course coin · lowering barriers to learning

Also: People: Dipendra of Nepal · Sydney Green

Projects: Complexly · Subbable

Organizations: Patreon

Concepts: paywall · venture capital

Places: Arkansas

Events: French Revolution · Tennis Court Oath

Products: Google Talk

Only in the description or credits: Google · Shire Post Mint

Also centred on lowering barriers to learning: My Embarrassing Dermatology Story

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