Founder-Leader: Josh Smith
Venture Name: Wordwall
Venture Description: Wordwall was created from a need to create interactive games and printed materials for students, with automation from the site doing the rest. The company wanted to move away from a generational use of teachers to stick laminated words on a wall to support literacy exercises. While working as a teacher, the founders, Josh and Ben, created a program where you could simply type a list of words for the same purpose. They added a random picker with a spinning noise like a TV game show. Then, they continued to add more games, and after a while, the Founders decided to turn it into a company. However, for years, the company was limited in how many subscribers it could have due to technical limitations. In 2016, with a change in the company structure to a website-based platform and the new web standards of HTML5, Wordwall drastically increased and, within four years, achieved over 1 million visitors and reached over 100 100,000 paid subscribers within five years.
Founder-Leader Bio: Josh Smith began his career in 2003 in TV as a researcher at Spire TV & Film, as a script editor and researcher with BBC Continuing Drama, and then as a script editor with Kudos TV and Film. He then shifted to Wordwall in 2006, using experience from TV gameshows and the teaching experience of the other founder to create these fun-interactive games through a set of words, where he has continued as a director of Wordwall for 17 years. He also received his education from Jesus College Oxford and Royal Holloway University of London.
Personal Reflections: From teaching ESL, Wordwall has come up a lot lately. As I believe in the success of gamified learning, I have used this tool to help with practicing words and phonemes in a motivating and interactive way. I enjoyed learning more about how it was founded. I also learned from it that a founder does not have to be solely in that field to make a successful venture, but they do need to have a passion and perseverance for it and working with this company for 17 years from the challenging beginning years when it was starting out shows a lot of passion and perseverance.
https://wordwall.net/about
https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-smith-53047218/
Nice, Daniel, thanks for sharing this! The founder of Wordwall seems like an exemplary entrepreneur, combining his experiences from TV to teaching to create an innovative tech platform. The venture’s evolution from a simple program for teachers to a platform with over 1 million visitors and 100,000 paid subscribers in just five years highlights Josh’s strategic vision. His transition from TV to Wordwall shows his passion and perseverance. I agree with your reflection in that gamified learning is a successful tool to use in edcuation. Wordwall’s learning aligns with this belief and Josh’s commitment to interactive education reflects a dedication beyond just making profit. His journey and commitment make Josh Smith a fine role model entrepreneur who clearly illustrates the power of passion, adaptability and persistence when building a successful venture.
Thank you Carlo!
And thank you for sharing this insightful message! It’s great to see such enthusiasm and appreciation for the Founder’s Parade in all of these sharing and also in this founder of Wordwall. It’s truly inspiring to witness how Josh’s diverse background, combining experiences from TV to teaching, has led to the creation of an innovative tech platform.
The rapid growth of Wordwall, from a simple program for teachers to a platform with over 1 million visitors and 100,000 paid subscribers in just five years, is a testament to Josh’s strategic vision and his ability to adapt to the evolving needs of educators. His passion and perseverance, as demonstrated through his transition from TV to Wordwall, serve as a remarkable example of how dedication can lead to success.
I wholeheartedly agree with your reflection on the effectiveness of gamified learning as a valuable tool in education. Wordwall’s commitment to interactive education aligns perfectly with this belief. It’s evident that Josh’s focus extends beyond mere profit-making, and his dedication to creating an engaging learning environment is truly commendable.
Josh Smith’s journey serves as an inspiration to aspiring entrepreneurs, highlighting the power of passion, adaptability, and persistence when building a successful venture. He is undoubtedly a fine role model in the entrepreneurial world.
Once again, thank you for sharing this wonderful message, and I’m glad to have had the opportunity to discuss it with you.
Daniel