Product Problems: Why Most EdTech Founders Fail to Scale [and how you can avoid that trap] - Kate Bodrova

"To build a company, it really requires time. At some point, there will be only you who still believes in the product - not your team, not your investors, nobody. You and yourself in the room and your laptop, and that's it."

We sit down with Amazy founder Kate Bodrova. 

Kate spent over 10 years as an ESL teacher and language school owner before founding AMAZY, a digital workspace for teachers and institutions to create interactive lessons, track student progress, and keep everything in one place. Backed by UCL EdTech Labs and recognized as Best EdTech Startup in Europe 2024, AMAZY is trusted by 20,000 users worldwide.

 

In this episode, we chat about:

• Why looking at your competition is the ultimate trap, and how Kate found market proof on a crowded street filled with language schools.

• How introducing a proactive, problem-solving method disrupted the traditional, rigid classroom structures of Eastern Europe.

• The Ultimate "Mom Test" Fail: Why asking customers if they "like" your product is a hollow question, and the specific data you should be tracking instead.

• Why seven years isn't enough when building from scratch, and how to survive the brutal phase when you are the only one who believes in your product.

• How chasing "false hopes" and trying to mirror another entrepreneur's specific timeline will quietly kill your product.

• How saying yes to a massive, multi-city corporate contract forced a 15x scale and triggered a painful but necessary mindset shift.

• Why you should stop overthinking your idea at home and focus on the single true metric of business success: trying to sell it in the first 30 days.

 

*Prefer video? Watch the episode on YouTube.

 

FOR MORE FROM KATE BODROVA:

 

1. Connect on LinkedIn

2. Check out Amazy

 

OUR PARTNER: COMMUNICATING FOR IMPACT

The Creative House for Leading Educators & Experts. 

Amplify your work with high-end video and podcasts that get results. Create impactful videos and podcasts with their programmes and done-for-you production services.

Start your series here. 

 

SUPPORT US:

🫶 Integrate your brand with our podcast in an effort to improve language education.

⭐ Leave a review where you listen.

 

WORK WITH US:

1. Book a free 1:1 chat with us to strategize your teaching business. 

2. Learn how to monetize your teaching skills with TAP.

3. Our CPD Courses. 

 

THE THRIVING TEACHERPRENEUR

Get inspired to start and grow your own education business. Weekly insights, stories, and reflections on education entrepreneurship.

Subscribe on Substack here.