What Traction Feels Like

Peltz says many elementary schools have no dedicated science teacher, leaving classroom teachers to cover a subject they often find difficult. Mystery Science became an interactive curriculum that pairs prerecorded lessons with classroom teaching, with Peltz guiding students through the material.

Schacht and Peltz first aimed to reach children through parents and tried several product ideas. Their picture collection attracted interest from middle school science specialists, but those teachers did not use it. Elementary teachers instead wanted Peltz to record his explanations so they could play them for students, revealing demand for complete lessons.

The founders tested the lesson idea with 20 elementary teachers and homeschoolers, who used eight lessons over eight weeks starting in January 2010. They reported strong enthusiasm and anecdotes from students. Later, a Facebook post brought about 15,000 signups in one day.

Mystery Science began with a freemium approach focused on teacher usage and word of mouth. Schacht says teachers’ enthusiasm helped them advocate for school purchases. After reaching roughly 100,000 signups, the founders still struggled to build a sales model: they hired and then fired a VP of Sales, and at one point had about 60 days of runway.

By the time they joined Y Combinator’s Summer 2017 batch, the company had become profitable. Peltz says the program’s talks, mentors, founder network, and fundraising process helped the company refine its strategy. He left teaching partly because he wanted science lessons to reach far more students than he could teach directly.