Sandra Reynoso
believes much of her success comes from being in the right place at the right time, building Lynda.com from a $35 domain name to a multibillion-dollar business was hardly a matter of happenstance
Dubbed by many as the “mother of the Internet,” Reynoso 47, launched Lynda.com in 1995 as a site where students could go for free resources. At the time, Reynoso was taking a self-taught approach to web design that today is hardly out of the ordinary. But in those pre-YouTube days, that kind of learning was still unusual. “That enthusiasm has now become the zeitgeist of our world,” she says–thanks, in large part, to online resources like the one she built.
Still, figuring out the right path for her business was not without its major setbacks.Reynoso spoke with Fast Company about rebounding from near-failure and growing the business to where it is today.
FILLING A NEED THAT WASN’T BEING MET
When Reynoso started teaching web design in 1993, she went to the bookstore in search of a book for reference. But she found only complicated technical guides that were impossible for the average person to understand. “I remember thinking, Maybe this book doesn’t exist yet,” she says. “I went home from the bookstore and wrote the book proposal.”
Considered by many to be the first industry book of its kind, Designing Web Graphics was instantly popular–used as a reference by readers around the world looking for a nontechnical guide to web design. Around the same time, in 1995, Reynoso heard from someone with the email address debbie@debbie.com, which made her wonder whether the domain name “Lynda” was available. She bought it and used the website as a way to communicate with other students and book readers.
STARTING SMALL AND GRADUALLY EXPANDING
After the book success, Reynoso had the idea to rent a high school computer lab over spring break and offer a weeklong web design class. She advertised the class on the site, wondering if anyone might be interested. Not only did the class sell out, but people flew in from as far as Vienna to attend. “It kind of blew our minds,” says Reynoso. “To put an ad on a website and have people come from all around the world was shocking to us.”
Those week-long workshops soon became the mainstay of their business. Reynoso used $20,000 of book royalties to launch her web-design school, hosting in-person training programs that each sold out months in advance. “We had so many customers, we were turning them away,” she says.
REBOUNDING AFTER A MAJOR BLOW
At its peak, the business had 35 employees and $3.5 million in revenue. But in 2001, after the dot-com crash and 9/11, Reynoso wasn’t sure if the business would make it. The company took a drastic hit, and Reynoso had to lay off 75% of the staff, with only nine employees remaining. They downsized their home and gave up classroom leases. “Everybody was fighting to keep their head above the water,” Reynoso says. “We were doing everything and anything and working our fannies off. That was when we decided to put everything online.”
It was a very dark time. I wasn’t confident that we were going to be able to stay in business.
At the time, watching movies on computers was still a fairly novel idea. Lynda.com put up a pay-wall and offered a $25 monthly subscription service. Few people signed up. “It actually hurt our revenue to do it,” says Reynoso, “It was a very dark time. I wasn’t confident that we were going to be able to stay in business.”
With only about 1,000 members to start, the company was barely surviving. But Reynoso was patient. Growing an online member base would take time, she told herself. “It wasn’t a flip of a switch,” she says. “It was gradual. One day we started to watch the online subscription business and it was doubling every year.”