Travis Ratnam, CEO of Knowledgehook, created an Ed-tech company that focuses on accessible learning. Knowledgehook has paved a digital pathway to accessible education which impacted thousands of students across North America. Find out how this company founded in 2014 by a Toronto entrepreneur, recently reached a milestone of raising $20 million.
This conversation is moderated by Kirthana Sasitharan, journalist at CBC. In this talk, Kirthana talks to Travis about:
How Knowledgehook started
What struggled the company experienced
How Knowledgehook identified their product market fit
The companies strategy around customer acquisition and retention
Post-Webinar Question:
What is the entrepreneur’s journey like? Before starting Knowledgehook, what past experiences and qualifications helped you? What should an entrepreneur focus on? Who should an entrepreneur listen to? How does an entrepreneur know when to quit or keep going?
To turn a vague idea into a unique product or solution, you should not focus on what your target customer says about your idea, rather you should focus on what your target customer does with your product prototypes. You must be willing to continuously throw away many failed versions of your prototypes and be willing to create new prototypes until the customer starts to form a sticky habit around the use of it. This when you start to achieve product market fit.
During this critical phase, you eventually will achieve one of two outcomes:
1. You systematically test prototypes until you exhaust every possible version of your idea.
2. One of your prototypes starts forming a sticky habit with your target customer.
When you achieve 2, this is the moment you potentially start to see a light at the end of the tunnel. You then start to work to improve on this promising prototype until it could potentially evolve into a unique product.
In this interview, I walk through what a founder should focus on and who they should seek help from during this journey. Having reflected on my journey, I also share a few simple tips on how to prepare yourself mentally and emotionally as a founder.
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