How a Teacher Made $1 Million Selling Lesson Plans

[VanToai]

Hey folks,
I'm new here (my introduction post), and am coming from a web/software entrepreneur background. I'm working on my second startup in 4 years, but just found the Fastlane book and this community last week. As I mentioned in my intro post, I tend to lurk message boards, but this community resonated with me so strongly I felt compelled to participate.

There's a lot of interest in tech startups as they tend to lend themselves perfectly to the fastlane principals, and coming from that background I feel that's an area I can offer this community a lot of value. If you're interesting in software/apps/mobile, feel free to give me a shout. Happy to contribute.

As I follow technology and startups closely, I figure sharing the resources I find inspiring or useful is a great way to start. Here's some Fastlane inspiration from Business Week, posted today: "How a Teacher Made $1 Million Selling Lesson Plans"

After four years in the classroom, Edelman hit upon the idea for an online lesson-plan marketplace. “I thought teachers would be more incentivized to post their best stuff and to create even higher quality materials if they had the opportunity to get paid for them,†says Edelman, who now lives in Fontainebleau, France, south of Paris. “I had no clue what I was doing, but I knew it was a really good idea, so I just found my way,†he says, noting he has no tech background. “I read books. I cashed out my retirement fund and sold my car and my motorcycle and got enough money together—around $10,000—to hire a programmer to build the first version of the site.â€

Soon after the launch, New York-based publisherScholastic (SCHL) bought the site for what Edelman says was a low six-figure sum. Over the next few years, TPT continued growing, though not fast enough to hold Scholastic’s interest. Edelman bought the site back in 2009. “Scholastic—being a big, publicly traded company—wanted instant gratification, YouTube-like, explosive growth,†he says. “They were going to close [the site] down, but I fought really hard to get them to let me buy it back.â€

Little by little, TPT began gaining steam. “With marketplaces, it’s that chicken-and-egg thing,†says Edelman. “Until you have lots of products, you don’t have lots of buyers.†Today the site has 1.1 million active members and over the past year has seen enormous growth. Last month alone, TPT grossed $2.5 million in sales, up from $305,000 in August 2011. It has 10 employees working in customer service. Teachers pay an annual premium membership fee of $59.95 to sell materials on the site, and TPT takes a 15 percent cut of most sales. (Teachers can sell materials without a premium membership, but TPT’s share then rises to 40 percent of a sale.)

 

Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member: Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)

[Rickson9]

O cimoiwi vjot tvusz ot vji teni viedjis et vji upi op jvvqt://xxx.vjigetvmepigusan.dun/getvmepi/39208-lopfishesvip-viedjis-iespt-700-000-timmoph-mittup-qmept-upmopi.jvnm