The document describes an online language learning startup called Languages e-School. It offers exclusive video lessons and courses taught by a diverse team of language professionals. Students can practice speaking with teachers through video chat and interact on forums. The business model involves subscriptions, partnerships with educational institutions, and advertising revenue. Key risks include funding, technical challenges in building the platform, and competition from other online language schools.

1. Opportunity
Execution
Project
Venture Lab Assignment:
Tech-Educate

2. Personal story & Team
description
The story of our team comes from different sources. Alicia, Victoria and
Lola met on Twitter. After a time of a very good twitter relationship they met
several times (as they all come from different cities) and they decided to
participate in this course together. Alicia, Lola and Victoria share great
experience as EFL teachers and the idea of focussing on education and
technology was clear since the very beginning. Then, Ankush, attracted to
the idea of education and technology, joined the team and he provided "the
business knowledge" to our team. Unfortunately, Ankush went through
some personal problems and couldn't finish the course, but his participation
at the beginning of the course was very active and enriching.

3. Product description
Our startup idea is Languages e-school, an online school to learn and
practise languages that offers the customer a very exclusive learning
environment designed to meet their needs. It includes exclusive lessons on
videos designed by an heterogeneous team of skilled professionals giving
the customers a better pool from which to choose. It also provides the
students with a space to ask questions and to practise speaking with the
teacher they choose, and also with a forum where they will have the
possibility of practicing the language with other users. The platform also
offers a series of streaming lectures by other talented educators, a library
including a wide range of materials and resources. An application for IOS
and Android to access the platform from mobile devices is also available.
*This simple prototype gives an idea of the website.

4. Our Business Model
• Customers segment: All language learners from 18 and above
-Big companies (Professional Development Departments)
-Teachers
-Libraries
-Researchers
-Editorials
• Value propositions: A unique collection of contents (courses, videos,
syllabus,...) on foreign languages, including video content library,
lectures in streaming, a forum where learners from different countries
can interact with each other, and an heterogeneous group of skilled
professionals giving the customers a better pool from which to choose.
Access to content through mobile app and online platform.

5. Our Business Model
• Channels: Internet (website), mobile app, social networks, educational
magazines
• Customer relationship: email, Skype, streaming, web, Virtual
Learning Platform (moodle based or similar), mobile
• Key activities: Language classes, conversation classes, forum
discussion, lectures (speeches/presentations) by well-known
professors, workshops
• Key partnership: Teaching centres (School, University, Language
Schools...), big companies, editorials.
• Key resources: Video streaming platform, language teachers,
translators, web developer/designer

6. Our Business Model
• Cost structure: Website and app programmer and designer and
maintenance, translators, teachers and lecturers.
• Revenue streams: Subscriptions, funding from partners (universities,
staff development/ training departments of companies, etc.),
advertisement, editorials.
* Some adjustments were made to our initial business model once we had
received valuable data from surveyed customers. The changes concerned
the final cost of the product we offered and the access to free material.

7. Partnerships
Partnerships: We will try to partner with Teaching Centres, such as
Universities and Languages Schools. We will offer Business Language
Courses for big companies, so they will be important partners as well. We
will have courses all year round, one to one and in mini-groups courses.
And another partner will be editorials. They will release our materials that
later our students will buy.
Most of our potential partners were willing to work with our project, but
Languages Schools were the most interested in partnering with us. They
will collaborate with us teaching their language and making the materials
they need for their lessons. For example, Instituto Cervantes or Instituto
Confucio. They will teach Spanish and Chinese and in return they will use

8. Distribution
Distribution: We will distribute our platform with the help of our partners
and through the website, without question the best way to distribute it.
Potential customers can have access to the platform via our mobile apps,
available for iOs and Android. Social networks will be another important
channel of distribution, they are the current trend of the internet and the use
of them, such as Twitter, Facebook and Google +, means reaching to more
people and increasing awareness of our website. We will also consider the
possibility of digital publishing through Amazon and iTunes.
And finally, educational magazines, where we will publish articles referring
to our project.

9. Sales and Marketing Strategy
• Free apps/ free subscriptions/ free trials to generate demand or get
upgrades to pro content.
• Presence in major social networks (cost free for us): Twitter
Facebook
Google+

10. Revenue Model
Changes were made in our revenue model. Based on the surveys and
interviews conducted, 53% of potential customers were willing to pay up to
$20 per month. We decided to adjust the price of our packages and offer
more content with a free subscription (freemium service).
Funding (from partners and venture capitalist)
We will have to bootstrap for about 2 years. Apart from subscriptions, our
major source of income, we will ask for an investment from the venture
capitalist of at least $100.000 for 20% stake in our company. That will allow
us to move forward and develop the platform, apps and resources.
Other sources of income are advertisements (mainly from editorials) in our
web and apps.
The fact that most of the platforms we will be using are cost free (Skype,
moodle, etc.) also contributes to minimize the overall cost of running this e-
school business.

11. Risks
• We find our main risk to be economic; finding investment could be
hard, but we will participate in different funding meetings to show our
product to potential investors.
• Second, technical; building the infrastructure we need. For this reason,
we will contact qualified web designers.
• Differentiation from other online platforms. We have to improve our
competitors offer.
>>> Reduction of risk through customers surveys and close
observation of our competitors offer.

12. Conclusions
We have learnt from all the assignments of
this course and we would like to consider the
possibility of entrepreneuring a model similar
to the one we have been working in.
As we stated at the beginning of this course:
Education + Technology = Future