Building Khan Academy with Sal Khan: Mastery Learning, AI, and Education at Scale

This week on Building One, Tomer talks to Sal Khan, the founder of Khan Academy, about building one of the world’s most impactful educational platforms. From tutoring his cousin in 2004 to reaching over 150 million learners globally, Sal shares his approach to creating a “minimal lovable product” (MLP) that goes beyond functionality to foster trust and connection with users. Sal discusses the concept of mastery learning, both in the way Khan Academy teaches and in the way Khan Academy was built. Sal emphasizes how important it is for students to have a strong foundational understanding before moving on to the next lesson. The conversation also dives into scaling educational tools, integrating with school systems, and how AI in education can personalize learning while freeing teachers to focus on emotional support and motivation. Finally, Sal reflects on Khan Academy’s non-profit status and discusses the broader implications of building purpose-driven companies in markets that don’t function as they should. Tune in to hear how Sal built a platform that’s more than just a learning tool—it’s a relationship. Follow Sal Khan on LinkedIn. Follow Tomer Cohen on LinkedIn and check out his newsletter, Building LinkedIn.