Many successful education startups have sprung up in the D.C. area. Whether it be a veteran titan like Blackboard, the now public 2U or personalized learning solution provider Flat World Education, the region is ripe with innovation targeting academia. Now CollegeNode is entering the space, too.
A 1776 member bent on helping international students navigate the U.S. admissions process, CollegeNode is a platform that offers prospective students from outside of the country the ability to connect with American students, English teachers and admissions counselors via video conference chat to talk about colleges in the states. Although the company only launched two years ago, CollegeNode has been revenue positive since January and profitable as of July with around 10,000 members to date.
One example of a CollegeNode video offering tips on how to prepare for an admission interview
The success CollegeNode has found proves that there isn't just one mold an education company founder must fit into. Dan Ye may lack experience in academia, but his previous roles as an energy attorney and founder of Sinautec Automobile Technologies – a startup that manufactured components for electric vehicles – have paved the way to the role he holds today. Well, that and his close relationship with his family.
Ye came up with the idea for CollegeNode while he was visiting his parents in China. "Every time I stopped by Beijing I would get mobbed by my mom's friends that wanted me to help their kids get into Ivy League schools," he said over the phone. "I helped them out for years until I decided to make a business out of it."
"You see," Ye said, "if you're a Chinese high school student and want to come to the U.S. for undergrad, you probably don't know anything about the admissions system. Most families hire Chinese consultants to clarify the process, but they don't have enough knowledge about the U.S. system. It's the blind leading the blind causing problems for students."
One common misconception Chinese students have is that admissions to top schools is all a numbers game, that if they get a stellar SAT score, they'll be guaranteed admission. That's the case in China with the College Entrance Exam, but that's not the case in the U.S., Ye said.
Ready to break the cycle of bad advice from misinformed consultants, Ye set out to develop a solution by pairing Chinese students with American students in the states to mentor them and lead them through the admissions process. He also created a video page containing interviews with American college students talking about their experiences in school and stock footage of interviews with admission directors, admission experts and professors. An admission calculator and university database are also available for use by students who want to learn more about which colleges they should apply to for the upcoming academic year.
As you've probably gathered, CollegeNode is focused primarily on the Chinese market which has a reputation of being tricky for international companies to break into, especially Internet businesses. "You have to work with the reality that there is a firewall in China," Ye explained. "The Chinese government censors everything they don't like, so we designed the system with that in mind. We optimized CollegeNode so that there's minimal interference from the Chinese government."
"We are an American company, but for an American company, our accessibility in the country really sets us apart from our competitors," Ye added, especially granted how fast CollegeNode works in China.
Looking towards the future, Ye says CollegeNode is set to experience a high growth rate in the next 12 months. Plans are to expand into additional markets, raise more money (they're currently operating on a lean model), partner with an increasing number of organizations and schools both in and outside the U.S. as well as boost the user base.
"We want to be the Amazon of education consulting," Ye said with a sense of pride, and it appears as if they're heading in the right direction to do just that.
