DreamBox Learning®» Start-up Culture

Just Announced: Investment in DreamBox Learning Means a Bright Future

Sue — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:35:12 +0000

Almost every day we hear from customers that they wish our online math learning program was available for higher grades. And almost as often we hear them ask us to do for literacy and other subjects what we’ve done for math — make it really effective at helping students learn, even while we make it really fun for kids. This morning we announced that we’re well positioned to make these wishes a reality! DreamBox has been acquired by a new partnership between Reed Hastings — he’s a very well known and respected education philanthropist and the CEO of Netflix — and the Charter Fund, a non-profit venture capital firm. This partnership has given DreamBox a $10 million investment that will allow us to significantly increase our growth, create new content, and further develop our technology platform. All of which will help us achieve our big dream of helping millions of students! Our technology platform is at the core of our product — it’s the engine that continually assesses each student’s mathematical understanding with every mouse click, and then provides the most appropriate hints, encouragement, and the right next lessons, at the right pace and level of difficulty, for that child. The mission of the Charter Fund is very much in sync with ours. They are dedicated to reaching a broad range of students and helping public education thrive. The Charter Fund is a social venture investment fund, founded in 2005 to significantly increase the capacity of proven education entrepreneurs to serve more children, and provide quality educational options to thousands of underserved families in diverse communities. “This investment allows us to further deliver on our commitment to help public education thrive by providing critical resources and tools to traditional public schools, charter schools, private schools and schools on a global basis,” according to Kevin Hall, CEO and President of The Charter School Growth Fund. You can read more about our exciting news in our press release, and in this morning’s New York Times article. But we wanted to be the first to tell our excellent and most appreciative customers that we’re in a great position to make your — and our — wishes come true.

Here's Why I Love Working at DreamBox Learning

Neil — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 01:36:20 +0000

I've been in the software biz for 22 years or so, not counting high school and university. (If you want to add that, call it 28 years!) Of the companies I've worked for, this is the most balanced, professional, and most oriented towards shipping product. I love the way we have combined software, creative, teaching, marketing, and business professionals to make a real product. Other companies have meritocracies or cults which exclude whole groups of people. DreamBox is different -- we listen to our customers and to each other, and it shows! Lots of people can write software code, but if it doesn't get out to the real world and doesn't affect real people -- well then, you're just doing it for yourself.

Making a Difference in E-Learning

I have ALWAYS preferred companies and projects which will have a REAL impact in the world. I have been lucky to work on a couple of such projects in the past, and I think this one will truly make a difference. We have worked incredibly hard for almost 3 years now to get to this point. We will continue to work hard, making improvements and adding more grade levels, but it's worth taking a moment to appreciate our unusually collaborative culture, which has enabled us to create a product with the potential to help so many kids.

A Blessing and a Curse

Byron — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 16:00:14 +0000

I love creating software. A software product, unlike say, building a book case, is never completely done. As TV’s Detective Monk would say, that is "a blessing, and a curse." A blessing, because you can fix the things that are not quite perfect. A curse, because you can fix the things that are not quite perfect. We did tons of testing and made changes and improvements to get to what you see today. But it is not perfect. We need, we want, we thrive on, what parents and students say about our product. We want to hear from you. Let us know at what you like and what we need to improve. *Note: The feedback link will only work for customers with a free trial or paid account. The feedback link is on the bottom of every page once you have signed into your account. Use it as often as you wish. Thanks!

What’s in a Name?

Lou — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 16:22:15 +0000

One of our favorite things to do as we prepare to release a new beta is to invite parents and their child(ren) to come to our offices for early usability testing; mostly because it gives us a chance to observe and interact on many levels. While most conversations usually center on the product experience, over the last month, a surprising number of parents asked how we came up with the name DreamBox Learning. So here it is. Companies can spend a lot of time and resources searching for a brand identity. As a start-up, however, we had neither. But we did have Sarah Daniels (our then newly hired Vice President of Marketing) and Brad Chase (our advisor/investor) to guide us through the process, which can be very emotional for founders. At the highest level, we determined that as a web service it was important to find a name that was easy to spell, meaningful, appropriate, trademarkable, and last but not least, available as a .com domain. So after doing battle with an old, thick thesaurus for months, and rejecting a few doozies* along the way, we landed on DreamBox Learning. And with some formal and informal field testing, we officially passed the mantle from SchoolSoft Corporation (our original incorporated name) to DreamBox Learning, and added a great logo along the way.

Why DreamBox Learning?

Now what very few people know is that the name DreamBox is a mild homage to the great brands of Cranium and Noggin. How so? Because “dream box” is an antiquated expression that refers to your head -- as in your dream box. *As a company that provides individualized instruction, I must admit I was pretty partial to “HeaderGenius” for a while . . . fortunately, I was all alone on that one.

Working Toward Personal Obsolescence

Lou — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 19:42:03 +0000

Dear DreamBox Co-owners, We stand ready to ship our 4th Beta in less than a year. An astonishing milestone, yet no heads swell among you. Instead, and with the same brute, elegant, and humble spirit that got you here, you turn your attention once again to shipping, learning, fixing, testing, planning, cutting, building, testing, and shipping anew. For many of you, this is because your march isn’t done until we reach V1/product launch. For others, it is when we serve all the children that we can. And for others still, the march will never end (mostly because you’re troubled overachievers). I ask you though to please take a moment and reflect on what you’ve accomplished. You have already built a product like no other, and in a manner that is all your own. It is a warm reflection of you all and it speaks to your collective and individual sense of ownership and sensibilities. You also continue to self-organize in a way that does justice to both our customers and each other. It is because you have built a company where there is a democracy of ideas, where trust and reliance on one another mean something, and where no froth or sloth is endured. In short, you all have made DreamBox a great place to ride to every day!

Thanks DreamBox Co-Owners!

DreamBox Teachers are Start-up Warriors

Lou — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:37:11 +0000

I was raised in a house with teachers (my mom is a retired high school teacher, and my dad taught at the community college on the side), so I already was a fan of their work. But I’m here to tell you that teachers make great entrepreneurs too. We have three Nationally Board Certified Teachers that work at DreamBox Learning. As newbie software developers, they plan, design, and author our lessons (yes, you read that correctly, they actually write the code that makes our lessons run). Each of them is new to the private sector as well, but you would never know it.

Experienced Teachers Make Great Entrepreneurs

As hardnosed risk-taking co-owners (not clock-punching employees), they are incredibly grounded, talented, dedicated, passionate, hardworking, efficient, willful, open minded, creative, and patient (as early education specialists, they come well-trained to deal with us Peter Pan-ers). What is truly wonderful, however, is the way they impart the importance of learning into our team culture, which in turn flows into our product. No matter what the nature of the business, if I ever decide to do another start-up, I am certain that I will add teachers to the company mix. At the very least, they keep my grammar in check.