Background
In 2022, my friends and I conceptualized an educational nonprofit idea to increase community engagement and foster kids' curiosities. See the slide deck below:
Reflections
While I stand a strong proponent of peer-to-peer learning, this idea was not a viable business model. In this form factor, we would not be providing enough value to schools to justify the costs required to run this program. After pitching our idea to administration at two Nashville independent schools, we decided to stop. Intriguingly, I have yet to come across a successful peer-to-peer learning platform, with the possible exception of Schoolhouse (founded by Sal Khan).
One key lesson I learned from PeerEd was to focus on solving a specific burning problem rather than trying to find a solution in search of a problem, which was a mistake I made. In a serindipitous twist, after submitting this pitch deck to the Northeast Ohio Student Venture Fund for funding, I ended up joining the fund as an analyst/investor, teaching me about the world of venture capital and how to build a much better business in the future.