When Andrew Grauer was a sophomore at Cornell University, he tore his lateral meniscus and had to use crutches to get around. This made it difficult to get to class, especially in the winter weather. Grauer realized he wasn’t going to be able to go to some classes, so he asked around for class notes so that he could stay up on his studies. That prompted him to question why there wasn’t a website that students could access to get notes for their classes. And thus, Course Hero was born. Course Hero compiles notes and study tools from over 4500 different universities and schools for students to use. Today, the site has over 7 million different documents of information. This enables students to keep up on classes even if they are unable to attend, or if they are having trouble with a subject. Course Hero also has 24/7 access to online tutors, ensuring that if a student has a problem, it can be reviewed and discussed, helping with understanding of tougher concepts. In the beginning, Grauer ran the company out of his parents basement but after a few months out of college, Grauer and his two brothers raised money to get the business going, and were able to secure investments in 2010 that amounted to around $1.5 million. Now solidly positioned in the market, Grauer is focused on making his business last for a long time into the future.
This seems like a great website/business. The only concerning factor might be that students would not go to classes and solely rely on the websites notes. Although the resource for students who are sick, etc. it is a great tool.