????出售公司、迅速變現和功成身退可以說是現如今許多初創企業創始人的夢想。目前市場動蕩，誰又能譴責這種做法呢？

????然而，總部位于紐約的Knewton公司卻沒有動搖，堅持做自己的業務。這家在線教育公司于周二宣布，將與出版商培生（Pearson）攜手，將其自適應學習技術融入到培生的在線課程之中，該合作將從大學程度課程開始逐步推進。

????Knewton非但沒有賣掉公司，反而與原本可能是公司潛在收購者的教育行業巨擘達成了合作協議。隨著新型教育技術市場日趨升溫，這宗交易只不過是初創企業開始與業內重量級企業平等對話的最新例證。

????Knewton所使用的算法能夠跟蹤學生的學習方式，根據學生個人的優缺點提供不斷增大難度的定制化課程。該系統旨在隨著學生用戶人數不斷增加而提升智能化程度，與谷歌（Google）的搜索結果頗為類似。

????培生的近900萬大學適齡在線學生將在Knewton系統內進行學習，從而創建一個有關學生在線學習方式的龐大而寶貴的數據庫。培生則將獲得Knewton自適應學習技術的部分專有權。而對于在最近由培生和風險投資公司Founders Fund領投的風險投資中獲得3,300萬美元融資的Knewton而言，它將基于培生（PSO）的在線學生數量，享受利潤分成。Knewton創始人兼首席執行官喬斯?費拉雷稱：“培生具有強大的網絡效應。”

????市場對在線教育的需求正呈現爆炸式增長。研究機構Ambient Insight的報告顯示，到2015年，預計全球的學校和企業在線學習市場將由2010年的321億美元增長至約500億美元。并非只有培生這一家公司希望從這種增長中分得一杯羹。新聞集團（News Corp）于去年11月斥資3.6億美元收購了總部位于布魯克林的教育技術供應商Wireless Generation 90%股權。高等教育項目供應商阿波羅集團（Apollo Group）于今年8月斥資7,500萬美元收購了自適應學習公司Carnegie Learning Technology。此外，NBC環球（NBCUniversal）、甚至迪斯尼（Disney）等公司也開始涉足在線學習領域。

????培生在收購方面無疑已經是老手。據投資銀行Berkery Noyes透露，培生今年迄今為止已完成了六宗收購。該出版商于今年9月剛剛以4億美元現金收購了總部位于巴爾的摩的網絡虛擬學校運營商Connections Education。1月份，培生還以1.27億美元收購了總部位于印度班加羅爾的在線學習初創企業TutorVista 76%的股權。

????據Berkery Noyes表示，今年迄今為止，教育行業并購活動合計規模達到78億美元，較2010年全年的63億美元有所上升。“業內正出現某種程度的圈地運動，”塔克說道，“培生等公司目睹傳統業務正在縮水，所以正紛紛買入并投資于視線所及的一切目標。”

????過去的情況并非如此。教育行業與新聞和音樂等行業不同，作為媒體世界一部分，這個行業在某種程度上遏制了數字技術的顛覆性影響。該行業的主要業務合作伙伴是學校體系和大學，也就是所謂的正規市場，而這個市場的變革速度之慢令人發指。該市場與主要出版公司之間根深蒂固的業務關系亦絲毫未受電子技術的影響。

????小型公司通常很難在這個市場有所作為。費拉雷指出：“初創企業過去甚至從未曾試圖涉足正規市場。與整個學區建立合作的可能性很小。這種情況確實限制了小公司的發展壯大。”

????但是，隨著平板電腦逐步進入課堂和大學校園，以及傳統課本出版以外的網絡教育資源日益普及，一切都已開始改變。現在，該行業中的頂尖企業正在積極行動，為未來早做籌謀，即便這意味著必須與一家在過去可能會全盤收購的初創企業展開合作。“這看來就像他們（培生）所說的那樣，‘既然我們面臨這被顛覆的命運，不如讓我們自我顛覆吧’”，總部位于華盛頓特區的教育智庫Education Sector的董事總經理比爾?塔克這樣說道。

????那么培生為何不自己開發一個類似產品呢？畢竟，2010年自由現金流總額達到14億美元的培生早已在其被廣泛使用的MyLab和Mastering軟件中推出了類似特點。“市場上已經存在Knewton這樣的公司，它專注于一點，并且表現出色。在這種情況下，培生很難復制它的成功，”培生教育出版集團（Pearson Education）高等教育數學部門總裁格雷格?托賓說。“我們可以做同樣的事情，但這必然將花費我們更長的時間。”

????這樣一來，Knewton這樣的公司在討價還價中就處于很有利的地位。有了重大支持和一流合作伙伴作為后盾，現在剩下的問題是，Knewton是否能以足夠快的速度行動起來，滿足市場的需求。“我們有點受寵若驚”，喬斯?費拉雷承認。“我們原本只是一個70人的團隊，但到明年底可能將擴大至150人，甚至200人。”

????如果Knewton能夠成功達成目標，它將成為教育行業大浪淘沙后幸存的公司之一。“只有少數公司能夠成功完成這種過渡，”Education Sector的比爾?塔克稱。“大部分公司要么會被淘汰出局，要么功虧一簣。”

????Selling out, cashing in and calling it a day seems to be many startup founders' dream these days. And in a shaky market, who can really blame them?

