NoteWagon, Launched By Waterloo University Students, To Sell Crowdsourced Education On Dragons' Den

Notewagon Dragons Den Social Startups

First Posted: 10/26/11 10:29 AM ET Updated: 10/26/11 10:32 PM ET

University students in Canada may soon be able to make a quick buck just by going to class and taking notes.

NoteWagon, a Toronto-based startup business launched by a group of University of Waterloo students, plans to buy students' class notes and sell them to others, in an effort the company says will enhance education for everyone involved.

The company's founders will get a chance to pitch their idea to investors on Wednesday night's episode of Dragons' Den, the CBC reality show that features entrepreneurs working to convince investors to put money into their business.

"The premise of the idea is create a social learning network whereby courses are like groups in which students can share information [with] each other," co-founder Saif Altimimi told The Huffington Post by email.

"For example, as a student taking psychology 101, I can write my own notes, study guides, book summary and put it up for sale in my class. Other students will buy into a virtual currency and purchase these documents. NoteWagon also has a discussion application where students from different course networks in the world can ask questions around topics (calculus, psychology, chemistry etc.) and get instant help from peers around the world."

To some, this concept may run uncomfortably close to cheating, but NoteWagon says collaborative learning is simply the way things are going in an increasingly interconnected world.

"We have had some criticism towards the idea being labeled as a cheating platform," Altimimi, a third-year engineering student, admitted, "but we believe that this is the direction that education is heading towards."

NoteWagon will appear in a special episode of Dragons' Den featuring young Canadian entrepreneurs. Other contestants on the episode will include Julian Marchese, a 15-year-old Torontonian who will be selling his concept for a computerized day trading system.

"Since the market is a zero sum game, I feel I have an obligation to give back my winnings both to my investors and those in need," Marchese said in an email exchange. "The financial markets allow the opportunity to amass great amounts of wealth. Hopefully someday I will be able to accomplish that, and not only change my life and family, but also others."

Tracie Tighe, the executive producer of Dragons' Den, says the show's effect on business innovation in Canada has been tangible.

"There's actual measurable proof that Dragons' Den has helped Canada become more entrepreneurial," she told the Huffington Post. "Business experts at the U.K. Intellectual Property Office call it 'The Dragons' Den Effect,' and [the office's] Canadian counterpart, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, has said that Dragons' Den has been 'good for business'."

Tighe said the show's method of probing business ideas for viability has been adopted by schools and universities, "effectively altering the curriculum of Canadian business classes. And teachers write regularly to tell us how the show breaks down what was once a mysterious process -- asking for money, valuing a company -- in a clear, concise way. We're demystifying what it is to be an entrepreneur."

Tighe urged Canada's education system to begin teaching entrepreneurship to students at a younger age.

"We need to hone that instinct earlier, and create a sense that entrepreneurship or small business is a truly viable option," she said.

Here's a preview of the students' episode of Dragons' Den, which airs Wednesday, October 26 at 8 p.m. on CBC.

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University students in Canada may soon be able to make a quick buck just by going to class and taking notes. NoteWagon, a Toronto-based startup business launched by a group of University of Waterlo...
University students in Canada may soon be able to make a quick buck just by going to class and taking notes. NoteWagon, a Toronto-based startup business launched by a group of University of Waterlo...
 
 
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11:18 PM on 10/30/2011
Check out this guy's record at small claims court in Kitchener. It's revealing, to say the least.
11:30 AM on 10/27/2011
FYI, I'm done with Dragon's Den after the agreed to back this worthless venture. Every Dragon is as greedy as anyone on Wall Street or Bay Street. Rightly so really, I know it's a show about making business deals and it's about money but the contradictions they make about investing in worthwhile ethical organizations has completely gone out the window. Quite frankly, this type of investment is a slap in the face to every student who earned their BA or MBA the old fashioned way... attended class and studied. If this is the type of venture they reward with financing, then their whole view on youth and the future is pretty messed up. It's now OK to allow kids to purchase other work from students as long as they can afford it. Nice morals Dragons, way to send a positive message to kids for their future educational experiences and values.
12:31 AM on 10/27/2011
This generation of kids (for the most part) are looking for the quick and easy way to get from point A to B. In this case, it's not technically stealing because the person who provided the info actually is being compensated for it but, in essence, it's the lazy way out. What ever happened to actually learning how to do something or to explore a new subject/topic by actually reading and participating? So now a student can pass a course by buying info without actually learning it or attending class? Kids can't even spell correctly these days thanks to texting and they have become the "cut and paste" generation for assignments by going on Wikipedia and copying the information word by word. To quote Matt Damon's character in Good Will Hunting: "You wasted $150,000 on an education you coulda got for a buck fifty in late charges at the public library".
11:11 PM on 10/26/2011
Saif Altimimi from notewagon....the guy who hacked brotips....I will never trust my money and notes with these guys.
11:21 PM on 10/30/2011
I could not agree more!
10:35 PM on 10/26/2011
Interesting. This note sharing idea as a business ran in The London Free Press and detailed the work of a University of Western Ontario student. The paper wrote:

"In the last two weeks, UWO students, along with counterparts at the University of Toronto, Waterloo, Guelph, Ryerson, Laurier and McMaster, have had access to their classmates’ notes through the sharing service [NoteWagon].

"It works like this: student who think they take good notes upload them to notewagon.com. Their more slacker classmates can log on, preview a portion of the notes and pay with tokens that cost as much a photocopy.

"Every time a student’s notes are downloaded by a needy classmate, the note-taker gets paid, anywhere from 67 cents for lecture notes to $1.50 for case-study notes to $2.50 for a course study guide."

See the story here: http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2010/11/22/16269031.html

I wonder why it is now on Dragon's Den.
01:06 PM on 10/26/2011
Decades after graduating - I still remember concepts that I struggled to understand on my own. And that is what the education system does best - give you the tools to understand and master new concepts. In this era where everyone is a master 'googler', I hate to think what would happen in future when these students cannot find ready-made solutions to their problems.
This goes beyond plagiarism. This will eventually weaken our collective analytical skills and ability to deal with new problems and situations and stifle innovation.