#1 Course Hero

A profitable SEO unicorn facing challenges from intl. competitors and AI

Growth Memo Premium - deep dives + insider insights

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📢A big “thank you” to Niels Zee, Murat Yatağan and Abhishek Shukla from Brainly for their input and, of course, the anonymous source at Course Hero.

(read time: ~23 minutes)

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Course Hero, an online learning platform, finds itself in an interesting spot. It won the US market but is challenged on two fronts:

• Front 1: International competitor Studocu is winning many markets outside the US and has more total traffic than Course Hero but not necessarily higher revenue.

• Front 2: AI is the biggest disruptor of online learning and reshuffles the cards for all players with equal risks and opportunities.

Tidbits:

• Course Hero has tested and rolled out some of the most impressive conversion tests I’ve seen at aggregators, with impacts of +21% and more. The most impressive test led to a product-led growth loop: students can upload course material in exchange for access to course material.