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