HN Explorer

Ask HN: Educational Software Opportunity

4 points by gsmaverick ↗ HN
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?

12 comments

[ 3.3 ms ] story [ 43.9 ms ] thread
yan
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.

ph0rque
Also, consider finding partners: people who are already working on something similar. www.soshiku.com comes to mind immediately.
gsmaverick
I've tried to look for partners but either they are bad coders, not committed, or are not "startup" people.
ph0rque
Keep looking (not full time, of course). They're out there! Obviously, this is one of the best places to do so...
gsmaverick
I am wondering what the best way to look for co-founders is. I'm only 16, and I've got nothing to pay them, and a bad economy staring us down. Do you have any tips?
ph0rque
The way I found my current co-founder is by attending a Ruby meetup in my area, and talking to the other members. Don't worry about paying people, or the economy; just get together for a weekend and start hacking on a small project. If things work out, you can just go from there; if not, rinse, lather, repeat :~).
babyshake
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!

gsmaverick
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.
babyshake
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

allenbrunson
there is an email field in the hacker news profile, but it's only visible to the site admins. if you want other people to see it, you have to add it to the "about" field.
jaytee_clone
"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
I'd be interested in talking more with you. You can reach me at: glen at nixty.com.