BRILLIANT

Sue Khim was working in finance and frustrated by how poorly math and science were taught — endless lectures and rote memorization that killed curiosity. She believed that interactive, problem-first learning was fundamentally better.

Tony Chow, with a background in design and education, shared the vision. They launched Brilliant originally as a community for math olympiad problems, then evolved into a full interactive learning platform.

The breakthrough was treating every concept as a series of puzzles, not explanations.

Brilliant sells premium subscriptions ($12-25/month) that give access to interactive courses in math, science, data analysis, and computer science. Every lesson is built around interactive problems and visual explorations — no videos, no lectures.

Users learn by doing. The free tier gives limited daily access.

The model is similar to Duolingo but for STEM: gamified, bite-sized, designed for daily practice. They also sell Brilliant for Organizations for enterprise training.

Interactive math courses, Computer science fundamentals, Data analysis courses, Scientific thinking courses, Daily challenges, Brilliant for Organizations

Expand the course catalog beyond pure math/science into practical skills (data analysis, AI concepts, programming logic). Partner with employers who need to upskill workers in quantitative skills.

Grow internationally — STEM is universal and Brilliant's visual-first approach transcends language barriers. Continue sponsoring popular YouTube channels (3Blue1Brown, Veritasium) for brand awareness.

Competing for attention with YouTube, Khan Academy (free), and the general perception that "hard" learning is not fun. Brilliant is asking people to do math problems for fun, which is a hard sell for the mass market.

Their niche is people who already like STEM — expanding beyond that audience into casual learners is the growth challenge.

Menlo Ventures, Obvious Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, GSV Ventures, Owl Ventures