I learned more about the stock market and machine learning algorithms, and started participating in online competitions. After competing in and winning several machine learning competitions, I landed a job as a Machine Learning Engineer at edX.

edX, started by MIT, was a pioneer in online courses. I realized that I was passionate about helping people learn data skills.

I also realized that the way most courses were taught wasn’t helping people take the same journey I did. To learn skills and succeed in getting a job, you have to learn in a hands-on way that includes real-world projects.

I launched Dataquest with a mission to help millions of people around the world master data skills and grow their careers – the same way I did.

Most online education has a top-down curriculum — complete with lecture videos and knowledge-based exams. But to truly master technical skills and get a job, you have to learn by doing. You can’t just passively watch videos and expect to know how to pass an interview and get a job.

On the other end, learning by doing can be hard. Finding projects at the right difficulty level is hard. It’s not always clear what to do when you’re stuck. And it’s hard to know the order in which to learn skills.

Dataquest aims to solve these problems. The Dataquest method is project-based, with plenty of hands-on exercises. But we also give you the structure and guidance to never get stuck.

Our curriculum is built around interesting, real-world projects, so you learn how to apply skills to real problems. We structure the lessons so you get immediate feedback, just like in a classroom, and provide paths so you know you’re learning the right topic.

Together, it’s a powerful combination.