31

Robi-10 Minute School:

The Future of the Largest Classroom of Bangladesh1

Md. Ridhwanul Haq, Sibbir Riyan, Akibur Rahman,

Faiyaz Uddin Ayeshik, & Mahir Hossain2
The case study aims to explore the exponential rise of Robi-10 Minute School
and seek a complete business model for the online platform that teaches 1
million students. Riddled with poverty, insufficient infrastructure, and inefficient
administration, the macroeconomic condition and the education landscape of
Bangladesh are similar to those of major South Asian countries. Hence, the case
firstly traces the development of Robi- 10 Minute School from a mere Facebook
page to the largest online classroom of Bangladesh. Secondly, it will investigate
the major milestones that transformed 10 Minute School. The milestones will
uncover how to pioneer online education in Asian countries with low internet
penetration. Thirdly, it will further uncover the prime success factors. In doing so,
the case will exemplify how low-fund startups can harness the power of
communities to drive reach and growth. Fourthly, we sought to unearth the
current and future challenges of 10 Minute School and what future steps the
company is undertaking to combat those challenges. Moreover, the future
outlook also presents how one can leverage networks to expand beyond
boundaries. Finally, the case offers further recommendations that will
demonstrate how to channel expertise in the education industry to enter related
industries and create a solid revenue model in the process. Understanding how
10 Minute School overcame and turned common Asian challenges into
prospects can provide a general guideline for booming Asian EdTech startups
who are struggling with inadequate funding, incomplete revenue model, and
unfavorable macro factors.
Keywords: Free education, Online education, EdTech, Community building.
Glossary: 10 MS = 10 Minute School, NCTB = National Curriculum and Textbook
Board.

1
This case was selected as the Bronze medal Award-winning case among the Top 10 best cases
based on World Asian Business Case Competition (WACC) 2020.
2
Md. Ridhwanul Haq is a Professor of Institute of Business Administration, University of Dhaka
(email: mrh@iba-du.edu)
Sibbir Riyan (Corresponding author) is a student, Institute of Business Administration, University of
Dhaka (email: ryanprottoy3016@gmail.com)
Akibur Rahman is a student, Institute of Business Administration, University of Dhaka
(email: akib.93.ar@gmail.com)
Faiyaz Uddin Ayeshik, is a student, Institute of Business Administration, University of Dhaka
(email: ayeshik98@gmail.com)
Mahir Hossain is a student, Institute of Business Administration, University of Dhaka
(email: hossainmahir1911@gmail.com)

ACADEMY OF ASIAN BUSINESS REVIEW ISSN: 2384-3454 / 20 / $10.00

Vol. 6, No. 2. DECEMBER 2020 ⓒ Academy of Asian Business 2020
32 ACADEMY OF ASIAN BUSINESS REVIEW, DECEMBER 2020

Established in 2014 by Ayman Sadiq as a Facebook page, Robi-10 Minute

School is now the largest web-based educational platform in Bangladesh where
380,000 students from all over the country learn, practice, and progress in various
academic and non-academic topics for free every day. Robi-10 MS now features a
massive academic resource database containing more than 17440 video tutorials,
49530 online quizzes, 914 smartbooks, and 1234 blogs across its website,
Facebook page, YouTube channels, and mobile application. In 6 years, the
company has garnered 6.5 million followers across Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube,
and Instagram. The official Facebook page has more than 983,256 monthly page
views. The mobile application has more than 1 million downloads on Play Store
(Robi-10 Minute School App, 2020). The company has already bagged various
prestigious international awards such as the Asia-Pacific ICT Awards 2017 and the
Global Mobile Awards 2017 for its socially responsible business model. The
founder Ayman Sadiq has also been listed in the Forbes 30 under 30 Asia and won
the Queen’s Young Leaders Award 2018 for his far-reaching impact on the
education sector of Bangladesh. Despite such massive popularity and a conducive
business environment, Robi-10 MS has not yet monetized the platform because
doing so would go against their former values. With increasing pressure from Robi
and investors alike, how does 10 Minute School plan to create a solid revenue
model? Will 10 MS go against its original value proposition of 100% free
education or move into a new industry?
The case thus aims to explore the best steps for Robi-10 Minute School to move
forward with a complete business model. It will also delineate the journey of 10
MS from a Facebook page to the nation’s biggest classroom. Understanding how a
team formed by students without external funding in its first 2 years pioneered
online education in a country with a 13.9% internet penetration rate will guide the
next Asian EdTech startups who are currently facing the exact same problems.
However, the success of Robi-10 MS in the online education sector of Bangladesh
was not a standalone element. Before we understand why so happened and what
contributed to the success, it is imperative to understand the macro-environment in
which the company operates.

