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Pyoopel

Make Test Prep Free. Forever.

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Pyoopel

Pyoopel

Pyoopel

Pyoopel

Pyoopel

Make Test Prep Free. Forever.

Make Test Prep Free. Forever.

Make Test Prep Free. Forever.

Make Test Prep Free. Forever.

Bharat Patodi
Bharat Patodi
Bharat Patodi
Bharat Patodi
1 Campaign |
Indore, India
$2,058 USD by 109 backers
$2,008 USD by 108 backers on Aug 2, 2015

Our second media coverage

http://yourstory.com/2015/07/pyoopel-com/

We are humbled by the support we are getting from everywhere. Let's make this big.

Our first media coverage 

We hope this is just the first in a long series. This gives us amazing credibility boost.


Pyoopel.com in 3 paragraphs

Higher Education is an expensive choice for everyone around the world. Test Prep makes it even more expensive and out of reach of a lot of worthy candidates. With the advances in technology, it is now possible to study and prepare online for major tests. The cost of delivering online education is cheaper for both the student and the teacher. With this knowledge, we started out working on a solution that could provide completely free test prep to students: www.pyoopel.com

Pyoopel is an online learning platform, a MOOC (Massively Open Online Course). We have initiated free detailed preparation for about eight different tests till now. Most of them are complete, some are a work in progress, and some are improved upon through community requests. For the last 6 months, we have worked hard to get the website prototype working and functional. In two quarters, we have reached out to 5000+ students. We have kept all lines of communication open with the students, in an effort to guide them as much as we can. We have formed a Facebook group on which we interact with students, and help them as much as we can. The response has been amazing and has reassured us that we are on the right path.

It's not just a cause driven campaign. We too have our personal motives here. Apart from creating a successful online company, we want to disrupt this industry and usher in something exciting. The ideas that intrigue us include:
(a) Can Test-prep be avoided?
(b) Can an online learning company figure out a way to instill self-motivation in learners?
(c) Can teaching videos be exciting? (We are changing our own old videos with more beautiful-looking and aesthetic ones. But there is so much more that can be done.) 
Test Prep at Pyoopel is completely free for the students
Our courses are detailed. They are not simple informational courses, neither are they courses meant to work on a freemium model. A lot of these websites dupe students by claiming that they are MOOCs (Massively Open Online Courses). They claim that they will prepare students for free. But once you visit their homepages, or product pages, they try to sell you something or the other. This is not how MOOCs are supposed to function. At pyoopel, we provide all the video lectures, and quizzes and pdfs for free. The courses, are well structured with detailed syllabus with a definite end in mind.

Who are we?

We are the two cofounders: Swati Choudhary (my website) and Bharat Patodi (and mine). We have been working on our own for the last 3 years and trying to make it stick. We have seen our shares of ups and downs. Our friends, family and free learning enthusiasts have stood by our side (we love you all). It's been a fantastic journey that has taught us so much, humbled us and made us fun-loving people.


What We Need & What You Get

Through this crowdfunding, we intend to create a small studio. We have a rudimentary one right now, (which we love btw) but it is time to upgrade. With your money, we will purchase the following stuff, and use them to make a lot better-looking video lectures:

  • Laptop Upgrades
  • A Nikon D5200
  • Rode Videomic*
  • Blue Yeti USB Mic*
  • Vanguard Gh-200 Ball Head*
  • Vanguard Alta Pro 263AT Tripod*
  • Lighting
  • Props
  • Coffee
  • Others

* These items are cheaper in the US compared to the prices offered in India. So if someone would be so kind as to ship them for us, we would be extremely grateful.

With all this, we intend to create the following three free courses:

GMAT: This is an expensive test, and its preparatory courses are equally expensive. A lot of our students have asked us to create the course. Now, we will!
Here is a link to the GMAT course so that you can keep a check on our work.

