Leading with Integrity: How Sal Khan Stayed True to His Dream to Develop The Khan Academy

In 2009, the growing popularity of his teaching videos gave Sal Khan the courage to dream of providing a free world-class education to anyone, anywhere. But fulfilling his vision would require him to resist a very powerful temptation: money.

Today, the Khan Academy has more than 90 million registered users in more than 190 countries and has been translated into more than 40 languages. More than 18 million learners a month use Khan Academy to study math, grammar, biology, chemistry, physics, history, economics, finance, preschool learning and much more.

Taking a Chance on a Side Project

Khan founded the Khan Academy in 2008 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization as a side project. In the fall of 2009, he left his promising position as a hedge fund analyst to devote 100 percent of his time to the project. Usage was growing exponentially in 2009, but with his commitment to keep the academy free, Khan was dipping into his savings to support himself and his growing young family. He started to question if the academy could work as a nonprofit, and was tempted to abandon the project altogether.

“I had venture capitalists coming to me and saying `We’ll write the check right now,’” Khan said in a video interview with Global Mentor Network president Thuy Vu. “They said, `You can start taking a salary and support your family. You’ll get a big equity stake and this could be a billion dollar company one day.’”

The VCs were willing to have some free content but of course wanted a for-profit platform model. Khan said the money was seductive, but he kept going back to letters of gratitude he’d been receiving from kids in financially struggling families all over the world –the Khan Academy was the tutor their family couldn’t afford.

Khan asked himself, “Do we want to put that friction on users in order for them to learn that material?”

Persevering Through Hardship to Realize a Dream

For Khan the answer was ultimately no. As of January 2020, the Khan Academy channel on YouTube has more than 5.3 million subscribers and the Khan Academy videos have been viewed more than 1.7 billion times. Teachers use Khan Academy to make assignments, track student progress, and provide tailored instruction.

In 2012, Khan made Time magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Forbes magazine featured Khan on its cover that same year.

The Khan Academy’s Global Advisory Board has attracted such luminaries as Bill Gates, Carlos Slim and Laurene Powell Jobs to its educational and non-profit mission. Netflix founder Reed Hastings was an early donor, and the academy now has corporate sponsors like Bank of America and Amgen.

As a mentor in the Global Mentor Network, Khan sat down with Vu to share his perspectives on leadership, mentoring, and many of the personal lessons and struggles he faced founding and growing the Khan Academy into the global powerhouse it is today.

Explore these and other great lessons from Sal Khan at the Global Mentor Network.

About GMN

The Global Mentor Network (GMN) was founded by Keith Krach, a Silicon Valley tech legend, in 2019. GMN’s mission is to help build the transformational leaders who will shape tomorrow’s world through the power of mentorship at scale.