Download - Start-Up Case Studies
Start-Up Case Studies
How Five of Us Started Our Own Businesses
Who is Victor Lombardi?
Passion for learning and innovation
IT + Razorfish+ IA Institute+ MIG + Parsons+ Pratt
What is Smart Experience?
Continuing education for/by professionals in the Internet, mobile, and software fields
Provide opportunities to the disadvantaged in NYC
Opportunity
Internet industry has growing influence
Training for professionals trails demand and sophistication of industry
Everything changes so damn quick
Problem: Administration
I thought when I was promoted from professor to provost
I’d be able to improve things, but…
I’m suffering the same anti-education fate of every administrator.
- Acting provost at the Pratt Institute, NYC
Problem: Current CE Offerings
UniversitiesStrive for volume over state of the artDo they even know the state-of-the-art?
Seminars/WorkshopsState-of-the-art, but not offered regularlyOften not in NYC due to high operational costs
Problem: Poor Teacher Support
Good teachers are critical to education but continuing education lacks high standards
Administrators don’t know what makes a teacher qualified when it’s not the usual degreesLittle or no curriculum or syllabus development supportHigh risk of doing significant class development and losing the classLittle opportunity for teachers to create new classesLow payNo way to scale classes
Market Size
Approximately 100,000 NYC new media designers,
programmers,
marketers,
and managers
Schools hire teachers
Traditional, Closed Network
Teachers teach students
Traditional schools rely on the wisdom of a small number of administrators to program the curriculum
Students choose classes
Experts suggest classes
Open Network
Students request classes
Low-overhead facilitation of classes
An open network creates a marketplace for education, more efficiently matching experts who want to teach with students who want to learn.
Solution: A New Kind of School
Old School Smart Experience
Top-Heavy Minimal administration
Reactive Exposes new ideas and trends
Closed network Open network
General education Industry specialists
Competitors/PartnersD
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Size Credibility New Media Name-Brand Topic Price Credibility Teachers Depth
NYU
New School, SVA…
Media Bistro
Smart Experience
Professional Seminars
Strategic Options
ConventionalSchool
DistanceEducation
Expand Beyond NYC
ConsultingLicense /Franchise
Sell
OrganicGrowth
Publishing
Accounting BasicsCosts
Classroom rentals: $160/4 hoursWebsite: $6000Class materials:$50/classMedia buys: $100/classLegal: $2500
RevenueClass break even: ~5 students/classFull class (30): $4,200
After costs are covered with initial students, profit grows quicklyMay justify large marketing budget
Financial Milestones
$0Sales
Profits
1 year
To-Do List
• Pricing model• Containing design costs• Buy ads?• Make teachers happy!• Create legal documents• Refine cash flow model• Open bank account• SEO• Recruit more teachers• Launch site• Monitor forums• Do Frog interview
• Refine syllabus format• Collect syllabi• Contact potential partners• Contact bloggers• Refine curriculum• QA system• Class material printing• Create first newsletter• Set up newsletter list• Etc• Etc• Etc