Wes Kao

Educator, co-creator of Seth Godin’s altMBA, and co-founder of Maven (cohort-based course platform). Known for applying deep psychology-of-belonging frameworks to Cohort-Based Courses and online education.

Two threads saved in the wiki:

Community unbundling (2020): Wes Kao argues that “community” is a catch-all term that conflates distinct elements — companionship, live interaction, active participation, Slack rooms. Unbundling each element lets you design more precise tactics and maximize each lever separately. High-premium digital experiences ($1,000–5,000/student) differentiate from $50 on-demand courses largely on how well they optimize each community element.

Building something new (2020): When building the altMBA with Seth Godin, Kao and Godin did not look at edtech — “that was too narrow.” Instead they studied groups that made people feel “zealous, committed, and like it became part of their identity” — religion, sports fandom, military service — looking for the external signals of belonging (dress codes, rituals, holidays) that inspire members to bring up their group naturally in outside conversations. The goal was to find a reason students would mention the altMBA to coworkers.

Where this appears

• 1- Analysis of Course Communities… (tweet)
• 1- to Build Something New… (tweet)