Entrepreneur Spotlight - Instancy

Instancy is a best-in-class provider of a Web 2.0 based on-demand learning & knowledge and enterprise social computing platform that enables small businesses to build online learning community portals for their customers, partners and users and to publish and deliver rich-media knowledge content on the Web and any mobile device, faster and more affordably than alternative solutions.

Q&A
Q. Why did you start your business and what niche does it fill?
A.  I founded Instancy for the purpose of helping small and mid-sized companies expand their business by leveraging the latest technologies for e-learning.  Instancy helps these businesses deliver training efficiently and effectively either on-line or via mobile devices or both. The concept is "to deliver the right knowledge to the right audience on the right device...in an instance."  The Instancy platform provides a simple and affordable way for companies to publish their course according to e-learning best practices and create multiple revenue streams – e-commerce, membership sites and Ads.  Small companies can gain from the reach and power of our world-class e-learning system for a nominal monthly subscription fee.

Q. How did you finance your business?
A.  To date, Instancy has been self funded.  However, now that the Instancy platform has been fully developed and our customers are having great success, we are shifting our focus from product development to sales and marketing.  We are currently seeking investors and strategic partners to continue our development. 

Q. Who are your customers?
A.  Small to medium sized businesses who seek to build their business by taking their training workshops, courses, info products on-line to reach more clients and provide e-learning in a cost effective way to reduce time and travel expenses.  Our customers include Andromeda Training, TEKS and Wall Street Institute to name a few.

Q. What are the most critical things you have done to grow your business?
A. The most important thing we have done is invest heavily in the Instancy e-learning platform. We have architected a system that is so simple to use and to enable multiple revenue streams for the training providers.  Our customers frequently give us feedback on how easy it is to create and update their courses.

Q. How have you used social media tools like LinkedIn to grow your business?
A.  About a years and a half ago, we realized that social media was going to have a profound impact on society and specifically on e-learning.  It was then that we began to develop the community aspects on the Instancy platform.  We enables communities to come to together to facilitate learning.  For example, groups of learners who want to share knowledge and provide feedback to peers on anything from project management skills, finance or sales skills, life coaching and more.

Q. What are three pieces of advise you would offer entrepreneurs starting out today?
A. First, entrepreneurs must have a clear vision and plan for what you want to achieve.  Second, they must keep an eye on what is happening in the competitive landscape to ensure their vision and direction does not become outdated.  Lastly, entrepreneurs must stay focused and resist distractions that can waste precious time and resources.

Q. How does your business "give back" to the community or to society?
A.  Instancy’s platform gives back to both society and to the small business community.  We help individuals by making a wide variety of training more accessible.  For example, individuals can take online courses to improve their personal lives via personal finances courses or skills development classes that make them more marketable.  For the small business community, it is really about making a world-class solution accessible to the small business owner – the type of solution that in the past only large companies could afford to purchase. 

With the Instancy platform, small businesses only need a Web browser to engage our course development applications.  We allow small businesses to rapidly build and brand their courses for ultimate success.

Q. How and why was it important to base your business in the Triangle area?
A.  While I lived on the west coast to earn a dual masters graduate degree in computer science and education technology at Stanford University, I still considered the Triangle home.  The Triangle has always been a very special place for me dating back to my undergraduate days at NC State. I couldn’t imagine building a business anywhere else.

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