That's really cool. Unfortunately, I'm not willing to drop $400 for an online course of unknown quality, with uncertainty about accredidation, when coursera is free. How do you plan to attract your initial users?
The best way we can attract our first users is with having a course that is so valuable for our students that accreditation concerns become secondary. In this case, if you are looking for a high level class in Web App for Mobile, you probably will never find it in the coursera, mitx, udacity or khan catalogs. They have no interest or incentive to put that sort of course together.
If you look at the value proposition for a student, our web app class is extremely high. The material covered in that class can have a direct impact on job prospects, billing rates, or internal promotion opportunities, and it is such a difficult area to self teach that saving tens or hundreds of hours fighting though online tutorials is well worth the $200 or $400 that the class costs.
How do I know it's high quality, though? $400 is a significant amount of money. Without user testimonials or reviews, am I supposed to take it on blind faith that it will be worth my $$?
I'm not slagging you, by the way. Just offering my initial reaction as someone who would be interested in such a class, who is doing a CS degree at a traditional university, and who would like to see someone disrupt the higher education model.
As soon as we have users, we'll have user testimonials and reviews. It's part chicken and egg, I know, but it's the same problem any new product has. Someone has to be the first.
Other than user reviews (and the free preview and money back guarantee), what could we do to convince you (or other prospective students in your position) that it's worth the risk? Would a google hangout with Dr. Ostrowski (something we have been talking about) make a difference ?
Thanks for the advice, We'll definitely work on making our guarantee more prominent.
I've been considering an AMA on Reddit, even though I actually had to quit the site three months ago to get to where we are. AMAs on HN are a little tricky as the commenting system is so...unique.
Either way, I'll add your email and keep you updated.
HN AMAs unfortunately seem to be a non-starter. I can definitely sympathize with blocking reddit for productivity reasons, but it's a connection with your target market that shouldn't be ignored.
I like your idea, and I love your goal, but it's going to take more than that to make me a customer who forks over hundreds of dollars. You've got the attention of the technorati; I'd first focus on how you can convert them to paying customers, then deal with the plebs later.
