Max Azarov created his business to meet the needs of his own children and families like his. But it was successful enough to become a major online platform – and is in the process of scaling up big time. Today on The Business of You, Max shares some of his key takeaways from scaling up and growing as an entrepreneur. 

Max is the Founder of NovaKid, an online language learning platform for kids ages 4-12. Novakid has been included on the Forbes Top 500 list of America’s Best Startup Employers. NovaKid is currently in the expansion phase, exploring new ways to work with older children and create group language immersion experiences. Classes are 25-45 minutes depending on childrens’ ages. NovaKid employs complete immersion during classes, with no English spoken, and integrates learning games into the curriculum, making language acquisition engaging and effective.

NovaKid is a Series B startup that has raised $41.5 million to date and created revenue of over $18 million in 2021. This fully remote, venture-backed business has been operating since 2017, with approximately 2,500 staff and teachers in over 20 countries. Novakid is funded by well-known venture capital firms Owl Ventures and Goodwater Capital, PortfoLion, LearnStart, Xploration Capital, Bon Angels, Leta Capital, TMT Investments, all of which support innovation businesses globally. Max has a robust background in applied mathematics, software design, and digital signal processing. He worked at Google in product development and the development of Google Maps. 

Created out of need

Max Azarov was frustrated. Living abroad in Eastern Europe, he was struggling to find teaching modalities for his older son to learn English. In a place where English was not widely spoken or accessible at the time, he attempted to find a teacher for him – but she ended up moving away. 

While on a trip to Shanghai in 2017, Max had an epiphany when he saw families using a popular platform called VIPKid. Wondering why there was no comparable platform in Europe, he set out to research it. While there were plenty of options for adults to learn, there weren’t for children. There were widespread beliefs that children could not learn online and certainly could not acquire language skills online. Fortunately, those beliefs turned out to be false. 

Secrets of scaling a remote company

As NovaKid extended its influence, it emerged as a prominent player in the online education sector. Max Azarov, equipped with a background in applied mathematics, software design, and experience at Google, guided NovaKid through substantial growth.

Max’s entrepreneurial journey, rooted in personal necessity, is a compelling illustration of how business ventures can address unmet needs and revolutionize industries, particularly in scaling online businesses and embracing remote workforces.

Quotes

“I was helping these big guys to help them solve a problem. That was a big moment for me – realizing that this is not just my hobby, not just my passion…it was something that I could use to make a big difference in the world.”

“This was the need – how do I make them fluent in English while living in a country where English is not the first language and is not widely spoken?”

“For adults, you could find a lot of choices. But for kids, there was nothing. Traditional wisdom would say that it wouldn’t work for kids. But that turned out to be completely false.”

“There are two things we do differently than others: We went with complete immersion! No English is spoken during the class. The second thing is that we heavily used learning games as part of the curriculum.”

“It’s a combination of games, to get attention, and full immersion that drives the learning.”

“We are focused on deep and meaningful connections with students.”

“Why do we even have language as a species? We have it to make deep, meaningful connections with each other. So we encourage that in our product as well.”

“If your business model allows you to have remote workers, definitely do that!”

“Without an excellent healthy culture, you cannot really build a successful company.”

Links mentioned in this episode:

Podcast Resources

Visit the NovaKid website at https://www.novakidschool.com 

See NovaKid’s feature in Forbes’ list of America’s Best Startup Employers: https://www.forbes.com/lists/americas-best-startup-employers/?sh=60b6d5272ad7 

Connect with Max on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mazarov 

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