Hey Reader, After 10 cohorts and over 800 students across 80+ countries, we’ve finally figured out what actually works.
Delivering live online education isn’t just where things are headed - it’s where the best learning already happens.
When done right, it’s powerful.
Because you're no longer limited by your postcode, your high school grades, or who your parents know.
You can learn from anyone - not just the most credentialed expert, but the person whose story and style truly lands for you - with just an internet connection.
As the 2IC of Time To Build, working alongside Tom Noske, we embody and promote this ethos in every cohort, helping others do the same for their personal brands.
Over the past few years, we’ve helped hundreds of creators, professionals, and first-time founders build profitable online businesses by turning their knowledge into transformational education.
And while the wins have been huge. Below is a Google Sheets tool that I created to track all verifiable student wins whenever they post in our community chat on Circle:
@tomnoske on Instagram
We’ve also burned out.
We’ve broken things.
We’ve rebuilt them (multiple times).
Our TTB weekly sync - a time for fixing what's broken, a sprinkle of therapy, and our dedicated time to do everything we can to maximise our students' success.
But through all of it, we’ve created a system that delivers real results - again and again.
So if you’re thinking about launching a cohort, or building your own live education business…
Here are 6 hard-won lessons I wish I knew earlier:
🛠 1. Your cohort is a transformation engine
Forget stuffing it with more content.
Strip it down.
Cut the fluff.
Every module, session, and exercise should move them closer to the one outcome they came for.
Your program isn’t a Netflix docuseries.
It’s a results machine.
Treat it like one.
🧑🤝🧑 2. Make the community your co-teacher
You don’t need to give every piece of feedback.
Let your students do it.
We gamified Circle with a leaderboard - students get points for providing helpful comments and feedback.
The top students each week win a 1:1 personalised audit.
Now the community handles the majority of the feedback load…faster than Tom and I ever could on our own.
💡 3. Not everyone shows up—and that’s okay
Even with the program's current $3K USD price tag...some students will ghost. That’s life.
So build your system with this in mind:
Action-based guarantees for high-intent students
Lifetime recordings so people can revisit anytime
Plug-and-play tools they can use later (Notion, Manychat, etc.)
Meet them where they are.
Sidenote: you'll also have students who are willing to move mountains to make the live calls, even if it results in being at 2AM in their timezone:
🔥 4. Layer in Practicals + Hot Seat Calls
We added a live practical every week—students implement in real-time, together.
No more passive watching.
No more overthinking.
Then we run a hot seat (Q&A) call, where Tom live-coaches students 1:1 while others watch.
These sessions?
They’re always the highest rated.
Even when it’s not “their” question - everyone gets value.
🧪 5. Go live before going evergreen
Everyone wants passive income.
But live > pre-recorded, especially when getting started.
Live cohorts sharpen your delivery.
They reveal what resonates.
They build community and engagement in a way that pre-recorded videos can’t.
And the energy is 💯 for everyone who joins.
📚 6. Build a bank of “just-in-time” tutorials
When someone asks a technical question that’s too niche for a live call…
Don’t overthink it.
Just note it down and return to it later.
Then record a Loom (or another screen recording app) to walk through it.
Upload them into a dedicated space called “Supplementary/Bonus Tutorials.”
Over time, this becomes your evergreen knowledge base, and a huge value driver for students.
I didn’t learn this stuff from books.
I learned it in the trenches.
First at Uber.
Then at Google.
Then helping dozens of other founders of info, tech and eComm businesses.
And now for Time To Build.
If any part of your business involves teaching, guiding, or supporting clients through transformation…
These 6 practices will change the way you work.
As always, I hope this serves you.
(Or if you have a friend who's currently leveraging their expertise and teaching online, be sure to forward this to them!) 👱🏾♂️ Mamba