In conversation with: Sebastian Thrun, CEO, Udacity - Adam Lashinsky, CNN Money

Sebastian Thrun wears many hats: Stanford professor. Google robotics tinkerer. And now, chief executive of online learning pioneer Udacity. The venture capital-backed company in Silicon Valley had a rough start trying to work with San Jose State University, a failed experiment that looked somewhat like higher education organ rejection. It has re-tooled with a "freemium" model of offering skills-based classes for free, working with engineering-oriented companies, and charging for mentoring services. The vast majority of students we have right now are young professionals. The vast majority are actually in jobs right now. That's the demographics. We have about a third U.S., two-thirds international, and they find themselves in situations where they need specific job skills. These are people that just understand learning is important. These are life-long learners. http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2014/04/10/in-conversation-with-sebastian-thrun-ceo-udacity/