An Early Look at Knofolio

by Nathan W. Burke on January 25, 2013

Every once in a while, I get an email from a startup that is so far from what I normally do that it makes me take notice. That happened this morning when I got an email from Andrew Coyle, founder of knofolio:

I came across one of your articles about start-ups and decided to contact you. I am building a website that bridges the gap between prospective art students age 15-18 and accredited art & design colleges by providing a learning platform that helps students develop a great portfolio. Let me know what you think

Interesting. Aside from running an art gallery for a few years, I know almost nothing about art. I especially am clueless about how art students apply and are accepted to universities. Here’s what I’ve learned about knofolio:

Marketing Startups: What problem are you trying to solve?

Andrew Coyle, KnoFolio: KnoFolio solves 2 problems.

  • It helps prospective art students build an online portfolio and share it with top art & design colleges.
  • It provides a channel for art & design colleges to find and communicate with talented aspiring artists.

Marketing Startups: How do people currently solve what you’re trying to fix with knofolio.net?

Andrew Coyle, KnoFolioCurrently accredited art & design colleges primarily reach out to prospective art students by physically going to high schools. This provides a large limitation to high schools that aren’t on an art college’s radar. It is also extremely time consuming to maintain relationships with hundreds of high schools.

From a prospective art student’s point of view, the mystique of the colleges intimidates them.  It is hard for them to understand what is required to create a portfolio (the main requirement of a student application). What is even worse, they often fall victim to the for-profit (non-accredited) Art Institutes that intentionally confuse applicants.

There are no meaningful online art college preparatory platforms despite a stated need. There are many websites that help students fulfill admissions criteria for traditional colleges and universities. The platforms usually take the form of ACT/SAT E-learning. The ACT/SAT is the key differentiator in a student’s application for traditional colleges and universities, whereas the portfolio is the key differentiator in a student’s application for an AICAD school. KnoFolio will fill the demand for online portfolio development. It will be in a digital environment to free the student from the constraints of time and space. Students will have the ability to create a portfolio that meets the standards of AICAD (accrediting body) colleges without being hindered by economic or geographic constraints.

Marketing Startups:  Where are you based?

Andrew Coyle, KnoFolio: KnoFolio is being built in Milwaukee, and plans to move operations to San Francisco.

Marketing Startups: What are your goals for the site?

Andrew Coyle, KnoFolioKnoFolio goals:

  • KnoFolio sign-up page generates 500 excited users- February 15th 2013
  • KnoFolio successfully launches- February 20th 2013
  • KnoFolio generates 1000 active users- Validated MVP- April 1st 2013
  • KnoFolio gets funded- April 30th 2013
  • KnoFolio develops a scalable and repeatable business model- July 30th 2013
  • KnoFolio becomes a leader in online art & design education

Marketing Startups: What (if any) is your business model?

Andrew Coyle, KnoFolioThe business model is two sided: Prospective student pay a subscription rate & fees for courses. Art schools pay for prospective student data (niche lead generation). *It is free to sign-up and create a portfolio.

Marketing Startups: How are you going to market the site to get people to use it on both sides (both colleges and students)?

Andrew Coyle, KnoFolioI have been in contact with many art & design colleges. They are enthusiastic about the project. I hope to primarily market the idea through word of mouth.

Marketing Startups: What’s your background?

Andrew Coyle, KnoFolioHere is an article I wrote about KnoFolio. It details who I am and why I am creating KnoFolio.

Previous post:

Next post: