Ecree is a fast-growing startup that has built an exceptional product aimed at helping students write more effectively. They’ve been on the market for the past 5+ years and have scaled quickly through district and school-wide contracts. The company has continued to raise funding on the vision of becoming the go-to software to help enhance writing quality for high schoolers around the globe.
The team has decided recently that it is imperative to begin developing new revenue streams in order to achieve the customer and revenue growth needed to raise a Series A round in the future. After careful consideration, Jamey Heit, the company’s CEO & Founder, in addition to the rest of his growing team, has decided that the company is destined to become a direct-to-consumer tool aimed at high schoolers and their parents.
The direct-to-consumer software as a service model is vastly different from a sales approach than what they’ve done to-date. A typical institutional sale takes 12-18 months, which is why ecree is pivoting to include a direct to consumer option. Complimenting their existing institutional revenue stream with a successful direct-to-consumer model is one of their most strategic initiatives for 2019. Their product, however, doesn’t require much adaptation in order to serve this market as well, which is why they believe this poses as an extremely compelling opportunity.
ecree needs your help as a market research and strategic consulting team to help think through their direct-to-consumer approach more critically.
Project Goal
The key outcomes of this project include an overview of key competitors in the space, including similar technologies that offer software in a direct-to-consumer fashion (e.g.,Grammarly). They’re also hoping to leverage your expertise in thinking through the ideal target audience profiles for this strategy, including the go-to-market launch strategy once you’ve been able to settle on the most ideal target audience. Lastly, they’re looking for your help in understanding how the company will evolve from a revenue and cost perspective over the next 5-years based on this change.
Key ecree Metrics
Metrics for Writers (Students)
Engagement:
- Students spend an average of 8+ hours using ecree per course
- 70% of students who register for ecree submit a paper
Outcomes:
ecree compares the initial score when a student enters the platform and the score on their final version
- Average improvement is 9 points on a 0-100 scale
- 80-90% of students earn a higher grade when using ecree
Metrics for Teachers & Institutions
Hours of Time Grading Saved:
- Teachers save on average 100+ hours a year - we assume a standard teaching load of four courses per term in Higher Ed and five courses a term in K-12
Hours of Additional Student Engagement:
- Students receive 8+ hours of direct coaching when using ecree
Percent of Students Passing:
- 6% more students are able to pass relevant classes because of using ecree
Percent Increase in Class Sizes:
- Teachers can accommodate up to 3-5x more students with ecree
Metrics for Investors
- Total Papers Submitted: 180,000
- Revisions To-Date: 1.7 million
