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 Universities Strive for volume over state of the art Do they even know the state-of-the-art? Seminars/Workshops State-of-the-art, but not offered regularly Often 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 degrees Little or no curriculum or syllabus development support High risk of doing significant class development and losing the class Little opportunity for teachers to create new classes Low pay No 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 SchoolSmart Experience Top-HeavyMinimal administration ReactiveExposes new ideas and trends Closed networkOpen network General educationIndustry specialists

Competitors/Partners Degree of service SizeCredibilityNew MediaName-BrandTopicPrice Credibility Teachers Depth NYU New School, SVA… Media Bistro Smart Experience Professional Seminars

Strategic Options Conventional School Distance Education Expand Beyond NYC Consulting License / Franchise Sell Organic Growth Publishing

Accounting Basics Costs Classroom rentals:$160/4 hours Website:$6000 Class materials:$50/class Media buys:$100/class Legal:$2500 Revenue Class break even:~5 students/class Full class (30):$4,200 After costs are covered with initial students, profit grows quickly May justify large marketing budget

Financial Milestones $0 Sales 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