122: Bridging Campus and Community: Buzly's Impact on Higher Education with CEO & Co-Founder Srinjay Verma

Holly Owens (00:02):

Hello everyone and welcome to another fantastic episode of Edup Ed Tech. My name is Holly Owens

Nadia Johnson (00:11):

And my name is Nadia Johnson. And we're your hosts

Holly Owens (00:14):

And we are super pumped because we have a fabulous guest with us today. We have the CEO and co-founder of Buzly Srinjay Verma with us. Welcome on into the show.

Nadia Johnson (00:26):

Welcome.

Srinjay Verma (00:28):

Thanks so much for having me. Super excited to have this conversation with you guys.

Holly Owens (00:31):

Yeah, we can't wait to learn more about Ley, but we don't want to jump into that right away. We want to keep the people waiting. First, we want to learn a little bit more about you. So tell us about your experience. How did you get into the ed tech space, your co-founder, CEO, give us a little bit about your journey.

Srinjay Verma (00:48):

Yeah, no, awesome. Yeah, thanks. So I think for my journey actually started as a student. I think a lot of people in ed tech either started as a student or as an educator, and I think that's kind of where my journey started. My journey started actually when I was a junior at Sacramento State University where I was doing my computer engineering degree. It was in the middle of the Covid Pandemic. So we were all really tucked away, not a lot of connection, not a lot of ways to meet people while we were there on campus. There was basically, I'm a pretty social person now, but when I first started out I wasn't super, super social. And so I really wanted to find a way to connect with my peers on campus a little bit in a way that was available to us, especially during covid.

(01:36):

And so that's actually how Buzly started is we started as during Covid, a way to connect with other people on campus. And so we started there and after I graduated from the university, so many students were still using my product that I had created for students that I had just created for myself really and for other people around me that I realized that there was a huge opportunity here to be able to grow this and take it to other universities as well. So yeah, my journey really started out as a student and it grew from there.

Holly Owens (02:07):

Well, that's awesome. I mean, people are still using it after you graduate, so that says something about how the product is, it's something that's sustainable and scalable, which is great. And I love the stories about starting out as a student figuring out this is something, this is a gap I can fill or something that needs to be done. I really like that.

Nadia Johnson (02:31):

Yeah, I think it is one of those things you kind of find a problem and then find the solution for the problem. And I love those kind of stories where you discover that there's a gap and you build something amazing because you know that there is a gap and you're trying to kind of close that gap. So I love that. So the EdTech space is, we know it's constantly evolving. So what emerging trends, innovations within the EdTech space do you find to be kind of exciting or promising and how do you see them shaping the future of education?

Srinjay Verma (03:11):

Yeah, that's a great question. I think when you think about it right now, I think it all starts with the problem. And I think when we're coming back to that problem factor, I think right now we're sitting in a unique time and space where what we really are seeing across the board is this huge loneliness epidemic where students and educators alike are really facing this lack of connection and lack of community. And specifically higher education institutions are really looking for ways to basically how can they brand that? How can they make their community the most engaging? And I think it's lot in this day and age, there's a lot of buzzwords that kind of come out. And I think what we have to do is look at which tools and which trends are important to hop on and which ones we should as educators not actually hop on. And I think that's a really good distinguishing. You

Holly Owens (04:01):

Always go for the bright shiny thing and sometimes that's not the solution.

Nadia Johnson (04:06):

Right?

Srinjay Verma (04:07):

Exactly. Exactly. And I don't blame educators, especially nowadays when I talk to our customers, they're telling me that they're getting bombarded with tons and tons of new applications and I think it's really exciting that there are so many new things coming out, but we really have to look at it and say, okay, which ones of these are going to drive the best ROI for our students and also our faculty on our campuses, and how can we do that in a way that is also connected to what the campus is looking for, tailoring it to that specific campus. So I think when we're looking at this overall trend, I think the loneliness epidemic is one that I'm seeing that's really starting to shift the way that educators are thinking about different technologies and how to incorporate them. The other one that's pretty exciting is of course ai. I think AI is, I think for a long time education has been wanting to implement ai. I think now is the time that higher education institutions and even some high schools are looking at ways that they can adopt their curriculum or even adopt new tools and are willing to take that first step, willing to try that first product and kind of see how that goes. So right off the two top two things is probably ai. And I think really just that connection, people are looking for connection right now.

