Lessun - Connecting students through learning
Lessun is a global community for students that pursue the AP (Advanced Placement) or IB (International Baccalaureate) curriculum. The mission of Lessun is to connect students to share their learning experiences outside of school, anytime, anywhere. In short, they are an online space that eliminates distractions and nurtures an academic environment. Check out Lessun's Demo Day Video Here.In the early stages, being students themselves, Team Lessun identified a problem in the current education system. On top of procrastination, the purpose of learning for the majority of students was to get good grades instead of really understanding the curriculum itself. They also realized schools had different academic rigor and faculty size resulting in discrepancies giving some students an advantage over others. Based on this knowledge, Lessun pledged to become the bridge to connect all students to share their learning hacks and shortcuts to develop a collaborative environment. Thanks to early guidance and mentorship from LaunchX instructors and peers, Team Lessun finished their initial MVP and now transitioned to hardcoding their website. They have amassed an initial community of more than 50 students from 10 international schools, partnership offers from large communities including Fiveable, and interview requests from both the US and Vietnamese media.
Biggest Learnings
Teamwork: Leadership is not a position, but an action. Every member has a specialty and in that regard, they are the ones to act their leadership. Encourage self-efficacy and drive decisions based on a consensus. Trust all teammates in their specialties and give them autonomy.Data Drives Decisions: Quoting from Professor Bert Seither, data is equally important as strong teamwork in decision-making. Feedback from testing, selling or even the impression statistics from our social media marketing dictate further plans, new features and shapes the timeline for your company. All answers come from the customers. Listen to them. Anyone can assume what people might like, but feedback from customers validate it. Quantity over Quality: Action is important. Having a strong plan, the next billion-dollar idea, or even a talented team will be inapplicable without traction. Instead of having the best website or the best instagram post, having it done quicker can be better. Let the quality be dictated by your customers. There’s an old saying “the Early bird gets the worm”. Having things done quicker and more efficiently will get the attraction from customers.
Advice for the next Entrepreneurs
Keep going: Everyone will sometimes get negative feedback, even from the people closest to you. Believe in your idea and keep going. No one else will do the job for you. Everyone in LaunchX will say Lessun would always advertise their brand and social media during lectures or community events. Believe it or not, people started following and it built strong brand awareness. Stay confident and keep fighting for the problem you believe in. Never make assumptions: “I think people will love this because I do” Ask the people! Many new entrepreneurs sometimes make the mistake of assuming. Instead, schedule interviews, testings, and ask the customers what they think or want. This will validate your assumptions. Not only will this guarantee business for your idea, but it also reduces the stress and anxiety of the What If’s. Build the perfect team: Rome wasn’t built in one day. Teams aren’t made perfect, it is made by the team. Encourage self efficacy, let individual strengths shine. No one can do this by themselves. Trust and rely on each other for advice. At the same time, don’t be professional and serious all the time. Have cheating days, maybe watching some films or having a laugh together. You don’t need to be best friends but having a friendly relationship always helps to encourage productivity.
Conclusion
Team Lessun consists of 5 members: Dylan Kim (CEO), Mingyu Bae (CTO), Yoonseo Ko (CMO), Tiffany Chen (CDO), and Ishan Kapoor (CFO). They all bring unique perspectives to the table such as past startup experiences, financial expertise, programming, artistic ability and much more. We are determined to become the academic social platform for students all around the world. Interested in knowing more about our journey? Follow us on instagram @lessunco. Want to be in the next cohort of LaunchX startups? Apply Now!
