EdTech Doesn’t Fail by Accident. It Fails by Design.

Edtech is a graveyard of startups and the VCs who invest in them.

There are three very concrete reasons why, and this isn’t some cyclical hiccup.

edtech is a systemically poor place to put your time and money

the worst customers imaginable.

K-12 districts and universities are cheap, run by committee, and allergic to change. They’ve got long sales cycles, limited buyers, and stakeholders with conflicting interests. Selling to them is brutal.

throwing tech at broken systems.

K-12 and higher ed are broken. Until you make radical changes to the education system itself, tech will not lead to improved results. It’s like putting a state-of-the-art fridge in a house with a rotting foundation.

blind faith in human nature

The success of edtech solutions is dependent upon the premise that people are self-motivated, disciplined, and eager to learn if only the content were more engaging and easily accessible.

wrong

Oftentimes, we can be lazy, easily distracted, in need of structure, and require a stick rather than a carrot.

So, unless edtech startups start designing their solutions for humans as we are rather than the idealized version of us, they’re “solutions” will never show widespread results.

And not fer nothin’ but this is always why we make sure people know that . . .

pega6 is an alt-ed startup, not an edtech startup

I don’t want edtech’s stink unjustifiably rubbing off on us.