Nadia Johnson (05:23):

I love the connection piece because even just working remote and everything, kind of going to this technology space after the pandemic, we just sometimes don't feel as connected when we're learning or when we're collaborating. So I am a stickler for collaborative and apps and tools that connect people. I love that in this technology driven world

Holly Owens (05:55):

Too. And it has to be something that feels authentic process. It doesn't feel like it's just something we do things like every day we do text messaging or phone calls for people, older generation and things like that. We have to feel like it's a part of what we do daily. So definitely I can see where you're coming at with the trends that you just described.

Srinjay Verma (06:20):

And I think the other thing that's really exciting is that for the first time, we're seeing a lot of the education space be willing to take that first step and really they're seeing the need. And I think that's the biggest thing is they're students telling them and it's exciting for sure.

Holly Owens (06:36):

That's great. Alright, well you've already said some really amazing things. You have a great story and you've put some trends out there that you think you're going to continue to expand. Now we want to know all about ly. So tell our audience what LY is. Does it do for education institutions? Give us all the details so that people can start getting excited about it.

Srinjay Verma (07:01):

Yeah, no, definitely. I think it's really great to, I love how you started with the story because the story of bley is super integral into how bley plays out and we really target universities, four year institutions and community colleges. Those are the people who really use us the most. We have a couple of high schools that are testing us, but really it comes back to when I was a student, we were trying to find a way to connect with other students on campus. We launched this tool for students who basically both connections on campus, you could basically meet others in your major, you could connect with other people. And the thing that we saw that was very exciting is within the first two weeks we had almost 8,000 students on the platform. And that was, oh,

Holly Owens (07:42):

That's something to celebrate. I know gracious, that's awesome.

Srinjay Verma (07:48):

It was really exciting. We didn't expect it to take off the way that it did and we saw that there was such a huge need for this and so many students were talking about it while I was there. And since then, as soon as that happened, the university contacted us and they mentioned, Hey, is there a way that we can utilize this platform to relay information to students? Can we send out notifications through here? What are some ways that we can partner? And so that's kind of where the initial discussion even started because when we started Buzzy, it was really a student to student tool. And since then it's kind of evolved into something that is a lot more seeing how we can bridge the gap between students and then higher education administrators. And since then we've even pivoted a little bit more into how can we engage those students prior to coming to campus.

(08:35):

And so that's kind of where the tool has evolved to now. So it started as a student to student tool and now we are closer to a tool where we can help those higher education enrollment managers, different CMOs at universities to kind of bring that community to their campus before students even reach their campus. So how can we engage them? And then once they're at the campus because they're already involved, how can we continually send them information like scholarships, updates? We have different colleges within universities sending out information about any of those different types of things. Channels are really difficult nowadays because students don't check everything, but when you have something that students are checking, they want to see how that kind of goes. So really Whatley is, Isley started as a student to student tool and now we're a student higher engagement tool that helps universities bring students to their campus and then once they're at their campus, help them stay engaged.

(09:31):

And we like to think of ourselves as a sense of belonging platform where students can meet others in their same major, meet others with the same interests, really get connected, and then once they're connected prior to coming to campus, they're more likely to enroll into the university. So that's kind of what the platforms evolved to now. But really when we started it was just like, how can I meet other people in my major? How can I find other people from my hometown when I came to a four university and didn't know anyone? I'm interested, how do I connect with people,

Holly Owens (10:02):

Especially at those larger institutions, sometime you feel very disconnected besides the people, your class, but the classes, sometimes the lecture halls, but even the smaller communities too, it's really amazing what you're doing. And when you're saying you're connecting it with higher education administrators, I'm assuming you're connecting students with the places they need to go on campus to get things done and knowing who the people are that can help them maybe like financial aid or advising, stuff like that.

