Abstract

The case ‘Speakin: A Multilingual Online Business Learning Platform’ describes how the New Delhi based start-up SpeakIn Communications Pvt Ltd (SpeakIn) sought to position itself as Asia’s largest tech-enabled network of thought leaders and experts through its multilingual online business learning platform. SpeakIn offered individuals, businesses, and enterprises access to curated sessions and high-quality content from thought leaders, experts, and speakers across industries and geographies. The case first focuses on how SpeakIn built a network of experts that comprised business leaders, politicians, bureaucrats, entrepreneurs, academicians, and many others. It then looks at how SpeakIn focused on building the learning content offered with customized and curated content in multiple languages including Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu, Marathi, and English on a single platform. Additionally, the case describes the various steps that the company took to transform itself from a physical to a digital business model after starting as an offline model in 2016. The COVID-19 pandemic further created an opportunity for SpeakIn to become a full-fledged digital platform offering live virtual sessions and e-learning content to its customers through webinars and Masterclass. The case ends with SpeakIn’s aspirations to build a network of at least 75,000 experts from India and abroad and reach 100 percent of Fortune 500 companies in the country by 2020. The company also planned to expand globally and connect to private equity and venture capital firms from the US, the UK, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Become aware of online business learning platforms
• Learn about the importance of digitizing learning programs in organizations
• Understand the importance of offering learning content to employees in local languages
• Learn about the need for small and medium organizations to partner with external e-learning service providers to offer content of various kinds for their employees
• Understand how the pandemic has created an opportunity for organizations to up-skill employees in a virtual environment

Keywords

Online Business Learning; Platform Models; Learning & Development; Corporate Learning; Learning Organizations; Edutech Services; Employee Development; Training Programs; E-learning; L&D Partners; Skill Development; Methods of Learning