What the Media is Saying
Entrepreneurs Target Rising College Costs
"A wave of startups such as Flat World Knowledge hopes to use technology to change the economics of higher education."
$200 Text vs. Free. You Do the Math
Flat World is featured in a Sunday Business article on how new organizations are bringing open content to the education market. Eric Frank, the co-founder of Flat World Knowledge, argues that “there is a huge financial opportunity in outflanking the traditional textbook makers."
The Demise of the $200 Textbook by Jeff Shelstad
“The entrepreneurial process is not just about new companies, capital, and jobs. It’s also about fostering an ingenious human spirit and improving humankind." —The late Dr. Jeffry Timmons,”the johnny appleseed of entrepreneurship education,” professor of entrepreneurship at Babson College, author and early advisor to Flat world knowledge.
To Save Students Money, Colleges May Force a Switch to E-Textbooks
Mirta Martin, dean of Virginia State's business school, speaks passionately about her reasons for taking part in the experiment with Flat World, which makes e-textbooks standard in eight courses this fall.
Bertelsmann Backs Open Textbook Publisher by Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson
Bertelsmann, the German media group, is leading a $15m funding round for Flat World Knowledge, a college textbook publisher seeking to commercialize “open source” educational material. Flat World offers books free online, but makes money by selling print-on-demand softcover editions, audio books and other options, with prices well below traditional textbooks.
Flat World Knowledge: A Disruptive Business Model
"The company projects that it will save college students and their families around $3 million this fall, but that is only the tip of the iceberg, because current growth rates suggest that the company will be serving more than 200,000 students by the end of next year—a five-fold increase over current levels—with plenty of upside market potential left with an estimated U.S. college student population of some 17 million-plus."