IXL: Paul Mishkin

By Dan Bosse on May 31, 2016

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ixl-learning-paul-mishkin

Name and Title: Paul Mishkin, Founder and CEO

 

Venture name: IXL Learning

 

Description, product/service, value: IXL is an online problem bank for practicing Math and English Language Arts skills. IXL prevents confounding effects of familiarization through a procedurally generated question bank. Their problems and questions are structured around provincial outcome. IXL uses an algorithm called Smart Score to provide a measure of students’ progress towards mastery and considers many important factors. The program has built in rewards for students to encourage practice. The value to educators is increased student motivation, decreased prep requirements, and clear assessment data linked to provincial curricula.

 

CEO- Background, skills, motivation: CEO Paul Mishkin came to the educational computing industry from a computer science background with a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Harvard and graduate work in educational software design, also at Harvard. Mr. Miskin founded IXL in 1988 after leaving his position as a software developer for Oracle. The company’s initial product was Quia Web, a tool for designing online activities for students. Mr. Mishkin appears to have a solid foundation in the technological side of educational computing and significant experience in this industry.

 

Team Quality: The executive team reads as a bit of an all-star list including numerous Ivy League graduates, 30 year veteran accountants, and individuals with experience in a number companies that sell products directly to schools. My biggest concern is that not a single executive is identified as having classroom teaching experience or any formal training with regards to classroom teaching. While the CEO has some background in educational software design, the executive is sorely lacking in the real world experience of classroom teaching.

 

Individual reflection: With regards to my own entrepreneurial potential, the success of Mr. Miskin’s ventures has increased my own confidence. While I may not have his technical savvy, I feel that I have significant experience and training that would be of benefit in starting a new venture. Having some background in programming, I can see some of the challenges IXL would have come across and feel confident that while I may not be able to personally build the solutions, I have enough expertise to recruit and manage those who could. It is clear that the IXL team has been recruited with a balance between innovators and proven veterans. I believe that I would take a similar approach in building my own team.

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4 Jun Posted on IXL: Paul Mishkin

What's interesting to me about Paul Mishkin is that he appears to be the inventor who evolved into an entrepreneur. Yes, he's a highly educated fellow but he also reads as a "maker" who used his expertise in educational software design to offer a solution to a visible pain point for students and teachers. Mishkin's Harvard education clearly benefited him with a network of contacts that enabled him to grow an executive team to support the strategy and business development aspects of this venture. The lack of in-class experience is a moot point in my mind. Engagement through trials and/or focus groups with practicing teachers is likely something that this venture includes as part of its research and development or marketing plans.

4 Jun
0 Thumbs Up!
esthertester @estherdu

What's interesting to me about Paul Mishkin is that he appears to be the inventor who evolved into an entrepreneur. Yes, he's a highly educated fellow but he also reads as a "maker" who used his expertise in educational software design to offer a solution to a visible pain point for students and teachers. Mishkin's Harvard education clearly benefited him with a network of contacts that enabled him to grow an executive team to support the strategy and business development aspects of this venture. The lack of in-class experience is a moot point in my mind. Engagement through trials and/or focus groups with practicing teachers is likely something that this venture includes as part of its research and development or marketing plans.

3 Jun Posted on IXL: Paul Mishkin

Upon reviewing and reading what the work that Paul and his team has done with IXL is entered around the unique individual learning needs of our students in the early 21st century classroom. Creating a problem bank of english and math questions is a very valuable resource for the classroom teacher. Knowing that such a market exists, and there is a demand for his product, teaches me as a young entrepreneur that the leadership potential Paul Mishkin exist because of his technological skills.

3 Jun
0 Thumbs Up!
cole anderson @coleande

Upon reviewing and reading what the work that Paul and his team has done with IXL is entered around the unique individual learning needs of our students in the early 21st century classroom. Creating a problem bank of english and math questions is a very valuable resource for the classroom teacher. Knowing that such a market exists, and there is a demand for his product, teaches me as a young entrepreneur that the leadership potential Paul Mishkin exist because of his technological skills.

1 Jun Posted on IXL: Paul Mishkin

Paul's work with IXL offers teachers a flexible tool that works with students based on some of their individual learning needs. The company has taken great strides to customize their service in Canada by having math activities organized by Ontario provincial curriculum expectations. Although I agree that a lack of educational experience on the executive team is concerning, there is evidence that they have consulted heavily to organize materials in a country-specific and teacher friendly way. I think where the lack of teacher input is apparent is in the service's lack of rich or open-ended problems, which are more difficult to evaluate in the current system. Wrote practice may be valuable in moderation, but school boards looking to invest in the latest educational innovations and best practices in math may be more interested in services or products that offer a greater variety of skill development.

1 Jun
0 Thumbs Up!
mme_dl @sdillonl

Paul's work with IXL offers teachers a flexible tool that works with students based on some of their individual learning needs. The company has taken great strides to customize their service in Canada by having math activities organized by Ontario provincial curriculum expectations. Although I agree that a lack of educational experience on the executive team is concerning, there is evidence that they have consulted heavily to organize materials in a country-specific and teacher friendly way. I think where the lack of teacher input is apparent is in the service's lack of rich or open-ended problems, which are more difficult to evaluate in the current system. Wrote practice may be valuable in moderation, but school boards looking to invest in the latest educational innovations and best practices in math may be more interested in services or products that offer a greater variety of skill development.

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