"Some Things Are Better In The Not-For-Profit World"

Keeping commerce out of education is a glorious tradition of Bharat.

With the backing of Gates and Google, Khan Academy and its free online educational videos are moving into the classroom and across the world. 

Khan survived on donations and savings until the spring of 2010, when he got an e-mail from PayPal saying that someone had just put $10,000 into his account. It turned out to be from Ann Doerr. He wrote her his thanks and said that since she was his largest donor, he would love to name a school building after her, if the Academy had a campus. A lunch followed, and Doerr expressed shock that she was Khan's biggest donor. She put a check for $100,000 in the mail, insisting that he take a salary. More important than the money, she has become a cheerleader for the Khan Academy and often stops by the office. "Sometimes," says Khan, "she even brings cake."

Overtures from the VCs have since tapered off. "They get that the Khan Academy is not for profit, which is part of the reason I think it's working," Khan says. "We have volunteers and so much good will. It's not a religious thing, it's just that some things are better in the not-for-profit world."

Businessweek: Salman Khan: The Messiah of Math

CBS 60 Minutes Video: Khan Academy: The future of education?