business analysis
strengths
As a first mover focusing on the Grade 4-12 market, LURNT will have an advantage over other organizations that consider entering this space. Similar to how Reddit and Quora are both services which can be superficially replicated, their focus on not compromising the user experience for quick monetization is what has brought them their current billion dollar valuation.
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Additionally, as the web grows the number of educational resources the produces will continue to grow. As Google has demonstrated, the great value can be derived from navigating and finding quality resources. Artificial intelligence and machine learning, while powerful still does not compare to the quality that a crowd sourced curation can achieve. Users will feel that LURNT represents their own learning interests and and their voice through direct commenting and voting.
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LURNT additionally has the advantage of remaining current through user contributions. The latest resources can be found and posted to LURNT, prompting return visits and active discussion boards from both educators and learners.
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weaknesses
As a new business, LURNT will need to work hard to earn the trust of users. Establishing a user base and early contributions will probably require pilot project contributions from schools. Early incentives and karma points will hopefully engage users to come back to the site.
opportunities
As LURNT begins to mature we see two main opportunities for expansion
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Higher education
As LURNT becomes synonymous with Internet learning, there is an opportunity to expand beyond Grade 4-12 education. University students familiar with LURNT can continue to expand their knowledge by contributing in new sectors on the website focussed on topics in Higher Education.
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International markets
Once a sufficient foot hold takes place in the North American market, LURNT can explore international expansion options. Reddit and Quora are both international websites providing services in multiple languages and content specific to international markets.
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threats
Machine learning and Artificial Intelligence are possible disruptors to Internet aggregators. However, the early promise of these technologies has not yet, and may never come to pass. Currently, human crowd sourced and curated websites are still more value to users. A comprehensive analysis of the business plan must however, acknowledge that such an AI aggregator, if developed, may fundamentally negatively alter the business landscape for LURNT.
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Other threats may include competitors expanding their educational component. Youtube and Khan Academy and just two examples of platforms with users creating educational content. However, as a content aggregator, this may serve to benefit LURNT as this will increase the amount of quality content that can be posted onto the site.