Teachstreet

Teachstreet was a United States education marketplace and software service that helped students discover local and online classes, compare instructors, and review learning options. The company launched its website in Seattle on April 20, 2008, and subsequently expanded its service to Portland, the San Francisco Bay Area, and additional metropolitan areas. Its listings covered classes and teachers across a range of subjects, with information such as prices, locations, instructor backgrounds, training, and student feedback. The service was designed to make fragmented education opportunities easier to find, particularly outside traditional schools and universities. The platform initially operated as a free service for both students and teachers. Students could search for classes and instructors without paying to use the site, while teachers and schools could create listings and use the marketplace to reach prospective learners. Teachstreet also offered business-management tools intended to help instructors and schools organize and promote their activities. This combination of discovery, reviews, recommendations, and provider tools positioned the company between a local-services directory, an education marketplace, and a lightweight software platform for independent educators. Founder Dave Schappell brought experience from technology and digital-media companies, including marketing work at JibJab and product-management work at Amazon.com. Teachstreet raised $2.25 million in early-stage financing from Madrona Venture Group, Bezos Expeditions, and individual investors. The company’s expansion model relied on building a growing inventory of classes and instructors across United States cities, with new listings added nationally over time. In April 2010, Teachstreet changed its provider monetization model by introducing paid plans for teachers’ listings. Different pricing levels were made available to instructors and schools, while student access remained free. The change reflected a transition from a fully free marketplace toward a business model based on charging education providers for visibility or participation. The company continued to focus on supplying students with searchable information and recommendations rather than charging them directly. Teachstreet’s growth was later undermined by changes in online search distribution. The February 2011 rollout of Google’s Panda search-ranking update substantially reduced traffic to the service, according to the company’s historical account, and Teachstreet did not fully recover. In 2012, Amazon acquired the business in what was described as a talent acquisition. Former Teachstreet employees transferred to AmazonLocal, rather than the Teachstreet consumer service continuing as an independent marketplace. Teachstreet.com closed on February 15, 2012. The brand is therefore a defunct example of an early online marketplace for local education and independent instructors.

Teachstreet emerged in 2008 as an attempt to organize the highly fragmented market for local classes, independent teachers, and online instruction. Its founder, Dave Schappell, had previously worked in marketing at JibJab and product management at Amazon.com. The company launched in Seattle on April 20, 2008, then extended its coverage to Portland on August 4 and the San Francisco Bay Area on November 19. It subsequently operated across eight United States metropolitan areas and continued adding listings in cities nationwide. The service provided students with searchable information about classes and instructors, including prices, locations, teacher backgrounds, and training. It also incorporated student reviews and recommendations, allowing prospective learners to evaluate providers before contacting or selecting them. For instructors and schools, Teachstreet supplied listings and online business-management tools. This made the company both a consumer discovery site and a provider-facing service for education businesses. Teachstreet initially made the service free to students and teachers. It obtained $2.25 million in early-stage funding from Madrona Venture Group, Bezos Expeditions, and individual investors. In April 2010, the company introduced paid plans for teachers’ listings, with several pricing levels. Student use remained free, preserving the marketplace’s consumer-access model while shifting monetization toward instructors and schools. The company later encountered a major distribution problem when Google introduced its Panda search-algorithm update in February 2011. The update seriously affected Teachstreet’s website traffic. Because online discovery was central to the marketplace, the decline weakened the company’s ability to attract students and providers, and traffic never fully returned to previous levels. Approximately a year later, Amazon acquired Teachstreet as a talent acquisition. The former Teachstreet employees moved to AmazonLocal, while the Teachstreet marketplace itself did not continue as an independent service. Teachstreet.com closed on February 15, 2012. Its history illustrates the opportunities and vulnerabilities of early local-services marketplaces: the company addressed a real information problem, expanded across multiple cities, experimented with provider subscriptions, and attracted acquisition interest, but remained exposed to search-engine dependency and the difficulty of scaling local marketplace liquidity.

• 2012

  Amazon talent acquisition and closure

  [1]Teachstreeten.wikipedia.org

  Amazon acquired Teachstreet as a talent acquisition, transferred former employees to AmazonLocal, and the Teachstreet website closed on February 15.

• 2011

  Search traffic decline

  [1]Teachstreeten.wikipedia.org

  Google’s Panda algorithm update seriously reduced traffic to Teachstreet, with the company unable to fully restore its prior reach.

• 2010

  Paid provider listings introduced

  [1]Teachstreeten.wikipedia.org

  Teachstreet began charging teachers for listings through multiple pricing plans while continuing to provide free access to students.

• 2008

  Seattle launch

  [1]Teachstreeten.wikipedia.org

  Teachstreet launched its website in Seattle on April 20, offering information about local and online classes and instructors.

• 2008

  Geographic expansion

  [1]Teachstreeten.wikipedia.org

  The service expanded to Portland in August and the San Francisco Bay Area in November, later reaching eight United States metropolitan areas.

A searchable education marketplace that connected students with local and online instructors while giving teachers and schools promotional and administrative tools.

• Education marketplace · 2008

  Teachstreet class and instructor marketplace

  The core Teachstreet website helped students find local and online classes and teachers. Listings included practical discovery details such as pricing, location, instructor background, and training. The service also used student reviews and recommendations to help users compare providers. It was available to students without a usage charge and expanded from an initial Seattle launch to multiple United States metropolitan markets.

• Provider promotion service · 2010

  Teacher and school listing plans

  Beginning in April 2010, Teachstreet offered paid plans for teachers’ listings. The plans represented a shift from a fully free two-sided service toward provider-side monetization, with multiple pricing levels available to instructors and schools. Students continued to use the discovery service for free, allowing Teachstreet to preserve audience access while charging education providers.

• Education business software

  Teacher and school business-management tools

  Teachstreet provided online tools intended to help teachers and schools manage their businesses in addition to promoting classes. The available historical description identifies these tools as part of the provider offering, but does not specify the complete feature set or whether they were sold separately from listings.

• 2012

  Amazon talent acquisitionM&A

  Background

  Teachstreet’s traffic had been seriously affected by Google’s Panda update, and the company had not fully recovered its former reach.

  Action taken

  Amazon acquired Teachstreet as a talent acquisition and transferred the former Teachstreet employees to AmazonLocal.

  Aftermath

  Teachstreet.com closed on February 15, 2012, and the Teachstreet brand ceased operating as an independent marketplace.

  Source

• 2010

  Move to paid teacher listingsPrice change

  Background

  Teachstreet initially allowed both students and teachers to use the service for free. The company later needed a provider-side revenue model for its marketplace and business tools.

  Action taken

  In April 2010, Teachstreet introduced several paid pricing plans for teacher listings while keeping the student-facing service free.

  Aftermath

  The change established a paid-provider model, but subsequent traffic losses following Google’s 2011 Panda update damaged the site’s reach and the business ultimately closed after Amazon’s acquisition.

  Source

1. 1Teachstreeten.wikipedia.org