Thread by @malpani

Fixing EdTech in India
A thread 🧵

The Govt can draft a law which makes it compulsory for EdTech businesses to collect fees only by offering subscriptions which need to be renewed every month ( rather than forcing parents to buy expensive multi-year subscriptions by offering them a discount).

This Netflix model is much more affordable.

It's also much better for good EdTech businesses, because this keeps their teachers and mentors on their toes, because students are free to switch to competitors, since they aren't locked in.

The EdTech sales staff isn't pressurised to meet revenue targets to earn their salaries , so they aren't forced to mis-sell by making false promises. Dissatisfied students can easily stop renewing the subscription , and this is a great way of monitoring how useful the service is

Excessive churn is a leading indicator that's something wrong with the product, and needs to be fixed ! This model will also make the service much more affordable, so parents won't end up in an educational debt trap.

Students who drop out will be able to tell the EdTech business what they are unhappy about , and can even help them to fix this. This is a great way of putting students first by delighting them.

On the other hand , subscriptions which lock students in for many years means that unhappy customers aren't respected by the customer service team, because they can't leave ! Many parents resent this , because they have paid a lot of money upfront, and aren't getting any value

Also, they are stuck with obsolete technology ( such as tablets), while online subscriptions are cloud-based, which ensures that the content delivered to the student is always updated.

While long term subscriptions may generate upfront revenue for the company and inflate their valuations, this is not in either the student's long term best interests, or the company ,because unhappy students who are trapped will complain vocally about the product !