FACE FORWARD: Establishing trust is paramount for edtech firms--and doubly so for organizations working with communities that have good cause to be suspicious about promises. "The military is hyper aware of the bad actors out there chasing the GI Bill," notes Gunnar Counselman of Fidelis. One way to fight it: Fidelis recently shot a collection of YouTube videos of the firm's execs talking about what they do. "We hope that people will see us and what we're doing and start to trust us," he says. Video these days isn't a big ticket item; after all, the actors are "free," Gunnar says wryly. "We think education is about building trust and then using that trust to drive students to hit goals that they never thought was possible," he says. And besides, he adds: "If you're not planning to do the right thing, you don't put your picture up on your website."
