Problem: Some argue that entrepreneurship is formula: if you just know the inputs you can create a billion-dollar output. Most of this knowledge, however, is locked up in high-bandwidth or high-knowledge outlets like YouTube (where you have to know what channels to search) or in back-room programs.
Solution: One of the most famous programs for teaching individuals how to start a startup is Y Combinator. In 2014, they published online for the world a series of videos titled “How to Start a Startup”. With teachers like Sam Altman, Brian Chesky, Dustin Moskovitz, Paul Graham, and more this course is a crash-course in success from the legends who did it in the 2010s. Hypothetically, with a course like this, one would have no need to go to business school at all: all they would need to do is execute on the lessons taught by these successful individuals.
Outside of the video world, others have tried to make these guides as well such as Peter Kolchinsky’s legendary writing, “The Entrepreneur's Guide to a Biotech Startup, 4th Edition (ucla.edu).” As Kolchinsky writes,
The Guide prompts the reader to ask the right questions. The more one knows about the venture-creation process, the more likely one is to ask the most fundamental question, “Does the idea actually justify starting a new company?” and other questions, for example:
How much will it cost to develop and commercialize a product?
How large is the market?
Will customers buy the products and how much will
they pay?
What’s the competition?
Will patent protection be required and feasible?
Will it be possible to attract the right professionals to
the company?
Will investors want to invest?
What else could I be doing with my time?
In 100 pages he distills down the lessons that he’s learned through investing in biotechnology companies and the knowledge that any biotechnology founder has to have in order to a chance at success. “With 4000 private and 600 public biotechnology companies worldwide, of which over 50% are in the United States, only a few percent have a track record of increasing profitability, including Amgen, Genentech, Biogen Idec, MedImmune, and a few others that belong to the Big Biotech class. All the rest, regardless how profitable they may have been as investments, are not yet successful businesses,” he writes as a hook for why his guide will offer you keys to success. Below are some of these homerun successes.
This business would take existing entrepreneurship guides and package them up as bite-sized articles of learning about how to take a problem from ideation to execution. In particular, it would identify the lessons in a variety of different online courses, guides, video series’ and more to distill the insights down to the core lessons for each subject area. More than just providing content, it would attempt to build a smart-learning platform through using entrepreneurship as a starting point.
As reported in January 2020 by Global Newswire,
The global Smart Education and Learning Market size is anticipated to reach USD 665.12 billion by the end of 2026, owing to the growing advancement in learning platforms. Fortune Business Insights™ in their report titled, “Smart Education and Learning Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Component (Hardware, Software, and Services), By Learning Mode (Collaborative Learning, Virtual Instructor-Led Training (VLIT), Simulation-Based Learning, Social Learning, Blended Learning), By End-User (Corporate, Academic, and Government) and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026,” presents a detailed analysis of the market with its prime growth trajectories. As per this report, the market was worth USD 166.30 billion in 2018. However, it is expected to witness a remarkable growth by exhibiting a CAGR of 19.5% during the forecast period between 2019 to 2026.
This business would play at the intersection of learning, repurposed learning, and bite-sized insights.
Monetization: Selling these guides or subscriptions to courses.
Contributed by: Michael Bervell (Billion Dollar Startup Ideas)
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