Thought Leaders in Online Education: Cheryl Vedoe, CEO of Apex Learning (Part 1)

Online education in K-12 has had very few ventures survive or scale. Apex Learning is one of those rare birds. We first covered their story eight years back. This is a catch up conversation with their CEO Cheryl Vedoe that steps us through the ongoing evolution of the K-12 online education sector.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start with giving our audience a little bit of an update on where you are and where Apex is. We did an Entrepreneur Journeys story on you and the company about eight years ago. A lot of things have happened in the industry and in your company since. Give us a bit of an update.

Cheryl Vedoe: I think there is a lot that is very much the same when you compare with where we were eight years ago. There is also a great deal that is very different. Our focus remains digital curriculum with an orientation towards personalizing learning and increasing the quality of educational options available to >>>

Thought Leaders in Online Education: Executive Director of Academic Innovation at University of Pennsylvania, Bobbi Kurshnan (Part 6)

Bobbi Kurshnan: People who come to an incubator come because they’re going to get money. Hopefully, they’re going to finish the program and their company is going to be further along. Entrepreneurs who are doing something in education come to our program because they want to understand and not just to go out and do it. As I said, there are people who read the manual first versus people that do it and when all else fails, read the manual.

I don’t think entrepreneurs can be made. I think entrepreneurs are born in the same way that teachers are born. I think I can make a better entrepreneur.

Sramana Mitra: That’s right. I agree with that.

Bobbi Kurshnan: I think we do it in multiple ways. I’ve studied incubator programs globally. >>>

Thought Leaders in Online Education: Executive Director of Academic Innovation at University of Pennsylvania, Bobbi Kurshnan (Part 5)

Sramana Mitra: What have you seen in that program? How many of the people that have gone through that program have actually started EdTech companies?

Bobbi Kurshnan: They’re required to build a business plan as their thesis. It’s very interesting. I’ve compared the data from our incubator to our Master’s program. I think of this as a continuum. The people who come to our Master’s program are the people who read the manual first. The people that come to our incubator are those that read the manual and all else fails. >>>

Thought Leaders in Online Education: Executive Director of Academic Innovation at University of Pennsylvania, Bobbi Kurshnan (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: I actually have seen a lot of bootstrapped companies that have reached even $20 million but they’ve taken more time to get there. I’m very much in favor of that model of building EdTech companies because it takes out all of these tensions in hyper-fast expectation.

Bobbi Kurshnan: I agree with you. I’m not suggesting that education doesn’t have a long runway. I think the work you’re doing is very interesting. I think there are a lot of people out there who are going to give you $1,000 to invest because they believe in the mission.

Sramana Mitra: We don’t raise money for people. It’s a pure education program. >>>

Thought Leaders in Online Education: Executive Director of Academic Innovation at University of Pennsylvania, Bobbi Kurshnan (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: What is very successful?

Bobbi Kurshnan: What do you define as very successful?

Sramana Mitra: What I’m trying to gauge is are these going to be self-sustaining venture-funded companies. Is it going to be possible for these companies to grow at a rate where it makes sense for angels and VCs to invest in them?

Bobbi Kurshnan: No, if I don’t see a company that goes from minimal revenue to a run rate $100,000 a month in three years, then I’m not seeing a model that works. >>>

Thought Leaders in Online Education: Executive Director of Academic Innovation at University of Pennsylvania, Bobbi Kurshnan (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: How much equity do you take against the $20,000 initial funding?

Bobbi Kurshnan: Between 6% to 8%.

Sramana Mitra: That’s expensive.

Bobbi Kurshnan: Yes, but these are early companies.

Sramana Mitra: In my program, I advise people against going for these kinds of incubators that take 6%to 8%. I think it’s a terrible model. We disagree on that and let’s move on. What are you seeing in terms of monetization trends in the kinds of businesses that you are involved with? >>>

Thought Leaders in Online Education: Executive Director of Academic Innovation at University of Pennsylvania, Bobbi Kurshnan (Part 1)

UPenn has both an incubator for EdTech ventures, and an entrepreneurship education program for EdTech. This discussion delves into both programs and more.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start by introducing our audience to yourself as well as to UPenn’s online education activities.

Bobbi Kurshnan: I am the Executive Director of Academic Innovation at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. I run a variety of programs including all our online initiatives. I also run our incubator program for educational startups. That is both virtual as well as in-person. We just concluded our fourth and fifth cohorts this week. We also run the largest business competition for education entrepreneurs. >>>

Building Multiple Bootstrapped Education Software Companies: Lane Rankin, CEO of Illuminate Education (Part 1)

Lane was first a teacher, then a school and school district administrator. His background is not of a typical tech entrepreneur. However, his deep domain knowledge and relationships in the education field have propelled him to become a very successful EdTech entrepreneur. Great story!

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your entrepreneurial journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background?

Lane Rankin: I’m currently in California. I was born in Seattle, Washington. I have a Bachelors degree in Applied Mathematics and went on to get a Masters in Leadership. I started my first company back in 1999. >>>