Outschool

Laid off 11% (115+) in January 2024. Video platform struggling post-spinoff from IAC.

Outschool operates as a gig economy marketplace where teachers are independent contractors. The platform takes a 30% "Teacher Fee" from all class payments—teachers receive 70% of the class price they set. According to Outschool's official policy: "The Teacher Fee is defined as Outschool's take rate of 30% of the Parent's payment." Teachers must link PayPal accounts for payouts. The fee structure is fixed regardless of tenure or performance. EdSurge reported that pre-pandemic about 1,000 teachers worked for Outschool; CEO Nathoo claimed "hundreds of teachers make over six figures" annually on the platform.

Outschool laid off 43 employees (25% of staff) in December 2022, following an 18% cut in July 2022. CEO Amir Nathoo wrote: "The truth is the layoffs in our sector are widespread for a reason. The funding atmosphere has been dramatically impacted by the anticipation of a recession, higher interest rates and an increased need to show ROI to investors." He acknowledged: "I didn't anticipate that our growth would slow as dramatically as it has. This is on me." Co-founder Nick Grandy also departed. The company had raised $240M and reached a $3B valuation just 12 months prior.