

Applications open for Imagine K12 Winter 2013  - anurag
http://www.imaginek12.com/apply.html

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zachgalant
If you're at all interested in starting an ed tech startup, you should apply.

I'm in the current cohort, and it's a really great program. You get access to
people who really know education as well as people who are really influential
in the space.

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tweiss
That sounds pretty sweet. Does the network of advisors only cover the
traditional education space, or also e-learning/self-teaching? Because for the
latter it's a whole different ball game when it comes to marketing and
customer acquisition.

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wuster
If they don't personally know the answer, the partners have a broad network of
education insiders and experts to tap from, both on the educator and investor
side. IK12 has funded companies in the e-learning space, browse through the
companies page: <http://www.imaginek12.com/companies.html>

(I'm the co-founder at LearnSprout, IK12 W12)

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ladon86
I went through the first cohort as co-founder of ClassDojo. We went in with
basically nothing, got our asses kicked on a weekly basis and had a lot of fun
along the way.

The three principals had the depth of consumer internet and business
experience to help us build a really scalable distribution model, and to focus
our product on solving a real user pain point, which helped us to reach over
4mm teachers and students in under a year. 3 months out of program we had
raised $1.6mm from some of the best investors around, and now a year later
things are going great.

We would not have achieved any of this without ImagineK12. I strongly
recommend you apply!

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wuster
I co-founded LearnSprout (ImagineK12, W12) with jobowoo. This was my first
time doing a startup, going through the program at ImagineK12 was an
incredible learning experience. What makes IK12 stand apart from other
incubators is its understanding of the education market and grounding you to
the realities of product distribution in edtech. Starting an edtech company is
unlike any consumer idea you may have, IK12 helps you check your assumptions
at the door.

You can expect: 1) First Day – get your ass kicked and assumptions checked on
your product and vision 2) Educator Day – make your pitch to enthusiastic
early adopter edtech enthusiasts and investors from the community 3) Weekly
lunch/dinner speakers 4) Demo Day – self explanatory 5) accessible partners
(Tim, Geoff, Alan) in person or via Skype whenever you need help

With edtech, it's incredibly rewarding to know that our late night coding
sessions and long work weeks at LearnSprout translate into something of
tangible social value: principals, teachers and students getting their
software headaches out of the way and focusing on teaching + learning.
ImagineK12 will help you focus on finding a real need within education that
you ought to be solving with your team and talents.

We believe in the vision that software will eat the world, and it's only a
matter of time that all classrooms will be immersed in new learning methods
driven by and aided by technology. This sweeping change is begging for hacker-
entrepreneurs to step up and build that vision. If that's you, ImagineK12 is
the place to get started.

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amylin
I'm in the current cohort building Edcanvas (<http://www.edcanvas.com>) and
the program has been super helpful in getting us to where we are today. Our
team was in a special position where we had to scrap our initial company
before coming in but the partners were super helpful/supportive along the way.

If you want to solve hard problems that really matter, edtech is the place to
be.

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akhushraj
I am working on an edtech startup for PK-6. I have a few questions however. 1)
What is the selectivity of ImagineK12? How many apply and how many get
selected typically? 2) When is a good time to apply? I started off about 2
months back and have conducted a fair bit of customer development and some
product development. 3) I am the only founder and I don't code. For now, am
getting it done through freelancing friends, looking for a more permanent
technical cofounder. Is that viewed negatively?

Thanks, AK

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mikeleeorg
I was part of the IK12 W2012 cohort and can answer some of your questions.

1) They don't reveal how many applications they receive, though they tend to
accept around 9-10 teams for each cohort. Since they are modelled off of YC,
much of their criteria and selectiveness are similar. Geoff Ralston, an IK12
partner, is also a partner with YC.

2) I don't think there's a good, standard answer for when is the best time to
apply to an incubator. It kind of depends on your background. Like YC, if you
& your team are a bunch of amazing hackers & hustlers, it's possible you'll be
accepted without an idea. Having an established idea with demonstrable
traction is also a good thing. I would suggest applying right now, just to go
through the process. Even if you aren't accepted, the application process will
force you to fine-tune your business strategy.

3) Being a non-technical founder is not necessarily a show-stopper. One of the
current startups, NoRedInk.com, came in as a single non-technical founder.
However, this founder is a teacher, had demonstrable traction, and had already
raised some money - so he entered the program with an enticing track record so
far.

Good luck!

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akhushraj
Mike,

Thanks for your response. These make sense and I will be applying this time.

Cheers! Abhinav

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robytj
my co founders and I went to YCombinator and ImagineK12 at the same time
(W2012). While the schedule was stressful, tuesday and thursday dinners and
office hours, we felt it was the best decision we made by doing both
Incubators at the same time. Getting access to advice from Tim, Geoff and Alan
improved our product dramatically, we also met our first advisors and
investors at the ImagineK12 dinner and that had a dramatic effect on the
growth of our apps. You can Expect Demo Day: The ImagineK12 demo is well
attended and put in touch with some of the most useful investors we raised
money from. Advice: The partners are very helpful and can help shape some of
the most important decisions that you will make as a startup Cohort:
ImagineK12 is a small group of founders that will go out the way to help each
other out, we often felt that our batches at ImagineK12 would have been how YC
would have been in the early days of YC with 10-15 startups at most.

Apply now, we at taptolearn highly recommend ImagineK12.

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jobowoo
I was part of the 2nd cohort to go through Imagine K12. It was an amazing
experience. They definitely helped us really define our company during its
formative stages and are still a great resource for us. We wouldn't be where
we are today without their support. If you're at all interested in edtech, I
highly suggest you apply. Feel free to reach out to me if you have any
questions.

