Startup Idea Every Day #9: Learning Network Syndicate

This is the ninth post in my series "A new startup idea every day".

One thing I really like in particular about the internet is that it has become possible for anyone to learn literally anything in a fraction of the time it would have taken 20 years ago, and now there are all of these cool networks that teach people things such as Lumosity, TED, Khan Academy, Code School, Code Academy, and many many more. What I think would be great is if there was a startup that aggregates all of the information on every site, designed to be the definitive collection of resources for any given topic.

For example, lets say you want a site that teaches you how to code, and how to cook. This site which I'm calling Edycate, would be the hub where you could track what resources you've used, what resources you've found, liked, didn't like etc. What's particularly great about this idea is that it takes very little to get up and running. All you would need is a website with a profile-base, maybe a forum engine, and some sort of CDN (Content Delivery Network).

Monetization for Edycate would be tricky, but no doubt doable. Many of the paid services I mentioned such as Code School have referral programs, additionally, you could monetize by creating your own referral network. Obviously you could also display ads, but I always try and think of regular HTML display ads as a "last resort" for making money on the internet.

Another great aspect of this idea is that it goes back to the concept of the new, sexy, philanthropic for-profit startup.