Brief
An edtech startup wanted to build a live online tutoring marketplace where students could find and book verified tutors, attend sessions via integrated video, and track learning progress over time — all from a single platform built for mobile and web.
Background
The founder had previously run a tutoring service manually through WhatsApp and Google Meet. The model had proven demand but was completely unscalable. They needed a product that could handle tutor onboarding and verification, student profile creation, session booking with calendar sync, in-platform video, payment collection, and progress reporting. The platform also had to build enough trust for parents to feel comfortable booking sessions for their children, which meant the design had to feel polished and professional from day one.
Challenges
Coordinating real-time availability across tutor and student schedules without creating booking conflicts required a robust scheduling engine. Video quality and session reliability had to work on lower-bandwidth connections common in the target market. Building the trust layer — tutor verification badges, review systems, visible credentials — required careful UX thinking rather than just technical development. The payment flow also needed to support split disbursements where the platform retained a fee and the tutor received the remainder automatically.
Outcome
The platform launched with 40 tutors and 200 students in the first month. Session booking time dropped from an average of 20 minutes via manual coordination to under 3 minutes on the platform. Tutor onboarding was fully self-serve, cutting the founder's operational time by 80 percent. The platform processed its first 1,000 paid sessions within eight weeks of launch. Student retention at the 30-day mark was 65 percent, significantly above the industry average for new edtech products.
Technology
- Next.js
- Node.js
- PostgreSQL
- Daily.co API
- Stripe Connect
- AWS S3
- Supabase
- Vercel
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