Srinjay Verma (10:34):

Right, exactly. And what we do is we help students by providing them with the resources. And I think a lot of other applications out there that are also similarly in our space don't do the best job of keeping it simple. And so we've done a great job of keeping it simple and keeping it focused on the student. And I think that's where we focus is like, Hey, we're built purpose-built from the student's perspective and we super tailor it to your campus. And I think that combination is something that's very unique when you look at the campus at the landscape as a whole. And that's what we've been hearing from our partner institutions is that's why they love this is because of the fact that they're able to tailor it so much. And then it's also super simple for the student to use.

Nadia Johnson (11:20):

I love it. You said something about how it started off as a student to student kind of platform, but you've now moved into this space of student to who are they? Who else are they able to connect with student to, I guess institution I would say,

Srinjay Verma (11:41):

Right? Yeah. So think about it like this. If you're applying to a four year institution and you're thinking about coming to that institution, how can you get involved in the community prior to coming to campus? So we help build up that community, but more importantly, once they do actually enroll, we help continue that and make it a seamless transition into their classes, into their university and their college and everything else. And so that's really exciting about this is the fact that you can actually build a really, really vibrant community prior to coming to campus and have all that convert over into enrolled students. And then the more important thing is actually keeping that persistence, keeping those students engaged throughout their four years or however long that they're going to be at the institution. And so the cool thing is with Ley, we take care of all that.

(12:34):

So you just kind of give us like, Hey, these are the students that are looking through our prospects and we help generate up that community for you. We do all the work of tailoring it for your brand and all that good stuff. And then once we've launched it, you already have, we can guarantee at least we're going to get 5,000 to 8,000 students involved in the first couple of weeks of launching it just because we know that the product itself does a great job of growing itself. When we first launched it, actually, we launched it in California, Sacramento State University, and then all of a sudden it started on its own, started going out to uc, Davis and UCLA and other campuses. They already

Holly Owens (13:13):

Nailed all the big ones,

Srinjay Verma (13:15):

Right? Yeah. So we saw what happened is what we saw is that the students themselves were sharing it, right? And so that's the key is because students are the ones sharing it with their friends. It's less of a university. We are a university provided tool, but you have your students that are the ones that are telling their friends about it. And so that's kind of a superpower with buzzy over other platforms that we've seen.

Holly Owens (13:41):

That's really cool. And I love it that they're sharing it also too, it's a great marketing tool or marketing situation for institutions if you're kind of doing with the prospective students. So they get an idea of what the culture and the community is already on the campus. So I could see the added value to that for institutions, especially in times we higher ed right now is kind of in a bit of a shift, I'll say when it comes to enrollment things and figuring out what kind of role higher ed plays in everybody's situations and in their lives. So this is a great tool to, it's important. You need to know you get a lot more than just a expensive piece of paper. You also get community and networking and career stuff.

Srinjay Verma (14:28):

Exactly. And what's exciting is that I think that we're seeing this, you just mentioned this shift, right? We're seeing this huge shift across all the higher education institutions as to ways that they can better serve their students. And I think that's amazing both for the student, but it's almost a necessity on the institutions and for them to do that, to be able to stay competitive, especially when students are kind of maybe even shifting away from higher ed nowadays because of there may be a little bit of a distrust with higher ed. And so how can we combat that? And I think community is a great way to do that.

Nadia Johnson (15:05):

That's awesome. I kind want to jump around a little bit. I do have a question. I'm curious. So data, privacy, security, all of those things. And then also just keeping, because this is a student to student platform, keeping the interactions between students kind of positive, what steps do you guys take at Ley to kind of safeguard student data, protect their privacy and make sure that those interactions between that student to student is positive and conducive to helping them within the higher ed space and navigating the higher ed space or that secondary schooling?

