The EdTech Graduating 150K by 2X’ing Completion Rates | Zach Heller, VP of Prod. (Penn Foster)

Episode notes

Today, we’re talking with Zach Heller, VP of Product at Penn Foster Group. In this episode, we discuss: How Penn Foster plans to literally “fill a stadium” with 150,000 graduates by 2029—doubling completion rates to do it Why they shifted focus from acquisition to graduation—and how that’s now driving over 50% of enrollments through word-of-mouth How AI-powered learning tools boosted course completions by 25% in just one year, setting a new record for outcomes Links LinkedIn: Resources The Hidden Cost of 0.1% Churn | Ken Houseman, VP of Product (Zuora): Chapters 00:00 Doubling Completion Rates & Graduation Goals 02:04 Filling a Stadium: The 150K Graduate Vision 04:09 Fixing the Funnel: Retention Over Acquisition 06:14 Experimentation That Doubled Completion 08:17 B2B vs B2C: Why Completion Rates Drive Revenue 10:19 Word of Mouth as a Growth Engine 12:21 Fail Fast, Learn Faster: Experimentation Mindset 14:24 AI-Powered Learning: Writing Coach Breakthrough 18:00 Human + AI: Scaling Student Support 20:34 Product-Led Growth in EdTech 24:37 Economic Mobility Through Education 26:41 Looking Ahead: Scaling to 150K by 2029 36:56 Final Takeaways: Experimentation at Scale Follow LaunchPod…