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If you are building a business in the education sector, most likely, you are facing a great deal of competition. You may be trying to reach the right people, find beta testers, and you may have even spent thousands in failed public relation campaigns.
Possibly, you've pitched your product at various edtech conferences, reached out to principals and superintendents, and searched for teacher ambassadors. In a previous article I wrote, EdTech Investments Rise To A Historical $9.5 Billion: What Your Startup Needs To Know, I addressed various economic pain points in the edtech startup realm. In 2017, across every market involved in edtech, international funding reached a new record of $9.52 billion.
However, the consumer and corporate realms raised most of these funds. According to a white paper from Metaari, these numbers demonstrate that PreK-12 companies received only 13% of the overall global investment, and higher education companies received 8%, for a combined total of 21% going to PreK-20 enterprises.
What does this mean for your startup?
You may have a more significant challenge on your hands when it comes to standing out from the system.
If this sounds like you, you are not alone. Right now, there are 16,258 education startups listed along with only 2,940 job openings on Angel.co. The education startup ecosystem is saturated with various startups, and many of these new companies are nearly identical, leaving it quite challenging to find a way to stand out.
I've spoken with many education founders over the past decade, and I've seen the same scenario play out repeatedly: most education companies never hired or worked with a teacher until they officially launched their product or service to the public. I've also noticed that many founders believe that because they went to school, they understand the culture, infrastructure, as well as the needs of schools, teachers and students. Unfortunately, nothing could be farther from the truth.
If you are thinking of building an education startup, or if you are running into slammed doors every place you turn, these tips should help you find the right teacher who can guide, support, make connections, and provide the resources you need to move the needle.
Where to Begin
Understand teaching certifications
If you decide to hire a teacher for your startup, it is critical that you find the right person. For example, if you built your service or product for elementary education students, try to find and work with a teacher in those grades, rather than a high school teacher. Although this may sound obvious, I've seen many education entrepreneurs make the mistake of putting all teachers under one umbrella.
There are various certifications in the education field. These teachers can include pre-school, kindergarten, elementary, middle level, high school, and college professors. Elementary teachers usually hold certifications in various content areas, and typically work with 1st-5th-grade students. Middle school educators typically have two or three content area certifications and teach 6th-8th-grade. High school teachers are usually certified in one or two content areas, and provide education for 9th-12th graders.
If you are looking to work with college-level professors, take the time to learn the differences between adjunct, assistant, and associate professors. All of these educators bring something different to the table, and it is imperative that you find the right match.
Tip: It can be helpful to work with an educator who chose the classroom as his or her second career. These teachers usually hold a Masters of Arts in Teaching (MAT), and sometimes, you can find someone who came from the business or financial world before the classroom. Also, due to their unique backgrounds, they may understand startup business models, sales, and investments. They can come with two valuable perspectives that may benefit your company in different ways. However, if you find the right teacher for your startup, always choose that person.
Know how to network
Teachers and entrepreneurs usually come from two different worlds. When you network with educators, it is in your best interest to learn from them rather than dictate or talk about how your amazing product will disrupt their classrooms. When attending conferences, ask teachers questions, engage with them, and respect their experience. Do not use entrepreneurial language when you approach teachers. Nobody knows the culture, needs, and infrastructures of schools better than those on the ground. Take time to listen and learn from them, while building those potential relationships.
Tip: Quite often, your bottom line is different than an educator's bottom line, and this is where conflict can arise. Teachers are interested in how you can help make their lives and their students' lives better. Their stakeholders are children, parents, and guardians. Your stakeholders are most likely investors. Your approach to building and maintaining a solid relationship is critical.
Compensate your teachers financially
Education startups should prioritize funding a role for teachers. Quite often, startups approach teachers and offer "swag" to help promote their business. T-shirts, pens, coffee mugs, and giveaways are not appropriate offers when you ask a teacher to work on your team. Educators are professionals who deserve appropriate compensation for their time, knowledge, expertise, as well as the connections they can make for you.
Tip: Set aside the necessary funds for this most important role. If you can't hire an educator on full-time, prioritize your finances so you can hire teachers as contractors or pay them per project. Make proper compensation a priority; teachers can't live on pencils.
Where to find the right educators
If you don't have any personal connections in the education world, you can see teachers online chatting about their classrooms all the time. There are various education groups on Facebook, and a quick search using the term 'teachers,' will yield strong results. Join some of these groups, learn from them, and have meaningful engagement. Don't jump in and try to sell your product through these groups. These communities provide valuable and active discussions, and you can learn a great deal about what's happening in classrooms around the world.
Tip: The best place to find teachers and engage with them is on Twitter. Teachers are continually building their personal learning networks, (known as PLN's) through scheduled conversations every single day. You can find a list of education Twitter chats by visiting this official schedule. Use these chats wisely as a way to engage, learn, and possibly find the right teacher who can help you meet your goals.