Srinjay Verma (15:55):

That's a great question. And you hit it on the nose, right? That's the number one question that we get. And it's really important to really have a safe and inclusive environment. And that's the first thing that we had to figure out when we launched the product was like, how are we going to keep this safe, inclusive and also be reflective of the campus's values? Because every campus is different and every campus has their own culture and how can we tailor that? And so a couple of things that we've done is we like to think of ourselves as the safe alternative to these communities because we see other communities that have popped up and I think that's amazing. Some anonymous platforms which are great, but you also have a lot of toxicity and sometimes a lot just a lot of bullying and harassment that can happen on.

(16:40):

So how do you kind of veer away from that? And what we've done is we've really created a really unique balance between having on-campus moderators, so those moderators that are employed by us. So we pray for these student moderators, but then we also work with Institution one-on-one to have what their different centers, whether that be the L-G-B-T-Q Center or for example, it might be the MLK center, whatever that might look like. We work with them individually to come up with a set of community guidelines that fits that campus and then we deploy that out. And the other thing is on the platform itself, we're also using a lot of things like AI and these other things like that. But what we've seen, the biggest way to keep it safe is students know that this is a platform to come to share their thoughts and be authentic about themselves and meet people, but they also know that this is somewhat loosely correlated with the university. So we are seeing that students are not really taking that kind of going a little bit off the beaten path and saying some of those things that we've seen. So a mixture of the moderation and then also just the context in which students are posting on it is also really important.

Holly Owens (17:53):

Obviously you have to follow FERPA guidelines with anything if you're dealing with higher education institutions. And I'm sure that's already a given because that's the first thing they come at you with is you have to go through all this. But yeah, it sounds really amazing and it has taken off for you, which is awesome. And I'm really glad that you were able to come on the show and share about Buzzy. We definitely would love to have you back and see what's happening with Buzzy in about six months. But we're coming up on the end of the episode. It goes pretty fast, the conversation. And we have two final questions for you. So is there anything else you want to share about Ley, anything you forgot, any things that you want the audience to know? And obviously we're going to have things in the show notes for them to reach out to you and reach and go check out Ley. And then the last question, kind of going along with the trends, we want to look into the future a bit. So we want to know your take from being an entrepreneur and co-founding this ed tech tool. What does the future look like? So did we miss anything? And then tell us about the future.

Srinjay Verma (19:04):

Yeah, sounds good. I think we hit on most of the points. I think the only thing I would say is that if you are at a four-year institution or a tutor institution, you're looking at all these different tools that are coming at you, really looking at them and saying, which of these tools are going to really have the biggest ROI for my students and my institution? And how can we prove that? I think at Buzzy we have a really great way to be able to showcase how many students and how many students we can convert over. And not only do the numbers show it, the students themselves are the different student organization bodies on campus and students themselves start raving about the products. So I think when you're looking at the different options to bring students to your campus, consider buzly as an option because students are really raving about us.

(19:49):

And then I think on the point about the future of EdTech, I think that's a really great point to bring up. I think there's a lot of different things out there. I would say when I'm looking at in the next five years, I think that education, we're going to see a lot of these AI tutors that are going to be popping up. And I think that personalization is going to be the number one thing for higher ed to be able to get ahold of because of the fact that just technology is moving so quick. And I think that students are learning what they would be learning in a classroom potentially through AI at a much shorter timeframe. And so how can you leverage that as an institution? How can you bring those AI tutors personalization to your classroom and how can you do that in a way? So I think that's the first thing. And then the other thing I think is that I hope that this trend goes back up, but I think that we're going to a continued decreased enrollment across the board when it comes to the higher education sector. However, I am optimistic, I'm an optimistic type of person. So I would say I'm optimistic that I think with some tools, and I think also with some mind shifts at institutions, we can start to curb that decrease.

Holly Owens (21:10):

So what you're saying is higher ed needs to change, get with the times. I haven't been in higher ed working for about two years now, but I know what know. It's like I remember being a student and stuff. So higher ed needs to embrace the change in what's happening. And I think they are starting to do that. I'm not trying to harp on higher ed, but it's time. It is definitely time. Well, this is awesome. Thank you so much for coming on the show and talking to Nadia and myself and sharing all the things about Ley.

Srinjay Verma (21:48):

Thanks so much for having us. It was an amazing conversation. Yes,