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Virtulingo: Online Language Training
By Rob | April 10, 2007
Andrew Armata’s first startup didn’t turn out the way he had hoped, but he heeded the advice of the Dali Lama - “when you lose, don’t lose the lesson.” Armed with the experience of one struggling startup, Andrew and his friend Josh Dominick recently launched Virtulingo. The idea behind the site is to use web technologies to make it easier to learn a new language.
Virtulingo Online Language service is a leading provider of personalized language lessons over VoIP programs such as Skype. Virtulingo gives clients the power to learn in a much more flexible environment than traditional classroom or face to face tutoring. We allow you to learn on your own time while at home, hotel or place of business.
The company is virtual, with Andrew in rural Massachusetts, his partner in Beijing, China, and language tutors scattered around the world. Virtulingo provides you with a private lesson area to access all of your personalized lesson plans and mp3 recordings of your Skype sessions with an instructor.
The company is boostrapped for now, but like most service based businesses, they expect to reach positive cash flow quickly and use any investment money primarily for expansion efforts.
Outside the Valley Score
Location: Virtual = 3
Founders: Second Time Entrepreneur = 1
Technology: Existing technologies = 2
Funding: Boostrapped = 3
Total Score - 9 I suspect over the coming years we will see many more startups with this model - a virtual team bootstrapping the business. It’s one of the best ways to start a company outside of the Valley.
Topics: Startups, East Coast |
