WyzAnt History and Core Values

History and Values

History

2001 2005 2007 2008 2013 2015

Mike and Drew meet as freshman at Princeton and track & field teammates.

Drew quits his job at Merrill Lynch and moves home, unemployed

Drew sets out to do math tutoring and notices how hard it is for tutors and students to find one another.

With Mike’s input and programming skillset, they set out to list college students as tutors online. WyzAnt is born.

Drew studies econ and finance. Mike studies comp sci and finance.Lots of conversations over beers about one day starting a company.

$ 1 0 , 0 0 0With just $10k and lots of guerilla marketing, WyzAnt grows into a profitable business in DC and Northern Virginia.

Mike and Drew hire their first employee, Danny, to help with customer service. 2008 GMV= $1.4MM

The website and business continue to evolve. By offering a great product and excellent service, and by leveraging search and online marketing, WyzAnt becomes the first nationwide tutoring marketplace.

2013 WyzAnt has 67 employees• 24 Customer Service• 17 Content Review• 7 Sales• 10 Tech• 7 Admin• 2 Marketing

November 2013 21.5mm Series A investment from Accel Partners to build team, go mobile and expand internationally.

WyzAnt today has 94 employees• 48 CS + CR• 12 Product + Design• 16 Tech• 12 Finance, Legal, HR• 6 Marketing

July 2014 WyzAnt opens San Francisco office

What are core values?They are the essence of our identity

Our principles, philosophy and cultureOur brand and voice

They are what we stand forThey help us make hard decisionsThey are a compassThe resonate with us personallyThey aren’t optional

They persistCore values don’t changeFor the life of the companyAs the company evolvesThrough booms and busts

Our first “office” in Chicago, 2008.

● 2015 is our 10th year in business!● Core values have always existed● With a small team, it’s easy to understand core values intuitively● We’re now bigger and moving faster, and this trend will only

accelerate● Formalizing the core values will help us maintain our culture as we

scale the company and hire new people● More than ever, we are making big, strategic decisions. Concrete

values will help guide us to make decisions that are consistent with our beliefs and in line with what’s special about WyzAnt.

● Core values go hand-in-hand with the brand work we’re undertaking.

Why now?

Our Values are a Secret Weapon

● Set ambitious goals

● Always be learning

● Be resourceful

● Enjoy the journey

1. Set ambitious goals2. Always be learning3. Be resourceful4. Enjoy the journey

● Goals are powerful, especially ambitious goals aka BHAGs. Aim high.● Goals pull you forward and cause you to stretch. ● Goals are one of the few things that every single one of our customers have in common● Parents, students and tutors all have goals. We’re in the business of helping them achieve those goals,

and in some cases set the goals too.● Let’s be a motivating force for each other and our customers in pursuing goals. An inspiring guide.● Learning is full of little goals along the way that make it fun. We can make learning like a game or a

sport.● The right question is “how do we get there?” It’s not “look at all the reasons we can’t do it.” ● It’s a competitive world and we can’t get complacent. Winning is better than learning. We are positioned

to win.● You will be better off working towards a goal and falling short than never setting an aggressive goal in the

first place. Test & learn. Start, Stop, Continue.

Set ambitious goalsSet ambitious goalsAlways be learningBe resourcefulEnjoy the journey

What attributes come to mind for this CV?What anecdotes or examples can you think of?

● Goals are powerful, especially ambitious goals aka BHAGs. Aim high.● Goals pull you forward and cause you to stretch. ● Goals are one of the few things that every single one of our customers have in common● Parents, students and tutors all have goals. We’re in the business of helping them achieve those goals,

and in some cases set the goals too.● Let’s be a motivating force for each other and our customers in pursuing goals.● Learning is full of little goals along the way that make it fun. We can make learning like a game or a

sport.● The right question is “how do we get there?” It’s not “look at all the reasons we can’t do it.” ● It’s a competitive world and we can’t get complacent. Winning is better than learning. We are positioned

to win.● You will be better off working towards a goal and falling short than never setting an aggressive goal in the

first place. Test & learn. Start, Stop, Continue.

Set ambitious goals

confidence, courage, risk, reach, follow-through, vision, positive, measurable, winning, ambition, competition, determination, hard work, discipline, commitment, proactive, trust, teamwork, motivation

Set ambitious goalsAlways be learningBe resourcefulEnjoy the journey

We didn’t actually need to raise capital in 2013. We were profitable and growing nicely. But we realized the how special the opportunity was to build a big, awesome business that helps the world learn. We decided, like we always have, to set our goals high and work our butts off to try to achieve them, and that’s what we’re all doing as we speak..

