326: How Skillshare Co-Founder Malcolm Ong Has Transformed Multiple Industries—From Education To Media

The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan

Malcolm Ong has never shied away from change. In fact, his ability to adapt is what has given him a front-row seat to multiple business transformations—first as the co-founder of education platform Skillshare to now as the Head of Product at South China Morning Post.

After launching Skillshare in 2010, Ong led the business through a significant pivot—from being a completely offline, in-person model to one that’s now membership-based and 100% online. In the process, he also witnessed the massive growth of the online education industry, which has only been sped up by the Covid-19 pandemic.

After leaving Skillshare, Ong joined South China Morning Post, a global, English-language news media company owned by Alibaba. His job has been to transform this company from a traditional, local newspaper into a more modern, global media empire. A task that he has exceeded, as he’s grown their number of monthly active users from 4 million to over 50 million and significantly expanded the outlet’s readership beyond Asia.

In this conversation, Ong gives us a deeper dive into these milestones throughout his fascinating career and shares his best recommendations on how to transform a business. If there’s any other type of content you’d like to see that would be valuable to you during this time, please don’t hesitate to reach out at [e-mail].

Key Takeaways

• Why Ong decided to tackle the education industry
• How Skillshare launched as a 100% offline education platform
• What contributed to Skillshare’s success
• The scalability issues that Skillshare faced, and how this led to the company transitioning online
• Ong’s advice when it comes to pivoting your business
• Why Ong eventually left Skillshare in 2016
• What intrigued Ong about the job offer from South China Morning Post (SCMP)
• Ong’s experience living in Hong Kong, and how it has given him the front seat to many historical events
• How Ong has helped SCMP transform from being a traditional media company to a cutting-edge product and customer-focused business
• Ong’s advice to entrepreneurs about trying on different hats

Key Resources From Our Interview With Malcom Ong

• Visit the SCMP website
• Follow Ong on LinkedIn and Twitter