WiseGuy.com is a university focused peer learning platform being launched at UMD this
Fall that enables academic programs and student organizations to launch, manage, and
scale their own online tutoring and mentoring programs.
Imagine that it’s your first semester of college and it’s 9:00pm the night before your first
Calculus test. No matter how many times you read your lecture notes and review the
textbook, the concept of derivatives just isn’t clicking. Your TA’s office hours are over,
the Math Success Program is closed, the buddy you sit next to in class is just as confused
as you are, and the online private tutors start at $50 an hour.
I think we’ve all been there before. At a large university like UMD with lecture style
classes and thousands of students, the learning experience can be a daunting and lonely
process, especially for freshmen and sophomores. When I was a student, most of my time
studying was spent either cooped up in a McKeldin focus room reviewing PowerPoint
slides or in a “study” group where we spent half of the time talking about the latest HBO
shows.
Beyond my trouble getting late night homework help, I was often felt frustrated with the
one size fits all and siloed approach to learning in many of my classes. I didn’t feel like
they developed the communication and collaboration skills that are arguably as important
as the actual content of the course. I also felt like I missed out on many meaningful
relationships that could have been fostered with my peers, who are future leaders,
colleagues, friends, partners, and customers. The exception being my QUEST classes, of
course!
My college experience made me passionate about finding a way to better enable students
to take advantage of the most valuable resource at their disposal- their fellow classmates.
However, I didn’t jump in right away. After graduation I took a job in Management
Consulting and struggled to find a sense of fulfillment or a creative outlet in the work I
was doing. Brushing this off as ‘college wasn’t the real world’ shock, I stuck it out. Then
I told myself I just wasn’t doing the right type of consulting and switched from Finance,
to Customer Strategy, to Emerging Technologies. And while each rotation was more
interesting than the last, I still didn’t feel excited or challenged. I had the classic ‘Gen Y
itch.’
At the 2-year mark I decided it was time to start working on something that I
was passionate about and began spending my evenings developing the WiseGuy
(www.wiseguy.com) platform, working with my two co-founders, John Bafford and
Corey Cines (both UMD alumni as well). A month before my 3-year graduation
anniversary, I decided to take the plunge and work on WiseGuy full time. Although I got
a lot of “you’re crazy” comments from family and friends, it’s already been one the best
life and career decisions I’ve made. I feel like I’ve accomplished and learned more in the
last three months than I did over the last three years.
In our Beta launch this Fall semester, we’re excited to be working with various academic
programs and student groups that have already been using our platform to provide free
online peer tutoring and mentoring. On a daily basis, students are messaging each other
and hopping into online sessions to get help with coursework, learn a new skill, or just
hear about another student’s experiences.
Whether WiseGuy becomes the next big thing in EdTech or joins the 90% of start-ups
that fail, enjoying and learning from the journey has been invaluable – although I’m really
hoping for the former!
If anyone is interested in chatting about consulting, start-ups, or even Calculus homework
feel free to schedule a session with me on WiseGuy (www.wiseguy.com/tutor/JeremyL).
WiseGuy.com is also hiring a Marketing / Community Manager! Shoot me an e-mail at
jloya@wiseguy.com if you’re interested!