Voyage: Product Strategy for an EdTech Marketplace
Industry
Education Technology, Community / Marketplace
Client
Voyage (formerly dISC)
Platforms
Desktop, Mobile
Date
2021
CASE STUDY BRIEF
Capability
Founder advisory, product strategy, MVP systems
Leadership level
Director
What I led
Advised an EdTech startup on who its marketplace served, the exchange between those users, what belonged in the MVP, and how the prototype and roadmap should test that direction.
Why it matters
Produced a testable first-release definition and a shared product narrative for prototype, pitch, and delivery planning.
DECISION RECORD
Problem and stakes
The founders had strong education-market knowledge, but the marketplace concept was too broad to guide a prototype, investor story, or build sequence.
Role and scope
Advised the founders on product framing, MVP scope, marketplace mechanics, prototype direction, and roadmap sequencing.
Key decision and trade-off
Mapped the core user groups and value exchange, then separated the smallest coherent first release from marketplace features that could wait.
Systems and artifacts
MVP boundary, user and value-exchange model, product narrative, prototype direction, and milestone roadmap.
Related content
The product question
Voyage began as a broad education-community idea. Before the team could test or fund it, the founders needed to decide who the first users were, what each side of the marketplace contributed, and which interaction made the product useful.
How I narrowed it
I worked with the founders to map the user groups and value exchange, then separated the first coherent product loop from later marketplace features. That boundary gave the prototype one job: test whether the proposed exchange made sense.
What the team could use
The work produced an MVP definition, product narrative, prototype direction, and milestone roadmap. The same choices could now be used in investor conversations and delivery planning instead of telling two different product stories.
Scope of the evidence
This was advisory and product-definition work. The proof is the clearer product boundary and planning structure; I do not claim a later launch or commercial result.
