Spawned by the University of Minnesota’s Learning Technologies Media Lab in 2012, Flipgrid (formerly known as Vidku) aimed to modernize the classroom with an app that lets students and teachers create and share videos on all kinds of subjects. Under Jim Leslie’s leadership, the Minneapolis startup made the strategic decision in 2016 to go all-in on the education market, ditching its plan to create a stand-alone version of its service for businesses. The refocus set up Flipgrid to be acquired by Microsoft in 2018, merging it into the tech giant’s suite of office products. With its service now free for schools, Leslie will usher Flipgrid into a new era fueled by Microsoft resources.