Don’t go into the Vietnam War fighting the Korean War; look at each situation uniquely, says CEO Kevin McAliley, who successfully helped three companies scale up before he joined Think Through Math several years ago.
The company uses adaptive software to help struggling kids with math by finding a level where they can succeed, which might be several grades below. Then, Think Through Math re-engages them, rebuilds their confidence and develops foundational skills by working with them and their teachers.
Software, however, operates differently than television or print, where McAliley worked before.
He says in software you can’t be afraid to raise a lot of capital and lose money or have red ink on your books as you build market share. Think Through Math also provides software as a service, so its particular economic dynamics don’t look like a traditional company.
But there was a bigger problem when McAliley came on board. It lacked focus.
“Usually companies, they think: ‘Oh, well, let’s try that. Or, that’s cool, let’s go over there,’” McAliley says. “And they end up doing too much.”
Think Through Math, which is legally named Think Through Learning, had a writing program. McAliley shut that down.
It was selling into too many markets. McAliley had the sales team focus only on the institutional market.
There was a lack of marketing focus, so he moved the business to a unified marketing message.
Along with the new business strategy, Think Through Math did a capital round to raise funds to rebuild the system with cutting-edge code.
Since then, it’s grown from 90,000 paid subscribers to 3 million. With a 33 percent compound annual growth rate, Think Through Math is moving from a company that’s active in a few regions to nationwide.
McAliley says they’ve been lucky to just need a small amount of capital. But as venture capital flows into educational technology, he wants to be careful not to scale too fast. He doesn’t want to take on employees who aren’t trained appropriately or dilute the company’s value for its shareholders.
Obsessive focus on customers
As Think Through Math grows, McAliley says the biggest focus is always on improving the product’s effectiveness.
“We’ve given the teachers tools that really help them and make them more efficient. And that’s why we’ve had this spectacular growth in the company,” he says.
Understanding your customer and getting direct feedback can’t be taken for granted.
“It’s a basic thing that a lot of people just forget about because they think: ‘No, I know the customer, I know what they want,’” McAliley says.
The company channels feedback from trainers in the field, sales people and executives who talk to educators. That all streams back to the engineering department, which, working with the rest of the team, prioritizes what gets done next, he says.
The structure is critical to Think Through Math’s success. The flow has to be fast and unobstructed in order to stay aligned with customer needs.
The importance of a name
Although each business is unique, every time McAliley has led an organization, he’s rebranded it. Think Through Math started out as Apangea Learning.
He says brands need to be simple, intuitive and high concept, like the movie “Snakes on a Plane.” You hear the phrase and already see it in your head — snakes coming out of the luggage compartments.
“You have to have a very simple word, or phrase, that really describes the company and positions it well, and is memorable and is related to your mission,” McAliley says.
Studies show that made-up words are memorable, but McAliley wanted to show teachers how serious they were.
“We bucked that trend because we wanted teachers to know at first glance when they heard about us, this is what they’re trying to do — they’re trying to help my kids develop thinking and problem-solving skills, which is where the world is moving,” he says. “ So that’s why we changed it.”
Building talent with buy-in
Another key to scaling a business is getting A players in the right seats who can drive the company.
McAliley says he recruited people from across the country, persuading them to transfer to Pittsburgh.
Think Through Math has a generous stock option program for its 150 employees who are mostly math teachers. They have both a mission and ownership stake.
“So that is a very powerful way to get buy-in and, you know, have a really very driven group because we’re really making a difference and also growing a company in value,” he says.
The company has talent who could work for Google, but McAliley says their differentiator is when they see how the software impacts kids so positively.
And that’s something McAliley himself isn’t immune to.
“I’ve built different businesses, but I’ve always wanted to accomplish something with them, and in this case you feel like you’re really making a difference,” he says. “This will — if we grow from 3 million to 10 million — significantly improve math understanding in the country. And that’s really cool.”