SAT: We know Salman Khan has beaten us to it, but we are going to give him a run for his money. Oh! We'll make amazing videos and questions. We promise.
Here is a link to the SAT course so that you can keep a check on our work.

CAT (Common Aptitude Test): The main test for entry to Indian MBA institutes. We have already covered a basic version for this test. With the resources, we will create the advanced learning topics.
Here is a link to the CAT course so that you can keep a check on our work.


The Impact

We intend to reach 20,000 students with all these courses by the end of this year. With the detailing that we intend to throw in, we hope that we can become the one-stop solution for free test-prep for the students. This could mean a huge saving for the students.

We have already done this with 5000+ students. Now, we can do it with more.

    Risks & Challenges

    This project faces some obvious problems. The first one is a lack of funds. We have run pyoopel with our money for the last 6 months. But the lack of a visible financial model has left us thinking about ideas to safely monetize the website. For the same reason, we think investors would not be extremely keen to put their money in. But, we are fast thinkers and learners (all instructors have to be!). Currently, we are thinking of some fresh-off-the-moon ideas to help us keep it running. And we are sure, we'll come up with an amazing idea that does not hurt students in any way and still helps make money to keep the website going.

    The second problem that we have faced and are trying to overcome everyday is a perception: "Free = cheap". As you can see from our detailed work on the website, our work is definitely not cheap. The quality of the work is not just evident from the courses themselves, but also from our credentials. We are professionals in content creation and delivery; we have worked in this field for the last five years with multiple test-prep institutes and publishers. Our websites (www.bharatpatodi.com & www.swatichoudhary.me) can give you ample evidence for this.

    Other Ways You Can Help

    If you can contribute and help this startup to grow, that would be peaches. But if you can't, well could you please spread the word for us? Maybe someone in your circle likes what we do and could help us. Use these indiegogo sharing tools and help us reach our goal.

    Note about perks: The course that the sponsors want us to create should be favorable to free learning and learners. Also, pyoopel.com reserves the right to (a) deny any unfavorable course request (b) creative freedom while creating any course. Please don't ask us to create a course that is not appropriate for our audience or hurts them in any way.
    Looking for more information? Check the project FAQ
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    Choose your Perk

    Become a Patron

    $18 USD
    "Become a patron for pyoopel." You'll get: (i) Get in the pyoopel patrons facebook group and keep a track of our growth and guide us all the way. (ii) Your name will be immortalized in the questions that we frame. (iii) Your name will also be put up in the backers list on the credits page of the website.
    25 out of 100 of claimed

    Sponsor the website

    $50 USD
    "Help us keep the website running for a month. This money will pay for the server costs and other monthly overheads." You'll get: [All of the above perks included] + (iv) Contributors will get their faces on the Credits page on the website, along with a small bio.
    5 out of 25 of claimed

    Buy Studio Accessories

    $100 USD
    "Each contribution in this perk will help us buy an awesome accessory for the studio (e.g. a great tripod, an amazing mic, etc.)" You'll get: [All of the above perks included] + (v) Contributors will get their faces on the Pyoopel office wall, and we will ensure that your photo appears in at least 50 of our videos.
    3 out of 8 of claimed

    Sponsor a crash course

    $250 USD
    This money will be utilized to create a test-prep course with about 10 videos. You'll get: [All of the above perks included] + (vi) The contributor will be identified as the sponsor for the course and her/his name or company's name/logo will appear in the start of each of the 10 videos.
    0 out of 8 of claimed

    Sponsor a Full Course

    $1,000 USD
    Become a sponsor for any one of the test prep courses on the pyoopel website: GMAT, SAT, CAT, CLAT, CMAT, NDA, etc. These courses will each have about 100 to 125+ videos. You'll get: [All of the above perks included, except the crash course perk] + (vi) The contributor will be identified as the sponsor for the course. Her/his name or company's logo will be displayed for six months: (a) on the homepage of the website, (b) on the landing page of the course (c) in the start of each video.
    0 out of 8 of claimed

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