????New York-based Knewton is hanging tough. The online learning company announced on Tuesday that it is pairing up with Pearson to add its adaptive learning technology to all of the publisher's online courses, starting with its college-level programs.

????Instead of selling itself, Knewton has entered into an agreement with the industry giant, which might otherwise have been an acquirer. The deal is just the latest sign that some startups are holding their own with the industry's heavyweights as the market for new educational technology heats up.

????Knewton uses an algorithm to track how students learn, tailoring courses incrementally based on a student's individual strengths and weaknesses. The system is intended to grow more intelligent as more students use it, much like Google's (GOOG) search results.

????Pearson's close to 9 million college-age digital students will work within Knewton's system, creating a massive amount of coveted data on how student learn online. Pearson will get semi-exclusive access to Knewton's adaptive learning technology. And Knewton, which recently raised $33 million in venture capital funding in a round led by Pearson and Founders Fund, will get a share of proceeds based on the number of Pearson's (PSO) online students. "Pearson is a network effect wrapped up in a bow," says Jose Ferreira, Knewton's founder and CEO.

????Demand for online education is exploding. The global market for online learning at schools and businesses is expected to grow from $32.1 billion in 2010 to approximately $50 billion by 2015, according to research firm Ambient Insight. And Pearson is far from the only player that's fighting for a piece of that growth. News Corp (NWS) purchased a 90% stake in Brooklyn-based Wireless Generation for $360 million last November. Apollo Group (APOL) purchased Carnegie Learning Technology, an adaptive learning company, in a $75 million deal this past August. And companies like NBCUniversal and even Disney (DIS) have begun to dip their toes into the online learning business.

????Pearson is certainly no stranger to buying the competition. It has completed six acquisitions this year so far, according to investment banking firm Berkery Noyes. The publisher acquired Baltimore-based virtual school provider Connections Education in a $400 million cash deal in September. And in January, the company acquired a $127 million 76% stake in TutorVista, an online learning startup based in Bangalore, India.

????According to Berkery Noyes, there has been a total of $7.8 billion worth of mergers and acquisitions activity in the education industry so far this year, up from $6.3 billion for 2010. "There's a bit of a land grab going on," says Tucker. "Folks like Pearson are buying and investing in everything in sight because they are seeing legacy businesses disappear."

????It wasn't always like this. Unlike journalism and music for example, education has been the one part of the media world that has, more or less, kept digital disruption at bay. The industry's primary business partners -- school systems and universities, the so-called formal market - are notoriously slow to change. Deeply entrenched business ties with the major publishing companies don't hurt either.

????Smaller firms have traditionally had a hard time making much impact. "Startups have historically not even tried to take on the formal market. It's not that likely you are going to get a school district to work with you. It really limits growth," Ferreira says.

????That has begun to change as tablet computers make their way to classrooms and college campuses and as web-based education resources outside traditional textbook publishing become increasingly available. Now, the industry's top firms are rushing to secure their future -- even if it means partnering with a startup that it would have acquired outright in the past. "It seems like they [Pearson] are saying, 'if we are going to get disrupted, let's disrupt ourselves,'" says Bill Tucker, managing director at Washington, D.C.-based think tank Education Sector.

????Why not create a similar product in-house? After all, Peason, which reported a total of $1.4 billion in free cash flow in 2010, already offers similar features in its widely used MyLab and Mastering software. "When you have a group like Knewton, focused on doing one thing and one thing well, it's hard for Pearson to replicate," says Greg Tobin, president of the higher education math division at Pearson Education. "You could say that we could do the same thing, but it sure as heck would take us a lot longer."

????That puts firms like Knewton in a good position to bargain. With major backing and a first tier partner, the question is whether Knewton can mobilize quickly enough to meet demand. "We are overwhelmed," admits Knewton's Ferreira. "We're 70 people now and I think we'll grow to 150, maybe 200 by the end of next year."

????If they can pull it off, they will be among very select company within the education industry. "Few companies make that transition," says Education Sector's Bill Tucker. "They either get taken out or they don't make it."