The EdTech Startup Show

Ruben Harris is CEO of Career Karma, a company that matches people who want to learn to code with the right support circle and coding boot camp for their needs.

Read the full blog post for this episode here.

• Career Karma website
• Career Karma YouTube
• Ruben Harris Twitter
• Ruben Harris Instagram
• Breaking Into Startups Podcast

Like this episode? Please review the EdTech Startup Show Podcast on iTunes. Leave a rating. And share the episode with an educator or entrepreneur who you think should hear it.

Thanks for listening,

Gerard Dawson

http://gerarddawson.com

Today's guest is Dea Auray, CEO & Co-Founder of Empowering Writers.

About Empowering Writers:

Over the past 13 years, Empowering Writers has developed a proven methodology for teaching writing that immediately improves student writing and impacts test scores while providing the foundation for continued growth for the long term. Our research and experience working with schools and districts across the country proves a writing curriculum can achieve both.

About Dea:

As a young girl Dea announced that she would someday sit at the head of the table and make all kinds of decisions. Well, as it turns out, dreams do come true! That is what most days are like as Chief of an Excellent Organization. With a Master’s Degree in Education, 25 years in the educational industry, and a degree in Business and Marketing, Dea is ideally suited for her Empowering Writers leadership role. She combines her business savvy, strong communication skills and passion for problem solving into her everyday duties, successfully navigating the challenges of a growing business and the dynamic needs of the educational industry.

Dea is an educator, trainer, coach, creator of professional development and resources, entrepreneur and chief problem solver. When she is not sitting at the table she can be found operating the livery service for her three very active teenage children. Her home is in Easton, CT where she lives with her husband, Tom, their children, two pooches, three cats, and 18 hens and one very loud, happy rooster.

If you like this episode, please leave a review on iTunes and share the episode with a teacher or education entrepreneur in your life.

Share your feedback via Twitter @GerardDawson3

Or email me at contact [at] gerarddawson [dot] org

Thanks for listening,

Gerard Dawson

https://www.GerardDawson.org

This episode was inspired by a discussion online about Beyond Meat, the Impossible burger.

It led to the question: how will schools look as content and devices become cheaper and cheaper.

What happens to education when human interaction is the luxury?

Send Gerard your feedback via email: contact[at]gerarddawson[dot]org

Or via Twitter: @GerardDawson3

Thanks for listening,

Gerard Dawson

False start on this one - one take only 🙂

On this solo episode, Gerard Dawson discusses:

• How do some education entrepreneurs get their product and feature ideas?
• What's wrong with their thinking?
• Two times this high school English teacher had to solve a problem without an edtech product
• Companies who later solved that same problem
• The simple formula revealed

Send me your feedback via email [email protected]

Tweet me @GerardDawson3

Message me on LinkedIn.

Thanks,

Gerard Dawson

www.GerardDawson.org

This is an experimental episode with just me - Gerard Dawson, teacher and copywriter for the education market.

Recently there were tweets and blog post by Jason Calacanis called "9 reasons people don't get wealthy." This episode applies that concept to my stories and experiences working with education companies.

Reply to me with your reasons # 10, 11, and 12 why companies fail when trying to sell to teachers, parents, students, schools, and districts. 

Tweet me: @GerardDawson3

Email me: [email protected]

This episode is brought to you by The EdTech Shop.

Today's guest is Natalie Mactier, CEO of Vivi.

Natalie has a demonstrated history of building start-ups, an in-depth knowledge of the education industry and over 16 years’ experience in sales and marketing.

Natalie spent the first decade of her professional life in sales before taking on the role of SEEK’s inaugural Marketing Manager in 2003. After 6 years building the SEEK brand, she left to join SEEK’s original CMO at her new start-up; Kidspot. Natalie helped scale Kidspot into the leading parenting website in Australia and was part of the Executive Team who took the business to market to be acquired by News Corporation.  Natalie became Kidpot’s CEO following the acquisition. In 2014 Natalie was approached by a Founder and investment team to build an innovative online platform for private school vacancies, which led to the launch of School Places.  As CEO of School Places, Natalie oversaw two funding rounds and offshore expansion. In September 2018 she became Vivi’s inaugural CEO.

