Tutorspree (YC W11) Is An Airbnb For Tutoring • Hacker News Board

Re: Tutorspree (YC W11) Is An Airbnb For Tutoring

#61

Post by akharris » Thu, Jan 27, 2011, 4:29 PM UTC

gawker wrote: post #56

ImperatorLunae wrote: post #44

From the FAQ: "...only experienced educators - PhD's, high school teachers, special education instructors, and professors with real classroom experience - can list themselves on Tutorspree." Really? This seems a little stringent. High school teachers are busy teaching high school; PhD's are busy conducting research or teaching their own classes. Of course, some of them are going to pick up tutoring on the side for so…

How will they verify these qualifications are completely accurate? If they can prove that their tutors are of actual quality then maybe. I can see something like an Elance test happening to try and control the quality of listings.

We personally check up on qualifications. It's something we take really seriously.

Re: Tutorspree (YC W11) Is An Airbnb For Tutoring

#62

Post by kareemm » Thu, Jan 27, 2011, 5:37 PM UTC

akharris wrote: post #18

rottencupcakes wrote: post #6

A truly brilliant idea. The alternatives are essentially an unverified tutor off of craigslist or an agency that takes 50% of the tutor's money. With a good feedback system in place, I would be surprised if this doesn't become the standard way to find a tutor. Good luck, guys!

That's what parents and tutors kept telling us, and they sounded unhappy. We decided to try to make them happier by building something for them.

When I was running eduFire, finding the tutors was easy - it was aggregating the students (and parents) that was the difficult part. If you can aggregate the demand in a two-sided market, the supply will come.

Re: Tutorspree (YC W11) Is An Airbnb For Tutoring

#63

Post by ImperatorLunae » Thu, Jan 27, 2011, 8:07 PM UTC

akharris wrote: post #59

ImperatorLunae wrote: post #44

From the FAQ: "...only experienced educators - PhD's, high school teachers, special education instructors, and professors with real classroom experience - can list themselves on Tutorspree." Really? This seems a little stringent. High school teachers are busy teaching high school; PhD's are busy conducting research or teaching their own classes. Of course, some of them are going to pick up tutoring on the side for so…

The requirements are a direct function of our ongoing customer dev work. You're gist is absolutely right - there are a ton of great tutors out there who have never taught a class. However, when you look at the overall hitrate of good tutors amongst populations of educators relative to others, you get a sense for why we are starting where we're starting. That may change over time as our community grows, but our goal h…

Alright then. I'll keep an eye on you guys. I like the payment system you've got set up; the service I currently use takes a rather large cut, and I need all the cash I can get right now.

Re: Tutorspree (YC W11) Is An Airbnb For Tutoring

#64

Post by gawker » Fri, Jan 28, 2011, 4:25 PM UTC

akharris wrote: post #61

gawker wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How will they verify these qualifications are completely accurate? If they can prove that their tutors are of actual quality then maybe. I can see something like an Elance test happening to try and control the quality of listings.

We personally check up on qualifications. It's something we take really seriously.

Will this mean that you will need a tiny army to check everyone? I'm just curious at how you would be able to handle say 2000 people trying to be a tutor? Qualifications are also easy to be fraudulent.

On a side note, I hope you don't take my questions the wrong way! I'm just curious. And personally, I'd love to enroll myself as a tutor.