Tade Oyerinde and Teddy Solomon talk about building an engaged audience at TechCrunch Disrupt

Tade Oyerinde and Teddy Solomon know a thing or two about building communities that last.

Besides, Oyerinde is the founder and chancellor of online school Campus, while Solomon is the co-founder behind college social networking app Fizz.

The two spoke at TechCrunch Disrupt this year, breaking down the strategies that helped them scale their companies while keeping consumers engaged.

The Campus offers associate degrees in fields such as information technology and business administration. It also offers certificates in specialties such as cosmetology and phlebotomy. There are more than 3,000 enrolled students on the Campus and it employs more than 100 faculty members on at least a part-time basis, Oyerinde says.

Oyerinde said the Campus decided to start à la carte courses, since employers, in particular, have been asking for courses that can teach their employees individual skills like vibe coding.

He realizes that many people are looking for upskilling and believes that in the future, everyone will have some kind of membership or subscription service to help them develop new skills.

“Everyone in this room, not just two-year degree seekers, will be able to go to the Campus and learn with us,” he told the audience. “Live, online classes, taught by amazing people.”

Oyerinde uses her Pell Grant to keep school affordable for more people. He also has a group of billionaires at his company’s table — like OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Discord’s Jason Citroen — meaning he doesn’t feel much pressure to focus on profits above all else, he said.

“They don’t need the money,” he continued. “What they really want is to fundamentally shape the way education works in this country for the better.”

Fizz, meanwhile, operates more from 200 campuses and at some point it worked in high schools all over the country. It has raised more than $40 million with investors such as Owl Ventures and NEA.

Since its launch in 2021, Solomon said the company had adopted features such as a peer-to-peer marketplace that includes more than 100,000 items and a video component so people can write more than just text posts.

Now, the company is looking to create a product called Global Fizz to expand the product beyond the US. Solomon talked more about this on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, where he mapped out the company’s future.

Solomon told the audience that the company is looking for ways to generate revenue, with a particular focus on advertising. “We’ve already worked with companies like Perplexity,” he said.

“There are subscription models that have worked well with apps, but right now we’re focusing on our ads and focusing on building a great product that keeps our users engaged and happy.”

After all, he said, “Users are everything.”