Learn more about Vivi at https://www.vivi.io/.

On this episode of The EdTech Startup Show, I talk to Amir Nathoo (@amirnathoo), CEO & co-founder of Outschool.

Amir leads growth, trust and safety at Outschool. He previously worked at Square founding the Square Payroll product. Before that he was CEO and co-founder of Trigger.io, having started his career at IBM. Amir holds an MEng from Cambridge.

Outschool is a marketplace of live online classes for kids. The company's mission is to inspire kids to love learning. They provide small group classes that meet over live video chat where learners are connected with teachers and classmates who share their interests. These classes are offered through Outschool's marketplace and conducted on their remote learning platform.

Amir encourages interested teachers to explore the flexibility, autonomy, and income-earning opportunities available to teachers on Outschool.

• Learn about teaching on Outschool here.
• Explore Outschool's live online classes for kids here.

• The class Amir would like to teach on Outschool
• How playing computer games for hours led to Amir's career in technology
• In the very early days, Amir taught an Outschool class on startups and business. He tells this story
• The incredible power of learning from teachers who love their subject area
• "Math art"?? - This is just one example of a unique and inspirational class available on Outschool
• The relationship between inspired students, passionate teachers, and supportive parents
• How a retired economics professor helped guide a young Amir on his journey to become a programmer
• San Francisco, 2015: the story of Amir, Mikhail, & Nick coming together to start Outschool
• HS physics teacher --> first engineer at Airbnb --> product manager at Clever --> founder of Outschool: Amir explains the journey of his co-founder Nick Grandy
• Version 1.0 of Outschool was in-person classes: Amir explains
• The critical difference between live online video and other online education modalities
• An inspiring story of how Megan Hardy became (the world's first?) full-time teacher of Dungeons & Dragons classes
• Another incredible story: Kirsten Bowman, a UN human rights lawyer, who teaches social studies classes to young learners on Outschool
• Pet Reptile Social Hour. You'll just have to listen to learn more.
• Why Amir wonders if his son might want to pursue e-sports instead of programming when 20 years from now
• The inherent tension between core, standardized knowledge bases with career and interest-specific skills
• The new role of coding and technological literacy as a core subject for all learners
• Amir and I will need to talk again in 5-10 years to evaluate the predictions made during our conversation
• A teacher for every learner's interest: Amir's vision for the future of Outschool
• Amir's invitation to teachers who are waiting to teach the subjects they've always wanted to teach
• Objective, secular, age-appropriate: the fair and open content guidelines for classes on Outschool

If you liked this episode, then leave a review on iTunes, and share it with a friend.

Thanks for listening!

Gerard Dawson

When it comes to PR for EdTech, this episode is a masterclass. My guest is Jacob Hanson, CEO of PR with Panache. Background on Jacob:

A graduate of Fort Lewis College, Jacob graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Modern Language. Spending subsequent years of his career dedicated to sales growth, marketing, and brand awareness, Jacob brings to PR with Panache! a fierce passion for education and extensive experience in moving high-quality companies and their brands to the forefront of the education marketplace.

A skilled communicator with a zest for life, he has the wherewithal to see the big picture, connecting the dots between sales, marketing, and public relations to create dynamic communication and integrated marketing plans to effectively tell your story. Jacob serves on the Board of Directors for a MN-based STEM non-profit, High Tech Kids, whose mission is to deliver fun, hands-on science, engineering, and technology programs and events that inspire Minnesota kids in their formative years. 

A native of Minnesota with a strong affinity for the Rocky Mountains, Jacob enjoys spending time with his two wonderful children, Sawyer and Bexley, making fresh tracks and hiking with his hound dog, Dan.

