I listened to this IBM podcast with Matt Glotzbach, CEO of our portfolio company Quizlet, this morning.
Matt explains that edtech, a long-standing term for the market for software and technology sold to the education market, is fundamentally different from the newer and exciting market for consumer learning.
We agree with Matt and our approach to investing in education, a core part of our thesis 3.0, is about delivering learning tools directly to the student and bypassing the traditional education system.
That does not mean that consumer learning is in opposition to the traditional education system, though.
We see students and teachers adopting tools like Quizlet, Duolingo, Codecademy and many others to improve learning outcomes in the classroom and at home.
But consumer learning starts with the learner and is focused on serving them as the customer, not institutions, districts, schools or other “enterprises.”
I think a learner-centric model will produce better learning outcomes than an enterprise-centric model and I also think these consumer learning companies will be better businesses too.
