Today we’d like to introduce you to Nick Ducoff.
Nick is the Co-Founder and CEO of Edmit, helping families confidently invest in college. He was previously Northeastern University’s Vice President for New Ventures. At Northeastern, Nick founded the Experiential Network which built on the university’s co-op model to serve 5,000 students with real world projects from 2,500 employers. He also launched the first university boot camp, Level, which was recognized as an innovation by the U.S. Department of Education and Clayton Christensen Institute. Nick previously co-founded Infochimps, which was acquired by CSC (NYSE: DXC), and was a Vice President at Boundless, which was acquired by Follett. He earned his JD, with Honors, at the University of Texas at Austin, and his BBA at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My career definitely hasn’t been a straight line. My dad is a lawyer as was his dad’s dad which influenced my decision to attend law school even though I always knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur. I started my first internet company in law school and got as close to dropping out as walking into the Dean’s office. Luckily my dad convinced me to finish and I became a venture capital attorney – learning the trade from that perspective, before starting my own venture-backed company in 2010 called Infochimps which was later acquired by CSC. I moved to Boston in 2012 and did another venture-backed company that was ultimately acquired by Follett. I then took an innovation leadership role at Northeastern University as their first vice president of new ventures. I left late last year to start my third venture-backed company, Edmit, which helps families confidently invest in college.
Edmit – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Edmit was founded by university leaders with startup experience and mission to help families confidently invest in college. Our proprietary software and advising network provides personalized, data-driven reports and recommendations to ensure families understand the true price, holistic costs, affordability, and ROI of different colleges. Families that use Edmit — directly or through our partners — make smarter college choices leading to better earnings outcomes and less debt. Edmit launched in December 2017 and started generating revenue in January 2018. Since launching, Edmit has served thousands of families with college-bound children and paying customers saved over $5,000 on average in additional financial and merit awards.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
When people I hire accomplish their personal goals. I love seeing former team members spread their wings. My head of product from Infochimps became a startup founder himself and sold his business to eBay. My second in command at Boundless became head of strategy at Duolingo and she’s doing amazing things. I love startups because you get to work with incredibly passionate people who have big dreams. I see my role as helping people achieve them – building great companies along the way.
Pricing:
- Edmit Plus is $99 per year
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.edmit.me
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EdmitEDU/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/edmitedu
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/18275035/
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