DfE 4

 

The importance of assessing Technical Debt & high-performance in early stage investments

I have read over a thousand pitch decks from start-up edtech companies. Less than 1% met my personal tests for investability. Not one covered two specific issues that should be important to investors from every sector, namely: What is the estimated Technical Debt in the business? Do you have a high-performing tech team?   Technical […]

2 months ago Education More
 

Month 4 of Covid 19’s impact on the UK education sector.

Right at the  start of the crisis the UK Office of Budget Responsibility predicted that in the 2nd quarter of 2020 output in education would be down by 90%.Published c.24 May, the scale of the estimated downturn was dramatic news for those in the business of education. It should also have been a clarion call […]

3 months ago Education More
 

An oddball army of weirdos and misfits

I have been thinking about Dominic Cummings’ plans to shake up the Civil Service by hiring a cadre of weirdos and misfits (most people I know seem to think I fit this criteria but I doubt my CV would make the cut with no tertiary qualifications, being too opinionated/old, Australian etc). However, I do have […]

8 months ago Education More
 

My thoughts about the DfE’s new £4.6m EdTech Innovation Fund

A few weeks ago I attended the BESA event to explain the new DfE Edtech strategy. So popular was the announcement, BESA had to find a new venue. Ironically the same venue as my first-ever meeting, almost 20 years ago, when I was working for what was then called the Department for Education and Skills […]

1 year ago 1 Education More