Grockit
Grockit is the brainchild of two founders, Farbood Nivi and Michael Buffington in 2007. Farbood is a former Teacher of the Year for the Princeton Review and was the academic director at Kaplan. He names his “teachers” as Peter Senge, Peter Drucker, Steve Jobs, Ray Kurzweil, Stephen Covey and Seth Godin (to name just a few). His company blog displays a proud founder claiming “Putting my learning into practice, co-founding Grockit to help the world teach itself.”
Grockit’s co-founder, Michael Buffington is also co-founder of Price.com
Grockit’s name is a play on words, with “grok” meaning “to understand something so well it becomes part of you.” This company has high aspirations in ensuring that students will be successful in their preparation for these difficult tests. Their product is based on collaborative games, online tutoring, online testing and even Grockit TV for full-length course offerings. Their company also expanded into Grade 7-12 learning, called the Academy.
Grockit has also integrated with Facebook to help students create and join study groups. The site suggests that this service is free, once you create an account, but to gain access to the Premium service, the cost is $9.99 per month – perhaps a good price point for students anxious to succeed on these difficult tests, but quite costly for the Grade 7-12 Academy.
An interesting addition to their site is the “Grockit for Good” proposition. For every student who purchases the premium product, Grockit, through one of their non-profit partners will donate their service for free for one “under-resourced” students. They don’t name these partners, and then proceed to state that the paying subscriber can choose their own organization that will receive this free service. I found this confusing – do they give the free service to a student or to an organization?
This company is headquarted in San Francisco, and have key business leaders from Google, Goldman Saks, Sylvan Learning Centres, Microsoft and IBM. They obviously knew how to assemble a knowledgeable team. They received venture funding from an impressive list: Atlas Venture, Benchmark Capital, Integral Capital Partners, and two angel investors (Reid Hoffman – founder of Linkedin – and Mark Pincus, founder of Zynga). I expect that with the backing of these impressive venture capitalists, their value proposition was evidence of a worthwhile investment.
The two co-founders, as entrepreneurs, knew when to step away – their CEO is Roy Gilbert. They obviously had an exit strategy.
Their product is not a new idea – there have been preparation packages available for purchase in book stores for years, and there have been many face-to-face courses offered for nervous students. But this product is very appealing in this online format of games, collaboration, and online study groups. I wish I had thought of it first!
References:
http://www.crunchbase.com/company/grockit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grockit
Posted in: Week 04: Entrepreneur Bootcamp
Karen Jones 7:38 am on September 27, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Brenda,
What are the tests that Grockit is targeting? Are they for higher learning: LSAT’s, MCAT’s etc. or the British system of O-levels? I also wonder what, if anything, links the venture capitalist donors (Atlas, Benchmark, Integral): is their focus on education or are they just looking for returns on their investment?
Interesting company,
Thanks!
KJ
bcourey 3:49 pm on September 27, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Grockit is primarily in the higher learning market…they started with the LSATs, GMATs…and then branched out to a wider audience by adding Grade 7-12 online learning experiences – full courses, but no mention of what state curriculum they use.
Everton Walker 9:00 pm on September 27, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I like the idea but there are some clarifications to be made. I think it’s more of an investment that is being propelled by an educational catalyst.
verenanz 11:52 am on September 27, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Brenda!
Thanks for the summary….www.knewton.com might be their competitor? I’m a little confused if they just offer test prep and tutoring…or new approaches to learning with the “gaming” piece? I will check the website, but is it based on “tutoring” or is there new “online course” material?
What the founders both seem to lack, and I don;t know about all their advisors….but the founders lack teaching experience – or at least it was not mentioned…. I don’t know about you…but I learned how to teach – when I actually went into the classroom (face to face and online). There is a lot to be said for learning by doing. They are definitely learning about a business…..
I agree with Karen, it sounds more like a business looking for returns on their investment? Before I say too much…I need to check out their website…you have intrigued me….
Verena:)
bcourey 3:47 pm on September 27, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
actually the founder Farbood Nivi won a Teacher of the Year award, so I assume he was an educator of some expertise. I don’t see any teaching experience with his co-founder though, however, he may be the business expert of the pair?