- Mike

When we talked about raising money we at first thought we’d raise less money from a local VC. After doing a lot of research and thinking on the matter, we decided that if we’re going to do this we’re going to raise a substantial round form one of the world’s most successful VCs with domain expertise and a strong cultural fit. So we set our minds to running a thorough, competitive process, and ended up with a great partner in Accel on strong terms for the company.

- Brent

Set ambitious goals-- exampleSet ambitious goalsAlways be learningBe resourcefulEnjoy the journey

From the moment I started working at WyzAnt (an intern at the time), I knew I wanted to make the most of my experience here, and lend my talents where they fit best. The first goal I set for myself was to obtain a position here at WyzAnt once my internship ended. When I was offered a part time job, my next goal was to gain experience in different departments. I worked with content optimization, SEO, marketing, social media, subject testing for tutors, and content review. That led me towards my next goal of obtaining full time work at WyzAnt. After graduating college, I was offered a full time job working with the content I had begun building during my internship.

The next goal I set for myself was to be as useful as possible in meeting the company's needs. WyzAnt had no quality assurance department, so with some guidance, I began to learn and develop software testing skills. Now, I have a little department of two, and we work really hard to keep the site (and the app) up and running! I wouldn't still be here today if I hadn't set ambitious, but reachable, goals during my WyzAnt experience.

- Lana

Set ambitious goals-- exampleSet ambitious goalsAlways be learningBe resourcefulEnjoy the journey

● ABL is the essence of WyzAnt, for students, parents, tutors and employees● We believe in lifelong learning● Be willing and able to teach yourself new skills; know how to find answers● Everyone needs a tutor and can be a tutor- athletes, musicians, doctors- they’ve all been tutored.● Tutoring works, and not just for K12 students. Hire a tutor for yourself!● Knowledge is empowering, and WyzAnt quite often the very best way to obtain knowledge● Know what you don’t know; be honest and humble● Learn from your mistakes and be willing to make them● Learn from our customers, competitors and industry● Ask lots of questions and learn from each other, within and outside your dept.● Help users learn from one another● Challenge yourself and each other● Realize your potential

Always be learning



● ABL is the essence of WyzAnt, for students, parents, tutors and employees● We believe in lifelong learning● Be willing and able to teach yourself new skills; know how to find answers● Everyone needs a tutor and can be a tutor- athletes, musicians, doctors- they’ve all been tutored.● Tutoring works, and not just for K12 students. Hire a tutor for yourself!● Knowledge is empowering, and WyzAnt quite often the very best way to obtain knowledge● Know what you don’t know; be honest and humble● Learn from your mistakes and be willing to make them● Learn from our customers, competitors and industry● Ask lots of questions and learn from each other, within and outside your dept.● Help users learn from one another● Challenge yourself and each other● Realize your potential

curiosity, mentorship, evolve, reflect, support, develop, grow, awareness, positive, hungry, paranoid, kaizen, confident, humble, initiative, eager, driven, belief, creative theft, iterative, test & learn

Always be learningSet ambitious goalsAlways be learningBe resourcefulEnjoy the journey

In my first year in Customer Support, I came across a request from a mother to a tutor. She was explaining that her daughter was having trouble with a new level of math in middle school and the mom was no longer able to help her. Instead of looking for a tutor for the daughter, the mother wanted to learn more about this level of math so she could help her daughter herself. This attitude and approach left a big impression on me.

- Joe G.

Always be learning-- exampleSet ambitious goalsAlways be learningBe resourcefulEnjoy the journey

“How to Tie Your Shoes” - Steve

“The Self-Organizing Team” - John

“Interactive and New Media Art”” - John

“Net Promoter Score”- Danny & Sara

“Task Register”- Kate

“Front end Javascript tooling: Bower + BrunchJS”- Greg

“Neo4J Graph Database”- Tim

“Tutor/Parent Personas”- Erika

“What are OKRs”- Mike


A lot of workplaces claim to be a “marketplace of ideas.” WyzAnt’s culture actually backs this up.”

- Jon

It’s when you stop asking questions that we’ll be worried.-- This is what we tell all of our CS reps, and we really mean it.

- Courtney

The heart of the agile process is to examine and learn from what you did last time. The retrospective meeting is all about creating a positive feedback and learning loop.

- John


● WyzAnt is one of the only local marketplaces to bootstrap to $X million GMV● Marketplaces are designed to scale efficiently and be highly profitable businesses. We use technology to

make tutoring more simple, accessible and affordable.● Our customers are resourceful:

○ Parents who turn to WyzAnt are getting a big return on their tutoring investment. ○ Students are maximizing the impact of their time. ○ Tutors are earning more and spending less time with marketing and administration.

