Droppingoutofuniversitytolaunchastart-upisoldhat.ThetwistwithJosephCohen,DanGetelmanandJimGrandpreisthattheirstart-upaimstoimprovehowuniversitieswork.InMay2011thethreefoundersquittheUniversityofPennsvlvania.tolaunchCoursekit,soonrenamedasLore.whichhasalreadyraised$6mtodevelopwhatMr.Cohen,its21-year-oldchiefexecutive,describesasasocial-learningnetworkfortheclassroom".
LoreispartofatrendthatbuildsonthefamiliaritywithsocialnetworkingthathascomewiththesuccessofFacebook.Itcustomizestherulesofanetworktomeetthespecificneedsofstudents.AnyoneteachingaclasswouldreasonablyworrythatstudentsusingFacebookweregossipingratherthanlearningusefulinformationfromtheirnetworkoffriends.Loreallowsteacherstocontrolexactlywhoisinthenetworkbyissuingaclass-membershipcodeandtoseehowtheyareusingit.Theycanalsodistributecoursematerials,contactstudents,managetestsandgrades,anddecidewhattomakepublicandwhattokeepprivate.Studentscanalsointeractwitheachother.
IntheacademicyearafterlaunchingitsfirstversionlastNovember,Lorewasusedinatleastoneclassin600diversitiesandcolleges.Itsgoalforitssecondyear,abouttobegin,istospreadrapidlywithinthose600institutions,notleasttoseewhattheeffectsofscalearefromhavinglotsofclassessignedupwithinthesameinstitution.
Thefirmhasafast-growingarmyoffansinthefacultycommonroom.Lore,saysEdwardBoches,whousesitforhisadvertisingclassesatBostonUniversity,makesteaching"moreinteractive,extendsitbeyondtheclassroomandstimulatesstudentstolearnfromeachotherratherthanjusttheprofessor."
Amongotherchallengesforthecompany,thereremainsthesmallmatteroffiguringoutabusinessmodel.Forthemomentithasnone.Mr.CohenhopesthateventuallyLorecouldbecometheprimarymarketplaceforeverythingfromcoursestotextbooks,butsofartheserviceisfreeandcarriesnoadvertising.Blackboard,theindustryincumbent(占有者),chargesusersforitscourse-managementsoftware.Itremainstobeseenhowitwillrespondtotheupstart(新贵).
ThelackofaplandoesnotappeartobotherLore'sfoundersorinvestors,-whoseemcontenttolearnalessonfromanotheruniversitydrop-out,MarkZuckerberg,theco-founderofFacebook:achievecriticalmassinyournetworkandtheprofitswillfollow.Andafterthatperhapstheycanexpectanhonorarydegreefromthea/mamater(母校).
