Advisory and Expert Network
For investors and education companies.
I’ve co-founded one of these companies, bought these products for a network, and used them in schools.
I advise investors and education companies on the K-12 buying decision: who actually decides, what a school will renew, and why a tool that gets bought in June so often is not being used by March.
There are four levels of buyer, and each one wants something different, so most of the deals I have watched fail got a yes at one level and a no at another.
- Mid-level leaders
- Deans, coaches, grade-level leads. They’re the daily user, and they decide whether the tool still gets opened in the spring.
- School leaders
- They own the discretionary budget, and when they leave the account churns.
- Regional leaders
- They push for one standard across schools, and they are the ones who overrule a school’s autonomy.
- Charter CMO executives
- They sign the enterprise contract, they set the procurement bar, and they decide the renewal.
I built one. I co-founded DeansList and grew it from 0 to 275 schools, and it’s in 1,000+ now, though I’m not with the company any more.
Then I bought them. At KIPP I managed the $10M+ edtech vendor portfolio, which included the national ACT/SAT evaluation across 48 high schools, where I ran structured interviews and elimination rounds on efficacy and pricing and took 15 vendors down to 8.
I still do the work they’re built for. I have done it for twenty years, and I can tell you what a school will actually do with one. Here is a work sample.
I do diligence and expert-network calls, market reads, go-to-market and pricing work for education companies, and advisory retainers. Sessions run 30 to 60 minutes and I take them on short notice.
Book an advisory or diligence call (opens in a new tab) Or write me: chris@habetlerconsulting.com