Magoosh

Magoosh (pronunciation: mə’guːʃ) (a play on the Old Persian word magush, which refers to a wise person[1] and this word also represents Iranian origin) is an American online test preparation and study abroad counselling company based in Berkeley, California that educates students through audio/video lessons, practice test questions, and online email support.[2][3]

Magoosh, Inc.
TypeEducational Technology
IndustryEducation, Internet
Founded2009 (2009)
FounderBhavin Parikh
Hansoo Lee
Pejman Pour-Moezzi
Vikram Shenoy
HeadquartersBerkeley, CA, USA
Websitemagoosh.com

Magoosh provides test preparation materials and counselling for the competitive exams, such as GRE, GMAT, TOEFL, SAT, ACT, LSAT, MCAT, IELTS and Praxis[4] and aims to make test preparation more enjoyable, affordable, and effective.[5] The company also has free mobile apps for both iPhone and Android.[5]

History

Magoosh was founded in 2009 by Hansoo Lee, Bhavin Parikh, Pejman Pour-Moezzi and Vikram Shenoy while they were students at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley.[6][7]

In June 2009, Magoosh released its first product—GMAT math practice questions with video explanations. They got their first paying customers a couple months later in August.

Over the next two years, as Magoosh's customer base began to expand, the GMAT product and the Magoosh team continued to grow. Pejman stepped away from the business in 2010 to pursue other opportunities but remained on the board. Hansoo and Bhavin hired two full-time employees and, with them on board, developed a new prep program for the GRE. In August 2011, Magoosh launched their 'New GRE' product for the revised GRE[3] and later renamed it 'Magoosh GRE' once the reformatted GRE became standard.

In December 2011, Magoosh gave away 800 free SAT accounts to high school students through partnerships with Bay Area non-profit organizations.[8] It was also around this time that Bhavin's co-founder Hansoo Lee was diagnosed with a rare case of non-smokers' lung cancer and had to remove himself from daily operations.

In March 2013, shortly after Magoosh hit profitability, Hansoo Lee died of cancer at the age of 35.[9] Bhavin Parikh and former co-founder Pejman Pour-Moezzi, along with Lee's fiancée Wendy Lim, founded The Hansoo Lee Fellowship for Entrepreneurs, which is used each year to support Haas MBA students wishing to pursue their entrepreneurial ventures full-time.[10]

After Hansoo's passing, Bhavin became the CEO and the only remaining co-founder of Magoosh. The company continued to grow, launching full preparation products for the TOEFL and SAT from late 2013 to 2014. In 2015, it launched full prep programs for the ACT, LSAT and Praxis exams. And in 2016, the company launched a full MCAT product. To date, Magoosh has about 30 in-office employees at its offices in downtown Berkeley and more than 1.5 million students have used Magoosh's web and mobile apps to prepare for standardized exams. The company has been ranked by Inc. magazine as one of the fastest-growing companies in the U.S. and by Entrepreneur magazine as one of the best entrepreneurial companies in America.

Recognition
  • San Francisco Business Times No. 21 Fastest-Growing Private Company in the Bay Area (2016) [11]
  • Entrepreneur 360 No. 111 Best Entrepreneurial Company in the U.S. (2016)[12]
  • Inc. 500 No. 186 Fastest-Growing Private Company in the U.S. (2016)[13]
  • Localwise Best Employer: Education (2016)[14]
  • San Francisco Business Times No. 5 Fastest-Growing Private Company in the Bay Area / No. 2 Fastest Growing Company in the East Bay (2015)[15]
  • TINYpulse Happiest Company in Education (2015, 2017)[16][17]
  • Intel Foundation Entrepreneurial Award (2010)[18]
  • North Bridge Venture Partners Competition (2010)[19]
  • UC Berkeley Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology Venture Lab Competition (2009) [19]

References
  1. Innovative, The (2012-04-02). "The Innovative Company: Magoosh Changes the Way Students Prep for Standardized Tests". Innovativecompany.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
  2. Garland, Russ (2010-06-16). "The Daily Start-Up: Bubble Survivor Coremetrics To Wed IBM - Venture Capital Dispatch - WSJ". Blogs.wsj.com. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
  3. "Magoosh Unveils a Video Bible for the Newly Revised GRE". Xconomy. 2011-09-13. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
  4. "Interview With Founder Of Magoosh - Online Test Prep". Killerstartups.com. 2012-08-21. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
  5. "'Magoosh' Takes the Headache out of Test-Preparation". Rightstartups.com. 2013-04-20. Archived from the original on 2013-05-02. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-02-11.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. "Team". Magoosh. Retrieved Jul 23, 2019.
  8. "Website Offers SAT Prep For Free | Fox Business Video". Video.foxbusiness.com. 2011-11-08. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
  9. Buchanan, Leigh (Aug 30, 2016). "How I Kept Our Startup Dream Alive After Losing My Co-Founder". Inc.com. Retrieved Jul 23, 2019.
  10. "Haas MBA graduate and entrepreneur Hansoo Lee dies at age 35 - The Daily Californian". Dailycal.org. 2013-03-17. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
  11. "The Bay Area's 100 fastest-growing private companies of 2016". Bizjournals.com. 2016-10-14. Retrieved 2016-12-14.
  12. "Entrepreneur Magazine". entrepreneur.com. 2016-04-10. Archived from the original on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2016-12-14.
  13. "Inc. Magazine". inc.com. 2016-04-10. Retrieved 2016-12-14.
  14. "2016 Work Local Awards". localwisejobs.com. 2016-04-10. Archived from the original on 2016-05-07. Retrieved 2015-06-11.
  15. "The Bay Area's 100 fastest-growing private companies of 2015". Bizjournals.com. 2015-10-20. Retrieved 2015-06-11.
  16. "2015 Happiest Company Awards". Tinyhr.com. 2015-02-01. Retrieved 2015-06-11.
  17. TINYpulse. "2017 TINYpulse Happiest Company Awards". www.tinypulse.com. Retrieved 2018-01-25.
  18. "Natural Gas Innovation Wins Intel Entrepreneurial Award". Newsroom.intel.com. 2010-11-18. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
  19. "North Bridge Venture Partners Announces Winners of $150K Seed Capital Competition | North Bridge". Nbvp.northbridge.com. Archived from the original on 2013-04-26. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
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