mapEDU v.2

We launched the initial SAAS version of mapEDU’s curriculum mapping platform in early 2021.

The basic thesis was that this new approach, which objectively analyzes actual course content to map the curriculum, would be a boon to higher education professionals seeking to better understand gaps and redundancies in their curriculum, prepare for accreditation, etc.

We spent a year pitching this new approach to deans and curriculum committees, taking feedback, and tweaking the product to better meet customer needs. We sold some – but not nearly as much as planned. (The age old start up story.)

So – we took a deep breath in December – and evaluated what we learned:

1. While we sold less of our comprehensive curriculum mapping subscriptions than planned – we did have a lot of interest from prospects if we could make the product a simpler, more focused tool for accreditation self-study.

2. While curriculum mapping is necessary for accreditation (and good practice), most prospects have something that is “good enough” – so there needs to be a more powerful motivator to spend money than “just” a better curriculum map.

Enter exam tagging. Almost all professional schools use some sort of data aggregation tool to identify students who are struggling and need remediation – and to evaluate the school’s student performance in aggregate against certification tests for program improvement. And at their core, these systems rely on mostly incomplete and/or inaccurate manually generated exam tags.

Successful attraction, retention, and promotion of students is a very high priority activity in a competitive professional school landscape. And low and behold – mapEDU’s curriculum mapping engine can also be used to quickly and accurately tag exams.

3. This is going to be a marathon – not a sprint.

As a result, we made some product changes for 2022:

1. We have created an exam tagging white glove service – which we are going to focus our marketing efforts on promoting.

2. We have taken our initial, core product – and broken it down to more specific, accreditation-oriented modules (for a quick curriculum inventory or curriculum self-study).

3. We are continuing to think about/model other ways we can turn our data into insights.

Finally, Seth Hernandez has replaced me as CEO.

When I retired several years ago – I did not intend to have a “day job”. My stint as mapEDU CEO was always intended to be a temporary, part-time gig as we launched the new product. At this juncture, w/ our pivot toward tagging and data analytics, the continued growth of mapEDU is going to require leadership to put in a ton of time and energy to build long term relationships w/ the data aggregators in the space. In other words, an energetic full time CEO like Seth!

mapEDU is at a critical juncture (as most of them are when you are young and fragile). I have every confidence that our revised strategy is sound. But getting from here to there – that is the tricky part!

PS: Now that I fired myself from my “day job”, I hope to post more frequently in 2022.

Our Growing Portfolio