You have to understand how schools get money, and how they spend money. As consumers, we have flexibility in how we can spend our money. Schools often do not ha

You have to understand how schools get money, and how they spend money. As consumers, we have flexibility in how we can spend our money. Schools often do not have this flexibility. I'll provide an example of a scenario that I know intimately. Schools buy educational content for classrooms and media labs. Increasingly, this content is electronic, but historically, schools are used to buying piles of dead trees covered in ink (physical books). Because of this historical precident, schools get their money in the form of large-dollar-amount, single-use budget allocations. Let me decode that. Someone in an administrative office notifies the person who will actually buy the materials and says something like, "You have $1.2 million dollars to spend by August. The checks must be issued by that date or the funds disappear." So now the buyer is sitting on $1.2 million to spend by a specific date. Let's say I just built an ebook platform that allows students to log in to a website where I display non-fiction content, along with some reading comprehension questions. When I develop my pricing models, I have to make sure that they fit with the way the buyer spends their money. In the consumer space, we'd do something like: All plans include access to over 900 titles! $9.95/mo for up to 10 students $19.95/mo for up to 25 students $49.95/mo for up to 100 students $99.99/mo for up to 500 students More than 500 students? Call for custom pricing. The buyer ignores your product completely. Why? Because they can't spend $100/month. The check has to be written by August, then the money goes away. The buyer is also used to buying physical books, so they're averse to the idea that they should pay monthly for something, even if it is much, MUCH cheaper. Remember, they don't know what their budgets will be next year, so "a bird in the hand" rules over value. Instead, what often happens is that the publisher charges a one-time fee of $100,000 for 2,500 students, then agrees to keep the content accessible for as long as the school wants. The publisher takes on the risk associated with hosting the content, and is well compensated. The school doesn't want to pay an API middleman, they want to buy content. Clever is very well situated, and publishers (and schools) are going to be very happy they exist.