Interviewer - How did you get started in this business?
Prabhat Kumar - As a child I was a slow learner myself. I was unable to grasp the concepts as fast as the other kids. My dad used to struggle to find a tutor from whom I could really learn. So we used to change the tutor every few months. That used to worry all of us a lot. Two years back I saw my cousin facing the same problem and memories of my childhood resurfaced. During a visit to a small town, I spoke to school students they told me how, though they had access to the internet, none of the existing services complemented their learning style. I understand it’s not the problem faced by handfuls of students but it’s story of more than 75% of student.
That is when I decided for sure that I would do something to solve this problem. Edureify was started to solve these problems and more.
Interviewer - Can you provide me with a description of your business?
Prabhat Kumar - Edureify is a one-stop educational space for students with different learning needs. Just as one size does not fit all, one learning style does not suit all. Our Artificial Intelligence-based solution helps students to learn based on their learning style. A combination of personalized content and technology allows Edureify to match the learner with the right teacher. This ultimately creates a better learning experience for the student and a rewarding teaching experience for the teacher.
Interviewer - Why do your customers select you over your competitors?
Prabhat Kumar - Edureify is a complete learning eco-system. It combines the best of the latest Artificial Intelligence algorithms with the personalised inputs of actual teachers. The winner is the student as she benefits from both the human touch and the machine learning algorithms. This is why students would choose Edureify over any one-dimensional services.
Interviewer - What are the biggest issues for running this business?
Prabhat Kumar - The biggest challenge in running an edu-tech ecosystem like Edureify is actually putting to use the AI to make real, on-the-ground impact in the student’s learning. At Edureify, we combine the number-crunching capabilities of AI with the personal inputs of experienced teachers to create a personal learning experience for the students. This enables them to learn in a personalised manner at their own pace.
Interviewer - What suggestions would like to give to the young budding entrepreneurs?
Prabhat Kumar - When Edureify was started from scratch, I realised that starting up is tough and sustaining the motivation is tougher. I had many questions and hardly any answers. But that was no excuse to not do anything. So, my first lesson was - Just Start. Then I could keep on improving and improvising.
When I started up, I was comfortable working on my strengths. But then I also had to work on areas that I wasn’t strong at. So, I had to learn new things and unlearn some old things, everyday. My second lesson was - Never stop learning.
It is easy to get discouraged. But we need to keep up the momentum. Breaking down the big problems into workable, smaller ones helped me derive satisfaction from my work now and then. That is how I have been able to continuously add valuable features to the product. So, that’s my third lesson - Work on the smaller problems and the bigger ones will get solved automatically.