TeachersPayTeachers (TpT), a popular online marketplace for teacher-created resources, is getting a new CEO who certainly knows a thing or two about helping people buy and sell.
On August 7, TpT announced that Adam Freed, who was formerly COO at Etsy and head of International Product Management and International Online Sales Operations at Google, will be taking the reins of the New York City-based company as CEO.
The online marketplace, which enables educators to upload and sell their materials, has had a big summer. In July, TpT’s first-ever conference for sellers was met with wild enthusiasm. (One seller and attendee described the event as “right up there with my wedding day, and the days my kids were born.”) On July 19, the company surpassed $100 million in sales, $82.5 million of which went directly to teacher-sellers.
Freed is eager to get involved in the community-driven TpT. “The best marketplaces often have a dynamic where the buyers and sellers are working together in concert,” Freed tells EdSurge. “A teacher could be selling amazing materials one day, and buying amazing materials for her own classroom the next day.”
To Freed, this spirit of collaboration is embodied in “the TpT Way,” which emphasizes collaboration over competition. “The mission and the community are inspiring,” says Freed. “It’s really about exchanging the best information, which creates a thriving, dynamic community and a fast-growing marketplace.”
Paul Edelman, who founded TpT in 2006 as a response to the frustrating lack of resources he encountered as a teacher, is confident that Freed will build out the TpT community. “Adam’s knowledge of online marketplaces is unparalleled,” Edelman explains. “I know he’ll help TpT have an even greater positive impact.”
With Freed’s appointment, former CEO John Yoo will transition towards TpT’s initiatives around mobile and digital tools as Vice President of New Markets.