????數字教育系統的美好前景已讓眾多風投資本紛紛轉向快速發展的教育科技類初創公司。無數軟件門戶網站開始設定宏偉目標，要提高當前學校系統的效率，打造更多數字化工具，提高課堂教學的效率。不少教輔類初創公司和慕課（MOOC）這樣的大規模在線開放課程已經吸引了大筆風投。還有各種代數游戲，沒錯，形形色色、數不勝數的代數游戲。

????過去五年來教育科技初創公司的蓬勃發展讓很多人開始覺得，我們正在接近教育科技浪潮的頂峰。因此，人們又開始把“泡沫”這個詞掛在嘴邊。2012年，風投投向教育科技初創公司的金額約為6億美元，是2002年同類投資額的近四倍。

????與此同時，行業觀察人士對最新出現的教育科技創新成果卻并沒有表現得過分激動。

????麥格勞?希爾學校教育集團（McGraw-Hill School Education）總裁彼得?科恩在近期于紐約舉行的DeSilva& Phillips交易人大會上說：“我不再需要另一款代數應用了。我就是不再需要了。硅谷的所有人都覺得他們打造了史無前例的一款代數應用。而這并不是最大的問題所在，盡管代數本身還是一個問題。”

????并購公司Providence Equity Partners資深顧問布萊恩?納派克表示，很多教育科技類公司的目標都定得太低了。“他們是不是真的打造了一款能解決一些人需求的產品？決策者是不是真的覺得這是一個問題？”他說。“市面上已經有很多教材了。別跟我說是你開發了第一款數字化教材，沒人會把它當回事。”

????“小題大做”這個問題并不是教育科技業所獨有。大家只要看看各種跟風的照片分享和音樂軟件領域就會發現，很多此類初創公司的產品都開始趨同。風投公司Upfront Ventures投資人馬克?舒斯特和First Round Capital公司的克里斯?弗拉里克用“FNAC”這個詞來描述那種理念只是一種“產品特性，而非公司”（a "feature, not a company）的初創企業，這個詞現在已在業內流傳開來。

????但不管怎樣，教育領域中那些基于一些細小特性打造的公司還是顯得特別有吸引力。而長期以來，把持這個領域一直是被那些與教材巨頭有著深厚關系的公司，以及那些科技中堅公司。這類公司如STI教育數據管理解決方案公司（STI Education Data Management Solutions）或復興學習公司（Renaissance Learning），后者已成立了29年，近期剛獲得谷歌公司（Google）全新私募基金投資子公司谷歌資本（Google Capital）四千萬美元投資。而學校之所以在采用新技術上行動遲緩是因為它們別無選擇：它們的采購流程僵化復雜，包括很多環節，如簽訂合同、提交請求建議書（RFP）、聘請律師、多輪評審、審核批準以及合規審查。因此，小型初創企業要想把自己的產品賣進學校難上加難。光這個采購周期就長得足以讓這類企業把錢燒光了。

????納派克表示，對這些教育科技初創企業來說，不了解自己所面對的這個市場是它們最常見的通病。而學校之所以是這么難纏的客戶，原因在于它們沒有賺錢的動力——它們的目標是教育學生，而不是賺錢。

????The promise of a digital-first education system has driven venture capital dollars into the fast-growing category of education technology startups. There are countless software portals aiming to create efficiencies in school systems and even more digital tools for streamlining the classroom. There are tutoring startups and MOOCs, or massive open online courses, that have attracted massive venture funding. And there are algebra games. Oh yes. Many, many, algebra games.

????The explosion of ed-tech startups in the last five years has led many to speculate we're approaching peak ed-tech. The word "bubble" has been thrown around. Venture firms invested around $600 million into ed-tech startups in 2012, which is approximately four times as much as they did in 2002.

????Meanwhile, industry observers aren't terribly excited about the most latested-tech innovations.

????"I don't need another algebra app," said Peter Cohen, president, McGraw-Hill School Education, speaking at the recent DeSilva& Phillips Dealmakers conference in New York. "I don't need another one. Everyone in Silicon Valley thinks they've created the first algebra app ever. That's not actually the biggest problem, although algebra is a problem," he said.

????Brian Napack, a senior advisor to buyout firm Providence Equity Partners, said many ed-tech companies are aiming too low. "Do they have a product that's actually a solution for someone's needs, and will the decision makers recognize that it's a problem?" he asked. "There are lots of gradebooks out there. Don't tell me you've got the first digital gradebook, and also nobody is viewing that as a problem."

????The "small problem" problem isn't unique to ed-tech. Look no further than the sea of derivative photo-sharing and music apps to see how many startups' offerings start to blend together. Venture investors Mark Suster of Upfront Ventures and Chris Fralic of First Round Capital popularized the term "FNAC" to describe startups whose idea is a "feature, not a company."

????Regardless, companies based around small features are particularly tempting in the education sector, which has been dominated by longstanding relationships with textbook giants, and tech stalwarts like STI Education Data Management Solutions, or Renaissance Learning, a 29-year-old company which Google's (GOOG) new private equity arm, Google Capital, just invested $40 million into. Schools are slow to adopt new technology because they have to be: Their procurement processes are inflexible and complicated, involving contracts, RFPs, lawyers, review cycles, approvals, and compliances. This makes it difficult for small startups to sell their products into schools. The procurement cycle alone lasts long enough for a startup to run out of money.

????Napack said not understanding the market they're selling to is the most common mistake for ed-tech startups. Schools make complicated customers because they're not financially motivated -- their goal is to educate students, not make money.