Have a skill? Or have $20? If so, Dabble, a Chicago based company, wants you to get involved with your local community. The company helps people, via its website, teach, or take a class with other people in their area.
Want to get into welding? That’ll be $20. Or want to learn all about Kimchi? Fork over one yuppy food stamp (a twenty-spot). The idea is that everyone knows how to do something that is both interesting, and perhaps obscure. Dabble wants to link people with such skills to people who want them, taking a cut along the way.
Naturally, if you don’t see a class that you want taught, you can suggest it to Dabble. But where are these classes held? That’s either part of the fun, or a problem, depending on your perspective. Anyone who wants to teach a class has to provide their own venue. A class on wine tasting appears set to take place in a dance studio. Indeed.
The company has targeted its home market, the Chicago-area, first. But on its site it has now listed a variety of other cities, and asks people to help them launch there. Total activity seems to have picked up on the site since we last checked in, a sign that its momentum could carry the service out of its nest in the near future. Places like Austin are perfect fits for the firm.
The <3 of EU tech
The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!
What brought Dabble to our attention recently was its new ‘Learn From’ platform, that allows users to request specific people to teach a class. The company picked Chicago’s mayor Rahm Emmanuel, and is compiling voices to attempt to get him on board. If the idea will end up as more than a publicity stunt is yet unclear.
If you live in Chicago, we’d recommend taking an eye at Dabble’s class list, you might just learn something.
Get the TNW newsletter
Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.