
Wes Kao talks about Maven, Cohort-based Learning and Seth Godin
12/22/21 • 41 min
As co-founder of the altMBA, Wes Kao helped create the modern cohort-based education movement with Seth Godin.
Wes has led over 150 launches for Fortune 500 brands and startups, and is recognized as a leading expert in B2C marketing. Now she’s taking the category she helped create to the next level with her new startup Maven, the world’s first digital platform for cohort-based courses.
I learned heaps from this conversation as Wes unpacked all things cohort-based learning. Tune in to find out more about creating an engaging course, how the best courses evolve, growing your community, and the power of beta-testing.
Talking Points
- The rising trend of learning cohorts
- Some common mistakes made by first-time course creators
- Why it’s never too late to start a cohort-based learning course
- The impact of people working from home
- How to make the most out of online learning
- Repurposing evergreen content into cohort-based course
Quote
"The less tools you have, the less things will break."
Helpful Links
- AltMBA
- Episode 343: Consistency Over Authenticity with Seth Godin
- Wes Kao’s website
- Wes Kao’s Twitter
- Maven’s Twitter
- Maven
Want to discover some of the books mentioned on the podcast? Check out Scribd, my reading app of choice.
If you enjoyed the episode, please leave a rating and/or review wherever you listened to the episode. Also don't forget to check out all of our podcast sponsors found on our podcast sponsors page.
If you enjoyed the episode, please leave a rating and/or review wherever you listened to the episode. And if you want to have easy access to the archives of the show and ensure you don't miss the new episodes to come then subscribe to the podcast in the app you're using.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
I'm trying something new with A Productive Conversation...
Starting in May 2025, you’ll be able to support the podcast directly—and help keep it focused, ad-free, and sustainable. Just visit https://aproductiveconversation.transistor.fm/support-apc and help shape what’s next.
As co-founder of the altMBA, Wes Kao helped create the modern cohort-based education movement with Seth Godin.
Wes has led over 150 launches for Fortune 500 brands and startups, and is recognized as a leading expert in B2C marketing. Now she’s taking the category she helped create to the next level with her new startup Maven, the world’s first digital platform for cohort-based courses.
I learned heaps from this conversation as Wes unpacked all things cohort-based learning. Tune in to find out more about creating an engaging course, how the best courses evolve, growing your community, and the power of beta-testing.
Talking Points
- The rising trend of learning cohorts
- Some common mistakes made by first-time course creators
- Why it’s never too late to start a cohort-based learning course
- The impact of people working from home
- How to make the most out of online learning
- Repurposing evergreen content into cohort-based course
Quote
"The less tools you have, the less things will break."
Helpful Links
- AltMBA
- Episode 343: Consistency Over Authenticity with Seth Godin
- Wes Kao’s website
- Wes Kao’s Twitter
- Maven’s Twitter
- Maven
Want to discover some of the books mentioned on the podcast? Check out Scribd, my reading app of choice.
If you enjoyed the episode, please leave a rating and/or review wherever you listened to the episode. Also don't forget to check out all of our podcast sponsors found on our podcast sponsors page.
If you enjoyed the episode, please leave a rating and/or review wherever you listened to the episode. And if you want to have easy access to the archives of the show and ensure you don't miss the new episodes to come then subscribe to the podcast in the app you're using.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
I'm trying something new with A Productive Conversation...
Starting in May 2025, you’ll be able to support the podcast directly—and help keep it focused, ad-free, and sustainable. Just visit https://aproductiveconversation.transistor.fm/support-apc and help shape what’s next.
Previous Episode

Dr. Michael Breus talks about Energy Management, Movement and Sleep
Dr. Michael Breus, Ph.D., is a Clinical Psychologist and both a Diplomate of the American Board of Sleep Medicine and a Fellow of The American Academy of Sleep Medicine. He is one of only 168 psychologists in the world to have passed the Sleep Medical Speciality board without going to Medical School. Dr. Michael Breus was recently named the Top Sleep Specialist in California by Reader’s Digest, and one of the 10 most influential people in sleep.
Michael is also ‘The Power of When’, ‘The Sleep Doctor’s Diet Plan: Lose Weight Through Better Sleep’ and ‘GOOD NIGHT: The Sleep Doctor’s 4-Week Program to Better Sleep and Better Health’. In this episode, we explore his most recent book, co-authored with Stacey Griffith, ‘Energize!: Go from Dragging Ass to Kicking It in 30 Days’.
Tune in also to learn more about energy management techniques, knowing your body type, morning stretches, his unbelievably simple sleep program – and being a wolf.
Talking Points
- How your body type and type of exercise affects your sleep
- Learn how to manage your energy levels
- Being a ‘fast wolf’
- The correlation between melatonin production and age
- Learning from how animals wake up
- Emotional energizers and vampires
- Identifying your definition of energy
Quote
"I focus more on energy management, not time."
Helpful Links
- The Power of When with Dr Michael Breus
- EnergizeMyself.com
- TheSleepDoctor.com
- ChronoQuiz.com
- Dr Michael Breus’ TikTok
Want to discover some of the books mentioned on the podcast? Check out Scribd, my reading app of choice.
If you enjoyed the episode, please leave a rating and/or review wherever you listened to the episode. Also don't forget to check out all of our podcast sponsors found on our podcast sponsors page.
If you enjoyed the episode, please leave a rating and/or review wherever you listened to the episode. And if you want to have easy access to the archives of the show and ensure you don't miss the new episodes to come then subscribe to the podcast in the app you're using.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Next Episode

John Meese talks about Profit, Growth and Thriving
Find out how to move from survival to thriving with your business with economist-turned-entrepreneur John Meese.
John is on a personal mission to eradicate generational poverty by helping entrepreneurs create thriving businesses which is why he wrote ‘Survive and Thrive: How to Build a Profitable Business in Any Economy (Including This One)’. John is CEO of Cowork.Inc, Co-founder of Notable, and host of the Thrive School podcast.
It was great having John back on the show to discuss his latest book. We discussed how to embrace problems, strategies of growing a business, being around like-minded people, and the power of coworking spaces.
Talking Points
- His process of writing the book
- The profit-first mindset
- The theme of service throughout his research
- The five ways of growing a business
- Having the right people around you
- John’s coworking space
- Moving from the survival to the thriving state of your business
Quote
"As an entrepreneur, the world is counting on you to solve problems."
Helpful Links
- Episode 336: Visibility Bias with John Meese
- Episode 239: Free to Focus with Michael Hyatt
- Episode 289: The Vision Driven Leader with Michael Hyatt
- Episode 388: Mike Michalowicz talks about Getting Different
- How WeWork Became WeBroke – John Meese
- Get Your ThriveScore
- SurviveAndThriveBook.com
- John Meese’s LinkedIn
- Thrive School with John Meese
Want to discover some of the books mentioned on the podcast? Check out Scribd, my reading app of choice.
If you enjoyed the episode, please leave a rating and/or review wherever you listened to the episode. Also don't forget to check out all of our podcast sponsors found on our podcast sponsors page.
If you enjoyed the episode, please leave a rating and/or review wherever you listened to the episode. And if you want to have easy access to the archives of the show and ensure you don't miss the new episodes to come then subscribe to the podcast in the app you're using.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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