Founders Parade

Haiku Learning (LMS)

Haiku Learning is a Learning Management System (LMS) that allows teachers to quickly create their learning environment using drag and drop features that allow use of  elements from sites such as Flickr, YouTube, TEDTalks, Google Maps, etc. Haiku hosts everything in the cloud, so no technological background is required and it allows for students to collaborate in large or small groups using wikis and personal portfolios. Content can be exported for use on other sites as well, so there is no fear of students not being able to edit their portfolios at a later date for a larger audience. Forums allow for discussions with comments and polls for regular interaction and an internal messaging system ensure safe communication. With Haiku it is easy for teachers to organise their classes and help students, and it is fast for students get the content they need to help them learn best. It offers a free version for teachers to use, and if the teacher needs more classes or students it offers a subscription option for teachers, schools, or districts.

haikufounders

Bryan Rafael Falcon was working as a consultant for school districts and from this work he discovered that many districts and teachers were unhappy with the learning management systems available at the time. Through this discovery he developed the Haiku vision and began with the execution of the product. It appears that he then brought on Allen Angell (who has a BA in Communications and Business) to co-found the project with him and work as President of Haiku. As CEO, Bryan is still involved in the company and works directly with innovative educators and companies to transform his product and its associated services.

It appears that this is when he realised he could not follow through on his vision alone and decided to involved other people to help him to expand upon the product so that it could reach its full potential. This was a very smart move as it now appears he has a very large and diverse team working with him on Haiku. It still seems he is the one overseeing the entire company as CEO, but he founded the company by involving people who have specific areas of expertise so that they could then be in charge of certain aspects of Haiku. The strong team is what makes this product scalable and sustainable.

Each member of the team has a photo and bio on the site, which adds to the sense that each person working with Haiku is a vital part of its success. View more at: http://www.haikulearning.com/about/

Reflection

This product is a good reminder of the need to network with other people who have many skills. In Malcom Gladwell´s terms from The Tipping Point it appears that Bryan Falcon is a Connector and used this to find Mavens and Salespeople that would provide the necessary background and experience to make his vision work. This is a great tip for potential entrepreneurs and something to keep in mind when designing our ventures. The entrepreneur does not need to have all the skills to run the business, and often those who do build a business based around the skill set they have just end up being employees in their own company rather than running the business.

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