jotted.page: to build an open source university from high-quality educational content on the web
role: founder, design, frontend
vision
Even though I studied data science and took many CS classes, I learned how to code from building YouTube tutorials online.
In fact, I realized that most of the deep learning I had done was through publicly available content online.
I had this dream that anyone could receive a PHD-level education for free using the internet... if the resources were curated properly.
jotted was my rough and somewhat naive, but deeply earnest attempt to bring that to reality!
We ended up reaching 30k users, but churn was pretty high.
My journey with jotted ended in an hire/acquisition to CuratorK12; a seed-stage startup that exited 6 months after I joined.
structure
The UX for the project was highly experimental: tree-like subject hiearchies built in react flow. I chose this structure so that the courses could adapt to new information being added overtime, as the courses were improved by more and more users.
In the end, though, users were often confused by the structure. If I were to build jotted again, I would probably include a moire traditional course interface (like those seen on Coursera or Canvas).
sidequests
I won Red Bull Basement’s global pitch competition from a pool of 4,400+ applicants - including a live pitch competition between the top 44. I also was put on the Inno under 25 list for Arizona and won 4k at a local pitch competition.
I’m proud of the public speaking and education advocacy that I did through jotted - I think that was the most impactful work this 2 year-long project had. I was always trying to bring light to the massive opportunity gap that exists in public education today. I attempted to highlight open-sourced, digital curriculums as a path forward.
I don’t think the awards were well deserved for the product itself though if I’m being honest with you. It wasn’t very usable and had low retention.
I’m more than eager to build something much much better in the future.
main learnings:
- I learned so much about technology, startups, grit, and radical honesty. I was kept awake for a full year by the possibility of failure... and then I failed. Even though I was (micro)acquired in the end by Curator, I still felt a massive sense of failure because I had not achieved my goal of building an open-source university.
- More than any other idea I’ve ever had... this one nags me the most. I can definitely see myself pursuing this idea again, once I gain more skill in UX, and experience with how to operate and grow a technology company.