Online Education Startup Case Study with Sramana Mitra

The 1Mby1M Methodology is based on case studies. In each course, Sramana Mitra shares the tribal knowledge of tech entrepreneurs by giving students the rare seat at the table with the entrepreneurs, investors and thought leaders who provide the most instructive perspectives on how to build a thriving business. Through these conversations, students gain access to case studies exploring the alleys of entrepreneurship. Sramana’s synthesis of key learnings and incisive analysis add great depth to each discussion.

Online learning has exploded in popularity over the last decade. In Covid, the field has found a tremendous force multiplier.

Many founders are now turning to online education for startup ideas. Here’s why: it can be extremely profitable because online courses do not require physical classrooms, startup costs are more affordable, and startup time frames are shorter. The ability to scale fast makes this space very attractive for new ventures.

The education world has made a shift in the last decade from a sage-on-stage model to a guide-on-side model. In the former, teachers lectured to students in an auditorium format. In the latter, kids were assigned YouTube or Khan Academy videos as homework, and they did exercises in class with the teacher assisting as needed.

Now, we’re making another giant paradigm shift at an accelerated pace: kids are at home, teachers are at home, parents are at home. The learning is happening at home, and the teacher is a virtual presence.

As in most paradigm shifts, the best way to consider them is by looking at the opportunities they present.

Throughout the Covid quarantine, I have preserved a daily routine of studying French on DuoLingo. There’s much that I’ve observed in their approach that can be applied to other types of subjects at various levels. For K-12, the most interesting of these is gamification.

Children tend to hang out in groups. One of the key success factors of K-12 gamification could be to tap into this natural tendency and turn these organic affinities into study groups with built-in gamification.

If you can come up with such a paradigm, you can build a kick-ass EdTech company for the Post Covid world.

In general, a lot of paradigm shifts are happening in EdTech. You can build lots of interesting ventures by thinking through new models of imparting education.

If you want to build a venture in the online learning space, take this Udemy course for some ideas and inspiration. The course features an intimate, conversation with a real-life startup founder.

Let’s get started!