From the PR with Panache website: "PR with Panache! develops and shares stories that captivate the K-12 education market and influence high-level conversations in the media. Our team includes expert journalists, editors, administrators, and former educators who have one thing in common: We are all storytellers at heart. We craft customized campaigns that stay true to your vision while leveraging the dynamic voice of your customers and establishing you as a thought leader in education. Together we craft stories that inspire decision-makers in K-12 education not just to take notice but to act. As your storytelling team, we earn you the attention and acclaim of your audience. And we do it all with passion and energy that’s unparalleled in the education industry."

• The history of Jacob's agency, PR with Panache, and how his mother started the company
• How Jacob went from a Spanish major to CEO of his company
• Why Jacob turned down a job at a startup in order to join his family business
• The origin story of the mother-son tag team at Jacob's company
• A complete description of PR with Panache, a boutique agency doing PR for EdTech and PreK-12 education companies
• An overview of the type of campaigns - both inbound marketing and brand awareness - Jacob runs for his clients
• What's it like to work in a family business? Jacob explains at 7:00
• Insights and tips on running a 100% virtual team
• The different business relationship Jacob had with his mother and father
• "Sorry to say this, but there is no silver bullet in education" - Jacob explains why there are no short cuts when doing PR for EdTech at 12:30
• The first step in crafting your message as an EdTech startup
• "It's not about your product, it's about the educators"
• Jacob breaks down why education is a relationship-based industry (advice especially relevant for newer companies)
• It's not "sell and tell," it's "earn." Jacob explains this marketing and sales strategy.
• There's no breaking news in education - Jacob explains how education entrepreneurs should work with this
• Why EdTech startups need to plan five-years ahead (17:15)
• Jacob gives a step-by-step breakdown of how EdTech startups can do their own PR
• The "Too big too soon" problem EdTech startups fall into (and the power of local media)
• 2 specific tips on pitching to media outlets at 23:00
• The incredible story of an 8-year-old who could never speak who comes home and says, "Hey Mom." (PR With Panache's work with RoboKind)
• Why focusing on impact and results is the secret to great storytelling for startups
• "The Common Core Aligned Effect" - the danger of slapping buzzwords on your education tool or product
• Jacob's advice on how EdTech startups can maximize the return on investment on attending live events (30:00)
• "We below $150,000 at conferences last year and have nothing to show for it" - Jacob's post-mortem on a founder who says something like this to him
• How to deal with tougher school SPAM filters and engaging in permission marketing
• The importance of educator voices in for PR for EdTech (and why context is the most important thing here)
• Jacob's current take on purchasing in schools and districts
• The 3 types of principals and how you can use this to your advantage

Sue Hanson, founder of PR with Panache:

Sococo - virtual workplace Robo Kind EdWeek Time Magazine EdCamp ERDI Google for Education Apple Education FCC

If you liked this episode, then leave a review, and share it with a friend.

Thanks for listening!

Gerard Dawson

This episode of the podcast is brought to you by The EdTech Shop – Copywriting & Marketing Strategy for Education Startups. Get more schools to sign up and buy with The 5-Day Copy fix. Click here to enroll for free.

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Brad Schiller is co-founder and the CEO of Prompt, a company focusing on making people better writers through a combination of software and providing writing tutoring at scale. Brad is a writer, having written extensively on such topics as college admissions essays and case interview preparation for aspiring consultants.

Previously, Brad founded Beacon Ventures, a consultancy to PE firms, PE portfolio companies, and the Fortune 500. Before that, Brad was the first employee (2nd person) at Airware, a Y Combinator and VC-backed drone start-up ($85M funding), and he spent nearly 5 years at McKinsey after graduating from MIT.

Prompt manages and supports the college application writing process. Students receive a Personalized Assignment List over everything they need to do to complete applications for their school list based on Prompt's database of every requirement for every school (e.g., essay prompts). Students use Prompt's Content Strategy and Essay Outlining tools to develop the content and structure for their applications – effectively eliminating bad first drafts. Organizations use Prompt's essay review tools and workflows to review essays or access personalized feedback on essays from Prompt's global network of writing specialists. Prompt is used by high schools, college access organizations, and hundreds of independent admissions consultants.

