Selling to Schools Is B(to)S

What Edtech Startups Should Think About When Selling to Districts

As an advisor to early stage edtech startups, I’m asked to provide guidance in the area of product market fit and growth strategies. The K-12 education market is one that is very complex and different from startups within the edtech industry that are looking to sell directly to students. The B2C model is a little more straightforward (although not easy, since you are launching a new product) and when startups approach me asking for advice to sell to schools or how to develop a strong B2B model, I honestly point to advice the great Afro-Canadian poet Aubrey Drake Graham once gave me.

However, this advice has rarely deterred the committed founders who are passionate about disrupting K-12 education through technology. So then I focus on helping them develop a sales strategy. First and foremost I attempt to reframe their perspective by letting them know that they are not creating a typical B2B model. Selling to schools and school districts is a whole different animal because the buyer is not the end user…