I was doing a very small elearning startup at the same time Blackboard started. We were all at the same edu tech conferences, knew the same people, etc. At the

I was doing a very small elearning startup at the same time Blackboard started. We were all at the same edu tech conferences, knew the same people, etc. At the time, Blackboard and WebCT were the biggest players in the elearning space. I think Blackboard simply did a better job of winning contracts and selling. You have to remember, when they started these companies were installing systems on campus (there was no SaaS initially) ... so it was a big deal if other campuses in your area used it and/or if it worked with your student information system. Blackboard got a strategic partnership with microsoft (I think money too), they absorbed some smaller players (like Prometheus) and eventually acquired WebCT.