Andreu Dotti, Innovamat | Building Products 350,000+ Kids Love, and Selling to Thousands of Schools

The audio and video are in Spanish. These notes are a translation.

All of us have had a hard time learning mathematics. A large part of the problem is the traditional method of memorizing, which is ineffective and does not spark our interest in learning.

Today’s guest, Andreu Dotti Boada, is the CEO and cofounder of Innovamat, a digital learning platform based on solving problems and developing skills, and it is transforming how mathematics is taught.

To date, Innovamat is used by more than 2,000 schools, 15,000 teachers, and 350,000 students in Latin America and Europe. In addition, 200,000 students use BMath, its gamified app in the style of Duolingo for learning at home.

Innovamat has raised more than 20 million dollars from investors such as Reach Capital, Kibo Ventures, and Bonsai Partners.

We talked about the state of mathematics education and why traditional teaching methods have failed. We also talked about how they created the product and prioritized features at the start of their company. In addition, Andreu told us about his sales process to schools, detailing what kinds of strategies he uses to make sales more effective.

Youtube Timestamps*

[3:10] - Teaching Mathematics

How did Andreu get into the fascinating world of startups?
In the early days, when they set out to study how mathematics was taught, what were the most striking problems Andreu found?
There are huge publishers that sell books and classroom materials to schools and governments, such as Santillana, Grupo SM, and Anaya, that bring in hundreds of millions of dollars. How much innovation has there been in this sector? Are there incentives to improve?
What is the best way to teach mathematics? What does the science say about this?
What is an example of Innovamat’s teaching method?
There is an interesting component of “marketing timing” in Innovamat’s story. What changes were happening in Spain in terms of mathematics teaching that were favorable for Innovamat?

[18:09] - How to Build Product

What is the step-by-step for taking the science of teaching mathematics to a scalable product?
Why did Innovamat decide to focus first on academic content instead of a digital platform?
The challenge for a startup in formal education is that its initial product can be so “minimal.” And on top of that, you have several “customers”: the teacher, the administrators, and the students. How did Andreu decide which parts of the product to prioritize at the start?
What has Andreu learned about teaching mathematics, and what have they found that they perhaps did not anticipate based on the existing scientific evidence?
A fascinating characteristic of Innovamat is the diversity of skills required to build its product. You have product people, technology people, and specialists in mathematics didactics.
How have they managed to orchestrate a product organization with such diverse profiles? What challenges have they faced in this regard?

[30:35] - How to Sell to Schools

Both Andreu and his partners were very young, and they were not mathematics specialists. Andreu tells us about those first sales to schools. What were the most common objections he received, and how did they manage to get past them?
How does Andreu explain the success Innovamat has had selling a product with apparently so much friction?
They managed to sell to thousands of schools in a market where their competitors, the publishers, invest much more in selling the product than in making a great product. How do you compete with that, and what are the most important lessons he has learned about how to sell to schools?
Why did they decide to offer their product to schools instead of going directly to parents, who would possibly be more motivated to buy a product that helps their children with mathematics?
They reached an impressive scale of several million in annual recurring revenue, having raised less than 1 million dollars in capital. What business decisions or strategies does Andreu credit for Innovamat’s success in reaching such a large scale without raising capital?

[40:49] - Rapid-Fire Questions

If he had to start a company from scratch, what is the main piece of advice Andreu would give himself?
What has been the most influential book on Andreu’s path through the world of startups?
Changes Andreu would like to see in the startup ecosystem