YouTube has a lot of the same issues as Udemy with regard to creator treatment. Building your own audience sounds like the ideal, but obviously there are network effects to being on a platform and those can’t be simply written off.
I do think Udemy is an easier path to meaningful revenue (courses are tedious and less glamorous so less competition) than YouTube, whereas YouTube has much higher potential upside. People can spend years grinding on YouTube before ever making anything meaningful, whereas most instructors who take Udemy seriously can get there within a year. It took me 9 months to get to about $4k a month recurring earnings, for example
What does, in your opinion, an ideal course platform look like though?
Genuinely curious.