● Nobody is boxed in. Find ways to get things done and make an impact on the business and you’ll be rewarded. Resourceful people prosper at WyzAnt.

● To hit our goals, we must stay scrappy, frugal and creative. ● Get shit done.

Be resourceful



● WyzAnt is one of the only local marketplaces to bootstrap to $40 million GMV● Marketplaces are designed to scale efficiently and be highly profitable businesses. We use technology to

make tutoring more simple, accessible and affordable.● Our customers are resourceful:

○ Parents who turn to WyzAnt are getting a big return on their tutoring investment. ○ Students are maximizing the impact of their time. ○ Tutors are earning more and spending less time with marketing and administration.

● Nobody is boxed in. Find ways to get things done and make an impact on the business and you’ll be rewarded. Resourceful people prosper at WyzAnt.

● To hit our goals, we must stay scrappy, frugal and creative. ● Get shit done.● Grey area

Be resourceful

thriftiness, creativity, action, impact, scrappy, frugal, go-getter, hustle, efficiency, effectiveness, resourcefulness, thoroughness, perseverance, pioneering, commitment, teamwork, daring, initiative


We started WyzAnt with a stack of flyers, furniture from Salvation Army, and a couple 5 year old computers.

- Drew

Be resourceful-- exampleSet ambitious goalsAlways be learningBe resourcefulEnjoy the journey

One night I awoke in a fevered dream with an idea for building a WyzAnt wiki. The next day I coded the entire thing in four hours.

- Steve


I’ve talked to several tutors who are incredibly resourceful in finding and curating the best tutoring materials. One tutor, Eric, went to all his college professors and asked for their old exams, which they were happy to provide. Now Eric has volumes of great practice problems for his students.

- Brandon


During the recession, the state of Illinois had a program where they paid for employers to hire employees who met certain criteria. We caught wind of this program and leveraged it to hire four free summer interns who built the first version of WyzAnt Resources, which now comprises over half of our site traffic. Lana, our QA manager, was one of those interns.

- Mike


● Journey [jur-nee] noun: an act of traveling from one place to anothersynonyms: trek, expedition, voyage

● Learning is a journey. Tutoring is a journey. Startups are a journey. Life is a journey. ● Our job is to help our users along on their journeys. Parents, tutors and all support one another on their

journeys● All of these treks have obstacles, surprises and lessons to be learned● Getting to the destination is important, but so is the trip there, including the highs and the lows● Stop and smell the roses, laugh, pet the dog, drink a beer● Embrace change, meet challenges head on, celebrate the milestones. ● Bring only great people on your journey who are capable and skilled as well as pleasant, fun and decent.● It’s a team effort. Sharing your journey with people is very meaningful. Support one another and reach

out for support when needed. ● Take your work seriously but not yourself● Enjoy the journey together● Leave a legacy

Enjoy the journey



● Journey [jur-nee] noun: an act of traveling from one place to anothersynonyms: trek, expedition, voyage

● Learning is a journey. Tutoring is a journey. Startups are a journey. Life is a journey. ● Our job is to help our users along on their journeys. Parents, tutors and all support one another on their

journeys● All of these treks have obstacles, surprises and lessons to be learned● Getting to the destination is important, but so is the trip there, including the highs and the lows● Stop and smell the roses, laugh, pet the dog, drink a beer● Embrace change, meet challenges head on, celebrate the milestones. ● Bring only great people on your journey who are capable and skilled as well as pleasant, fun and decent.● It’s a team effort. Sharing your journey with people is very meaningful. Support one another and reach

out for support when needed. ● Take your work seriously but not yourself● Enjoy the journey together● Leave a legacy

Enjoy the journey

integrity, camaraderie, passion, caring, cordial, perspective, experiences, sharing, excited, teamwork makes dreams work, no jerks, fun, reflective, openminded, appreciative, adaptable, empathy


Enjoy the journey-- exampleSet ambitious goalsAlways be learningBe resourcefulEnjoy the journey

[Silent Dance Party]

Applying core values-- exampleSet ambitious goalsAlways be learningBe resourcefulEnjoy the journey

We’re still a startups, and startups are a rollercoaster. I got off the kiddie ride of the big corporate environment to join the WyzAnt rollercoaster. I love rollercoasters, but I’m also terrified of them.

- Jason


Ideas for Implementing Core Values

1. Interacting with customers2. Talking to coworkers3. Hiring4. Designing our product5. Making tough decisions6. Talking about WyzAnt7. Your attitude8. Your daily work9. Your career

WyzAnt History and Core Values

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