OEN Member Spotlight – Ryan Nelson CEO & Founder of Gradetree

Gradetree is an intuitive software program that public school teachers can use to manage student information, assignment grades, attendance and communicate on a personal level to more parents with less effort. Take a look at the Q&A with Ryan Nelson to get a sneak peek into this revolutionary educational tool.

Q: What problem does it solve?
A: Right now, parents aren’t receiving direct communication from teachers because teachers don’t have tools that make it easy to communicate, and parents aren’t receiving information because they aren’t able to retrieve it in an easy manner.  Gradetree solves that.

Q: How did you come up with this business idea?
A: Last year I was having conversations with teachers and parents about the challenges they face.  One consistent theme I noticed was neither group felt like they had good tools to send or receive information to the other.  So we simplified it.  And in the process found many ways to make it even better.  Gradetree makes communication between parents and teachers focused, easy to use, and wanted by all.  The improvement of our children’s education can’t begin until there’s communication between parents and teachers.

Q: What are your biggest challenges?
A: Going slow.  Our long term success will be based on our attention to detail, and our commitment to the actual improvement of communication between teachers and parents, not just the numbers.  We have a great model, with a lot of internal support from parents and teachers that’s ready to be implemented, but our focus must stay on providing teachers with a tool that truly makes their jobs easier, and provides parents with information they appreciate.

Q: What are your goals for the company?
A: Gradetree will change public education.  I’m excited to show everyone that.  On a business level, when the right time comes, we’ll sell.  But until then, our goal is to put Gradetree into every middle and high school in the U.S.

Q: Are you looking for funding?
A:    Yes.

Q: What would funding enable you to do?
A: Because Gradetree’s software is finished, funding will be used to hire a website developer to develop a website, cover programming costs to sync our software with the school district’s software, legal fees, obtain office space, general office and transportation expenses, and finally telemarketer wages.  That will enable us to successfully launch our first school.  And after that, we’re off and running, with revenue coming in the door.

Q: Have you been an entrepreneur before?
A: No.

Q: What brought you to OEN? What do you hope to gain from membership?
A: We’re at the stage in our start-up where we’re ready for investment capital.  I want to make Gradetree a Portland, Oregon based business, so OEN is the perfect forum to search for those funds.

Q: What has been the biggest surprise in your entrepreneurial experience to date?
A: The positive response I’ve received from others about what our company does.  During the market research portion of this venture I surveyed over 400 parents and heard how supportive they are; this idea has really touched on a nerve in a very positive way.  It’s exciting!