Ask HN: Educational Software Opportunity

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=437496

by gsmaverick • 18 years ago

4 12 18 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I am currently in high school (gr 12) in Canada. I am extremely frustrated by the software we have to use at school to communicate with teachers. I think I have come up with a better approach and have a lot of ideas around building a better software package. The only problem I have right now is whether or not it's worth investing my time in this. Education seems to be really hard to break into, and I'm only 16 and I won't have any funding or anything. Anyone have any tips on what I should do? Is it worth it?

yan• 18 years ago

I think you have to ask yourself whether you can spend the time that would have otherwise went into creating this system in a better way. Consider the following three scenarios:

(1) You do take on the project and fails completely. Was that experience worth the time spent? Did you maximize how much you can learn/take away from it? Are you worse off than if you didn't start it at all?

(2) You complete it and achieve moderate success.

(3) You complete it and it surpasses what you originally thought it would achieve.

Are you already spending your free time in a better way? Here, I use "better" completely subjectively. You are only a senior in high school once and it very well might be the case that this time is better spent in company of friends, partying and enjoying your life.

ph0rque3• 18 years ago

Also, consider finding partners: people who are already working on something similar. www.soshiku.com comes to mind immediately.

gsmaverick3• 18 years ago

I've tried to look for partners but either they are bad coders, not committed, or are not "startup" people.

babyshake2• 18 years ago

Soshiku comes to mind, especially because Andrew Schaper is only 18, I believe.

I'm a Canadian citizen (living in the Bay Area) working on an education startup, and believe me, this is a very good time to be "breaking into" education. There are several startups doing very interesting things in this space.

I'd be happy to share ideas and make introductions if you need them. my email is in my profile.

good luck!

gsmaverick3• 18 years ago

I couldn't find your email in your profile. I am looking at building a software package that is aimed at schools boards/schools as opposed to students. And that's why I was wondering if it's worth it.

babyshake2• 18 years ago

Targeting schools and school boards is definitely much tougher than disrupting from the edge (i.e, individuals)

You may want to check out what http://www.inigral.com is doing in this area.

also, my email is james@plopquiz.com

jaytee_clone• 18 years ago

"This is a very good time to be 'breaking into' education"

Agree. The economy is done. People are losing their job. People are losing faith at the education system that promised them jobs. So they look for alternatives.

I have talked to a few home school networks in the Bay. The need for revolutionary change is pretty urgent.

glen• 18 years ago

I'd be interested in talking more with you. You can reach me at: glen at nixty.com.

Ask HN: Educational Software Opportunity

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