Keep your eyes open, opportunities are everywhere

(Guest post by Alec Whitters of Higher Learning Technologies) I think it’s easy to assume every entrepreneur has that light bulb moment. You know, a sudden flash of insight into what ultimately becomes their company. I know that’s what I thought. It’s why I’m not surprised when I hear a question like, “How did you…

Founder Friday is a weekly guest post written by a founder who is based in or hails from the Silicon Prairie. Each month, a topic relevant to startups is presented and founders share lessons learned or best practices utilized on that topic. November’s topic is education. 

About the authors: Alec Whitters is the co-founder of Higher Learning Technologies, an education startup based in Coralville, Iowa. 


I think it’s easy to assume every entrepreneur has that light bulb moment. You know, a sudden flash of insight into what ultimately becomes their company. I know that’s what I thought. It’s why I’m not surprised when I hear a question like, “How did you come up with this idea? I could never think of something like that.”

It’s a familiar sentiment. It’s a feeling I had a lot as I worked with mentors in the early days of Higher Learning Technologies. I’ve come to realize, however, it’s simply not true. There was no light bulb moment.

A company started out of necessity

I was in dental school studying for my licensure exams, and in addition to books and tuition, in order to pass I had to buy 1,500 paper flashcards that cost $400. This was insane! I had a new smartphone that was the same size as a flashcard and a heck of a lot easier to carry around. I called education companies and tried to convince them they needed an app for test prep, but they all said “we already have a website, we don’t need an app.” 

Frustrated I decided to make an app. The problem was, I didn’t know anything about coding. I contacted an app developer I knew and we began production using what little student loan money I had. I got content by working with teachers and other students at the University of Iowa dental school.

When we released the app and thousands of students downloaded it almost immediately.

We knew we were on to something so we raised some money from family and friends, and decided to move into the nursing licensure exam market using the same technique. This nursing app shocked us by becoming a top ten grossing app in the education section of the Apple App Store. We were finding other students who had the same problem as I did—they wanted to be able to study from their phone.

Now, less than a year after releasing our dental app, we are finalizing a large investment round, have a team of professional developers and have partnered with experts to release apps in many more fields. We also have roughly 200,000 users from around the world.

Lessons learned

I never dreamed that only a year and a half later, my idea would lead to where I am at now. I wasn’t thinking about creating a business, I was just trying to find a solution to my own problem.

Keep your eyes open for things you wish you could do. If ever you say to yourself, “Wow I wish I could do that,” know that at least a few thousand of the billions of other people in the world are thinking the same thing.

I keep a log in my phone where I write down every time I wish I could do something but can’t find a solution. Anyone can do it. Just keep your eyes open.

 

Credits: Alec Whitters photo from HLTcorp.com

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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