Brad encourages interesting people to reach out to him at [email protected]. 

• Brad's personal story of receiving valuable writing feedback at his first job
• The crazy story of DoesMyEssaySuck.com (yes, that was a real website!)
• Why content and structure are two focal points for the feedback given by Prompt instructors
• The tools Prompt has created to help students get started with college essays
• Take a guess: what % of student essays are submitted to Prompt within two weeks of the college app deadline? Hear the answer at 16:30
• Instructional and actionable: the two keywords for feedback on student writing
• The surprisingly quick rate that Brad's company helps students improve their essays
• No, AI isn't coming to steal teachers' jobs - Brad explains why at 22:50
• Brad's bet on writing help as a massive opportunity in EdTech
• Business development tip: The clever business partnership Prompt has with college admissions consultants
• Brad's strategy on growing out of the revenue Prompt creates and understanding market signals
• The decision-making process the Prompt team went through to plan its growth moves (35:12)
• An honest look into the decision not to raise venture capital funding - Brad explains it
• What's up next for Prompt?

If you liked this episode, then leave a review, and share it with a friend.

Thanks for listening!

Gerard Dawson

This episode of the podcast is brought to you by The EdTech Shop – Copywriting & Marketing Strategy for Education Startups. Get more schools to sign up and buy with The 5-Day Copy fix. Click here to enroll for free.

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Ashley Lamb-Sinclair is the Founder & CEO of Curio Learning, a platform to help teachers discover new ideas, curate them visually, and collaborate with other educators to become more creative and more empowered in their teaching craft.

Curio Learning has received numerous awards including acceptance into the LearnLaunch Accelerator in Boston, the Navitas Ventures Prize in the Milken Penn Business Plan Competition, and most recently, the grand prize in the Uber Girlboss Pitch Competition.

In addition to building Curio, Ashley was honored as the 2016 Kentucky Teacher of the Year. In that role, she served as Teacher in Residence for the Kentucky Department of Education and co-founded multiple statewide projects including KYEdPolicy.org, Policy Together, and The Courier Journal Classroom Connections. As Kentucky Teacher of the Year, she created innovative lesson plans with the Spotify for Education Advisory Board and received an EF Education First scholarship to study the education system in Finland with other educators.

Prior to being honored as Kentucky Teacher of the Year, she was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to Thailand and Vietnam and an English Speaking Union Scholarship to study creative writing at Exeter College at the University of Oxford. She is a contributing writer to the Atlanticand the Washington Post, among other publications, and taught secondary English and creative writing as a National Board Certified Teacher for thirteen years. She also founded an educator accelerator called School Startup, integrating entrepreneurship and human-centered design principles into teaching craft. She also provided expertise as a curriculum and educator outreach consultant to TrueSchool Studio based in New Orleans.

Highlights include:

• Ashley (a 14-year teacher) walks us through the process many teachers go through when planning, collecting and creating lessons
• "The Rebel Teacher" - Who are they? What are they rebelling against?
• The social impact of hundreds of thousands of teachers sharing and discussing resources in a network like Curio
• Ashley explains the challenges of going from the classroom to the startup world
• "There's a divide between what happens in schools and out of schools."
• Ashley has written for The Atlantic - how did her editors contradict the sacred beliefs of English teachers?
• The mindset, timing, and ebb and flow of teachers, which has a big impact on user growth
• Believe it or not, Ashley says, "I was a Luddite." Listen to her explain.
• What are the career paths available to teachers and how can EdTech startups expand opportunities?
• The suspicion teachers show towards Ashley because she's started a company (this is very real)
• Ashley's advice, which may surprise you, for teachers who want to carve out an entrepreneurial path

If you liked this episode then please subscribe on iTunes, leave a review, and share it with a friend.

 Thanks for listening!

Gerard Dawson

TheEdTechShop.com