Thisarticlewas originally published byBuilt In.
Typically, students want a good education to get a good job yet schools sorely underdeliver.
As Goldie Blumenstyk wrote inher bookAmerican Higher Education in Crisis?
And customers are not entirely convinced that what they are buying is worth the price.
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As a student-founder, Ive always had a soft spot for helping other students find their careers.
But with the pandemic, that desire to help became an even more obvious need.
It would have made us more money, and potentially kept the perceived value of our site high.
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We balked initially.
As a bootstrapped startup, weve always strongly valued the idea of growing a sustainable business.
or What types of interview questions do they ask?
Revisit your company mission
First, we looked at our companys mission and values.
Why are we in this business?
What are our goals?
All other decisions will follow.
Could we still help our business grow financially while making this particular tool-free and accessible to all?
As we launched our free product, we also thought carefully about how to still maintain that value ladder.
We want to provide the right educational products at the right level for our users.
If users or customers dont see added value in the next step, they dont need to purchase.
Giving things away for free is nice, but also consider how it affects your business.
This is a true win-win for consumers and your business.
Leave room for reversibility
Ultimately, offering our database of interview questions for free was a gamble.
We had no idea how this would impact our business.
But, we also knew this decision was easy to reverse.
If needed, we could undo the changes, and put a paywall on our content again.
The reversibility of the decision made it easier to test out as an experiment.
This is the best way to learn and grow as a company, and as a leader.
take a stab at find the path of least resistance to launch your experience.
That alone has been an incredible opportunity to provide support to students, and increase awareness about our brand.
Was this decision worth it for our business?
It followed a similar trend.
Beyond just revenue and metrics, Id also encourage founders to think long term.
Lastly, Id say that, as a founder, its incredibly important to have a values-based approach.
So youre interested in entrepreneurship?
