Mytestbuddy - Social Media Platform for Student’s Online Learning Needs

Who are we?

Did you know that out of every 100 students that make it to the IITs, 75 attend classes specially designed for the JEE entrance examinations? Every year thousands of students go to coaching hubs like Kota and Delhi for Competitive examinations spending tens of thousands of rupees not just on coaching classes, but also on accommodation, food and travel expenses, which is in no way related to your competitive examination prep.

What if there was an available alternative, which would allow you to study online for your competitive examinations, freeing you to engage in daily interactive activities and learn much more than what you would on your own. Mytestbuddy allows you to study online at your pace, in the comforts of your home and provides you with the best of the competitive examinations prep, that are also easy on the pocket.

It is developed by students, for students! We have taken care to develop features that will allow you to engage in fun learning activities and study for your entrance examinations.

It provides you with question banks, practice tests and full length mock tests. Our mission is to become a one stop shop for a student’s online learning needs.

Whom do we cater to?

Mytestbuddy exists for every child who is dwarfed by the enormity of the competitive examinations that he or she has to face; It exists for the times when coaching classes are just not enough, for those midnight realizations when you realize you have forgotten to study a supposedly important topic, for sharing your discontent towards the system for changing the exam pattern every year, for asking questions that you forgot to ask your teacher in class.

It is there for you, when you need to take up a test series for your examination and get percentile rankings. Teachers, admission consultants, institutes and even coaching academies can use it..

What do we offer to our consumers?

If I were preparing for any given examination, let’s say, pre pg medical examinations (natural choice because it used to be my forte), I would take a full length mock test first. This would enable me to find out which areas I'm especially weak in, and which areas I'm doing better at, in spite of the fact that I'm taking this test without any kind of preparation.

By going through the practice questions on Mytestbuddy.com, I will start preparing for the areas which I think I am weak at, I will be able to nudge my friends to join Mytestbuddy and study online with me, I would post discussions on the discussion forums and then then take further practice tests. Once I am confident Of the topic that I have done.

Once confident of the portion I have labored painstakingly over, I would sit down and retake the test and see how I am doing. I will repeat that till I have achieved the desired scores. While preparing, I can ask questions to my peers and teachers, raise opinions and meet alumni and discuss doubts. All of these facilities combined, makes us the best online learning tool available.

What motivated us to start up?

While preparing for my pre pg examinations, I faced lot of issues, which primarily came as a result of the vast exam curriculum, which then led to me being at a loss. The coaching classes charged astronomical amounts, I knew they were no good, and most of the times I would sleep halfway through the lecture and I can't remember the number of times I have been asked to leave the class for having fallen asleep!!

I needed a place where I could share my views, challenge what was given in the books and discuss various aspects of the examination. I wanted a test buddy and that’s how I started developing a concept of online educational companion which would be like an all purpose place for students to study online.

What's in a name?

We were wondering what should be the name of the place where students can feel at home, where they would like to stay to study and share opinions, we realized that we had set out to create a test buddy, someone who understands students, encourages them and points out what needs to be done. We felt that it just felt right to call it Mytestbuddy.

How do we see Social Media?

Mytestbuddy is social Media, Mytestbuddy is the social learning tool that students have been yearning for! I have been asked often as to the role of education in social media and how one can benefit out of these seemingly harbingers of procrastination. Social learning is to acquire knowledge while conversing, yes, with more tools equipping us for social interaction, we get more distanced from the thought that social media tools are evangelists of the online education. Then, there is Mytestbuddy.com that distracts you from the distractions, allowing you to focus on the topics that you need to study while keeping you involved and interested. Social media is that ultimate enabler that lets you evolve and learn online while organizing information in much more simpler and attractive manner.

Our biggest challenge was..

When we first started Mytestbuddy.com we found it extremely difficult to convince teachers to come on board with Mytestbuddy.com. So we came up with more features for teachers and students, thus taking care of every parent’s expectation.

We have come up with a more traditional veil for the extraordinary product. We have provided parents with a parent watch where parents can track their student’s products. We have online classes for teachers, where they can monitor their students progress, give out specific tests and create content for their students, provide students with online assignments and much more. We now have mock test series and full length tests, virtual simulations of the competitive examinations, allowing students to take diagnostic checks on their own learning patterns and get to know what their weak and strong areas are.

We want to dominate the world by..

We want to dominate with our product’s core competency. We want to give an online platform to all teachers in every nook and corner of the country to connect with their students.

We’re making moolah by...

The key is the ability to constantly evolve! To say, the major revenue source is the premium memberships for the students that can be availed for INR 1200. Apart from this, they have a product called “Online Class”. This is a B2B Model where academic institutes and coaching centers use their software as a service (SAAS) services, the payment for which can be made online. Also, Mytestbuddy.com products are available at some of the most prominent book stores across Gujarat.

Our What The **** Moment

The aha moment:

Every time I meet some stranger and tell him/her that I work at Mytestbuddy and they reply telling me they've used Mytestbuddy.com

The wtf moment:

When Mytestbuddy.com was awarded the Indian Education Award 2012, for the best use of Social Media in Education by Bloomberg UTV and S. Chand group, even when there were some bigwigs in the other nominations like the Tata’s, and others.

Kick you in the crotch, spit on your neck moment:

Once I met with a principal of a school to introduce mytestbuddy.com for the students, I explained how we can help the students and how they would enjoy studying on mytestbuddy.com. The principal, who hailed from one of the most respected schools in India, tells me that students should be kept away from the computers!!

He says that you give them computers and all they would be interested in doing would be to browse through pornographic content and chat on facebook. They would never use my product to study. My question to him was if he was preparing the students for the future or the past? I just could not believe how ignorant a principal could be! Surely, I see this as a hurdle for mytestbuddy.com, but since then we have been rephrasing the way we introduce ourselves to schools and fortunately we have learnt how to connect with them.

Industry as we foresee

India is, as pepsi puts it, a ‘youngistan’ nation with 500 million plus population who are less than 25 years of age. We may have skipped the pc revolution but we are surely neck to neck with rest of the world when it comes to the smartphone revolution. Indian youth are some of the fastest adopters of technology and I look forward to see how the social media space will evolve. I look forward toward local innovations for local needs with global impact.

Lastly, Are you hiring?

Yes, We are looking for entrepreneurs who can spearhead newer examinations, courses on Mytestbuddy.com, Mytestbuddy model is ready, infrastructure is ready, we can expand to any course as required, only thing required is someone who can be part of us as the head for the examination sphere, handle its nuances and let it grow.

We are also looking for BRM (Business Relationship Managers) who have good communication skills with a knack to take challenges head-on and an ability to execute their ideas into action. They can work part-time from their resident city, so we are quite flexible in our approach. Look it up here.

We are also looking forward for Mytestbuddy evangelists who would spread knowledge about Mytestbuddy in colleges and schools and earn pocket money by referrals.