3 startuppers in eLearning share their thoughts and tips (that are actually applicable to other industries too)

[jeremyfromisrael]

The post is based on the experience of Ham-Nat Coach, Pro-Med, and New Nordic Schools projects—young ones but already successful in their niche. It’s OK if you’ve heard about them for the first time now; this means you’re just not their target audience. I think it’s important to give light to stories about startups that are not world-known but cover the needs of specific people. How to cover them effectively is what it's all about. Here are the key takeaways from the article on eLI, if we combine all the quotes and tips:

1. Understand your audience. There’s no need to try to please everyone. Instead, do all you can for the audience you focus on, especially if you have been a part of this audience at some point. E.g., founders of Pro-Med and Ham-Nat Coach were students themselves not so long before, so they've put much effort into creating a welcoming community for learners.
2. Don't ignore the technical side. The project’s technical implementation is as critical as the educational component. Not the founder themself writes the code, but they are in charge of finding those who will and will do it well. It’s in the founders’ best interest to know the bare outlines of defining the quality of software.
3. Don't let the limited budget stop you. Despite the unarguable expensiveness of custom software development, here are shops whose payment condition are convenient for most businesses. For example, they charge payment for every completed feature instead of a lion's share at once, so clarify the conditions from the start.
4. Do all you can do yourself (mistakes too). What can help you save more at the first stages of work on the project is doing as much as you can yourselves. Be it creating educational materials or managing communities on social media, it helps startuppers not only spend less but also gain more expertise in the domain.
5. Make use of industry best practices. Online learning aims at making learning engaging and fun yet productive. To achieve this, founders can encourage competition between students through gamification and so on.