I recently came across a principle that hit me like a bolt of lightning because it crystallized much of the desperate thinking about making and selling EdTech products. It feels like a high-tech version of Field of Dreams, “If you build it, they will come”. This makes product usability paramount. An overly complex EdTech product will simply take too much time to explain the value proposition. This also means that the product should be built around something teachers already do. A new paradigm takes time to educate potential customers and many will never make it to product registration. Product managers need to continually ask, “how can a user recommend this to another user?”
The Product-Led Growth Playbook from OpenView Ventures puts the product at the center of your company. It makes the customer UI/UX experience a critical component for retention, additional sales (recommendations and add-on modules), and technical support (a vehicle for feedback). This allocates more budget to sales-oriented capabilities and away from traditional marketing. Onboarding needs to be frictionless and training reduced as a hurdle to using the product. Can a customer demo the product to a friend?
The network effect is the ultimate goal. This is when some of the value of a product is derived from the number of users who use the product. In EdTech, this usually doesn’t happen because teachers generally use Edtech tools with their students and not with other teachers. The key is to continually remind teachers that they are deriving significant value from the product and provide mechanisms for connecting with other teachers. Are there ways to share successes or content? Is there a way to invite another teacher? Is there a way to reward teaches who invite others?
