Why did Tutorspree fail if tutoring is a proven market?

The market was real but the model was broken. Once a tutor and student connected through Tutorspree, both had strong incentives to take the relationship off-platform and cut out the commission, leaving Tutorspree with the acquisition cost but none of the ongoing revenue. Without repeat transaction revenue, the unit economics were impossible.

What did the founders learn?

Co-founder Aaron Harris wrote a detailed public post-mortem. The key insight was that successful marketplace businesses need either very high transaction frequency, very high switching costs, or both. Tutorspree had neither — tutoring sessions happened infrequently, and nothing stopped either party from moving the relationship off-platform once they had found each other.

Was anyone able to solve this problem in the tutoring market?

Platforms like Wyzant partially addressed it by building stronger lock-in through ratings, background checks, and payment protection. Chegg Tutors built a subscription model. None fully solved off-platform leakage, but those that survived made staying on-platform genuinely more convenient and trustworthy than going direct.

← All autopsies

// HALL OF FLAME · STARTUP AUTOPSY

Founded	2011
Closed	2013
Country	USA
Sector	Edtech
Total raised	4
Collapse type	Sudden Collapse
Founder	Aaron Harris, Ryan Ghods

Tutorspree

"The YC-backed tutor marketplace that could not survive its own unit economics"

$4M

RAISED

—

EMPLOYEES

MONTHS

unit economicsSudden Collapse

Unexpected shutdown within weeks of a trigger

// Fatal mistake: The business model rewarded its own disintermediation: every successful match gave both tutor and student strong incentives to move off-platform, eliminating Tutorspree from the relationships it had created.

Key Events Timeline

2011

FOUNDING

2011-01

FOUNDING

Tutorspree founded

2012

FUNDING

2012-06

DOWN ROUND

Down round or bridge financing

2013

SHUTDOWN

2013-06

SHUTDOWN

Sudden Collapse: Tutorspree ceases operations

🔥 Hall of Flame 35%🏆 Hall of Fame 42%

Tutorspree graduated from Y Combinator in Summer 2011 with a simple pitch: make it effortless to find a trusted, local tutor for any subject.

// full analysis

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More Edtech →More from USA →More unit economics failures →Raised: 4

// YOUR STARTUP DOESN'T HAVE TO END LIKE THIS

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// THE EDTECH GRAVEYARD DOESN'T END HERE

Tutorspree followed a documented pattern. Identify the same signals in any company before they reach the point of no return.

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