Comment by mkramlich

Why would something like Udemy need $1M investment? In a world where Django and Rails exist, etc. Just start building it and doing customer development bootstrapping it. Incrementally improve it as you go along. Keep all equity and maximize simplicity. If you don't want to spend money on a designer try to find one that will take equity. Exercise free promotion channels, also rely on word-of-mouth. Rinse, repeat.