I've tried using it to dig up info on interesting topics. This one marketing company looks shady so I wanted to dig up a bit on it. With a proper prompt it spat out decent info.
Here’s a compact “company dossier” on MasterClass, with sources for the key facts.
Company overview
Legal/brand: MasterClass (Yanka Industries, Inc.). Consumer subscription video courses with celebrity instructors.
HQ: 660 4th St. #443, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA.
HR Grapevine
Founders: David Rogier (CEO) and Aaron Rasmussen (co-founder; later founded Outlier.org).
Business model: Annual, all-access membership; frequent gifting and “2-for-1” promos; B2B offering (“MasterClass at Work”).
PR Newswire
CFO.com
TechCrunch
Leadership (selected)
David Rogier — Co-founder & CEO. Leads company strategy & fundraising.
Valen Tong — Chief Financial Officer. Oversees finance and capital strategy.
MasterClass
Len Amato — Chief Content Officer. Runs content slate & instructor relationships (Amato previously led HBO Films).
MasterClass
Melanie Steinbach — Chief People Officer. Leads HR/talent.
PR Newswire
David Schriber — Chief Marketing Officer. Longtime brand marketer (MasterClass announced him as CMO in 2019).
Notes: MasterClass doesn’t publish a static org chart; titles can change. The items above reflect roles referenced by the company or reputable business listings.
Funding, valuation, investors
Series E ($100M, 2020) to expand content & product; coverage lists investors incl. Fidelity and others.
Series F ($225M, 2021) led by Fidelity (press coverage notes existing and new institutional investors).
Earlier rounds: $80M Series D in 2018 (IVP-led) reported by major business outlets.
Contrary Research
TechCrunch