Note: This video has not been edited. In the near future a more ‘polished’ version will be made available.

Last week was extremely kind to eduFire, the company on a simple mission  to revolutionize the educational industry.  First came the news that the young start-up company raised $1.3 million in Series A funding from a variety of investors, including Battery Ventures and Western Technology Investment.  News of this event was quickly followed up with a successful appearance by Jon Bischke, the company’s founder and CEO, on Fox Business’ Happy Hour program.

When a relatively new start-up such as eduFire manages to gain the level of exposure the Fox Business network provides and secures $1.3 million in new funding all within the same week, there is definitely something to be excited about.  But the best part about this historic week in the life of eduFire is that these victories do not simply belong to a small group of investors and the visionaries in the educational industry who founded the company.  No, the greatest part about this news is that these victories are also shared with the thousands of students and tutors who are helping to make eduFire the destination for anyone wanting to learn everything from how to speak Japanese to how to build and market an iPhone application. 

Now I realize that in this, the age of the internet and social marketing, any company hoping to maintain or increase market share goes to great lengths to meet or exceed the customer’s expectations.  But the amazing thing about eduFire is that customer satisfaction and the entrepreneurial opportunities the site provides not only serve as the core of its business model, but also as the key to its future success. 

Without the countless number of students who share an insatiable need to learn, coupled with the opportunity to fulfill this need through classes developed and taught by educators/entrepreneurs, no one – not even eduFire – would ever make a dime.  And while some web-based businesses would balk at placing such an enormous amount of trust in their active members, this symbiotic relationship fits quite well between eduFire and its growing number of both tutors and students.

Just like the tutors who conduct classes on eduFire, the company only earns revenue when students attend a one-to-many paid class session or a one-to-one tutoring session.  Each individual tutor sets the price for their classes.  EduFire makes its revenue from a set percentage of the money paid by the student. Considering the feature-rich platform and all the tools the site offers to help tutors connect with students eager to learn, the percentage collected is certainly a bargain from the tutor’s perspective.  

This is why I and so many other tutors working to develop a presence in the growing online educational industry are excited about companies such as eduFire.  They have managed to create a business model based on a fundamental characteristic that all people share.  What helps make eduFire possible is the deep-seeded desire each of us have to make life better not only for ourselves, but also for the family and friends we have grown to love and cherish.   

Ten years from now perhaps there will be a website that comes to represent the online tutoring industry in much the same way that eBay and Amazon now represent each of their industries.  And maybe eduFire will be the company that has what it takes to surge past all its competitors and become the leader in the online tutoring industry.

If this happens there will surely be some business analyst who will point to particular events like those of last week and proclaim, “If not for this surely eduFire would never have reached the level of success that it enjoys today”.   And who knows, maybe there will even be an emerging rock star teacher/entrepreneur who will choose to supplement their income by teaching a class on the history of the online educational industry and eduFire’s role in it.

I hope such a teacher will have the wisdom and understanding to put such an event it its proper perspective.  While raising $1.3 million in Series A funding is desperately needed to help eduFire reach its self-proclaimed goal of revolutionizing education, events such as these will not prove to be the foundation of eduFire’s future success.  EduFire’s ultimate success will be rooted in the opportunities it offers to ordinary people looking to improve their lives by sharing their passion for teaching with those who have an equal passion for learning.  This, along with the friendships that emerge as both students and teachers work to fulfill their goals will eventually be proven as the core of eduFire’s success.