Education in Bangladesh: Problems Turned into Prospects

21.8% of 18 million people live under the national poverty line in Bangladesh,
while 9.2% earn below $1.9 a day (Bangladesh: Poverty, 2019). However, contrary
to the low living standard, the cost of education is disproportionately high.
According to Trines (2019), the dropout rate among elementary students in
 Robi-10 Minute School 33

Bangladesh was 20%, whereas the dropout rate is 38% in the lower secondary level.
The figure among girls was even higher- a staggering 42% dropped out before the
secondary level. Poverty along with the high cost of education was identified as the
core issue. Moreover, other issues such as poor administration, unavailability of
quality teachers, high student to teacher ratio, societal barriers against female
education and impractical study materials made quality education a luxury good in
Bangladesh.
The quality of tertiary education is even worse. According to UNESCO, the
gross enrolment ratio in tertiary education in Bangladesh stood at only 17.6% in
2017. Bangladesh has only a handful number of top tier universities all of which
are mostly based in the capital city of Dhaka. Because of the over-centralized
nature of education exacerbated by the high population, only 5% of the total upper-
secondary graduate students can study in the low-cost public universities. Others
have to resort to private universities, a relatively new establishment in Bangladesh
marked by their exorbitant course fees. The total fees in undergraduate courses the
private universities can range between 10,000 USD to 18,000 USD, whereas the
GDP per capita income of Bangladeshi people was recorded 1203.30 USD in 2018
(Bangladesh GDP per capita, 2018). Therefore, students resort to high-cost tuition
centers. However, the quality coaching industry is offline and extremely
centralized in major cities. Hence 25.5 million rural students of the total 40 million
student base spend 26.13% of their education cost on low-quality coaching (Trines,
2019).
Ayman Sadiq identified these loopholes in the education system of Bangladesh
and came up with a solution: 10 Minute School, a free internet-based quality
education platform. The next section will discuss the target market of 10 MS.
Defining the target segment will help us understand how 10 MS captured the
largest market pie share and why it underpinned their future strategies.

Defining the Core Audiences of Robi-10 Minute School

Over the years, Robi-10 MS captured 4 broad segments. The first category under
the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) is the largest segment of all:
27 million students from grades 1-12. Capturing the first segment equates to
capturing 70% of the market. The rest comprises the job seekers: 5.5 million
people, tertiary-level: 3.3 million students, and finally, admission-seekers: 0.9
million. Ziaus Shams, Head of Production at Robi-10 MS, further defined the
target segment as “learners aged between 12 to 35 and parents who had children
studying in grades 1 to 12.” This target population lived in suburban and urban
34 ACADEMY OF ASIAN BUSINESS REVIEW, DECEMBER 2020

areas. They are born netizens. The demographics are active on social media,
especially Facebook.

Development Timeline

Robi-10 MS is a prime example of a successful student-run organization

operating on a mass scale. Every detail of its development matters, because the
timeline will unearth how few students with almost no experience created the
biggest online learning platform in Bangladesh.
The timeline can be divided into 3 distinct phases i.e., Bootstrapping phase
(2014- Feb 2016), Awareness and Credibility Phase (2016-2018), and Growth
Phase (2019 and beyond). The following figure outlines the major events and
peripheral events crucial to the success of Robi-10 MS.

Figure 1
Development Timeline of Robi-10 MS

Source: 10 Minute School: Pordar Pechoner Golpo’ (Story Behind the Scene), 2017
 Robi-10 Minute School 35

Turning Points

Partnership with Robi Axiata Ltd.

In its bootstrapping phase (2014-2016), 10 MS was a fully student-run
organization. Despite having a lot of strategies, the team did not have enough
resources to execute the ideas. In the meantime, 10 MS continued creating content
for the NCTB and the admission-seeking segments on Facebook. Facebook was
being used as an education channel for the first time in Bangladesh. Within a
noticeably short time, their popularity skyrocketed. Their vibrant online presence
caught people’s attention. Then in February 2016 came the first funding from Robi
Axiata Ltd.
The sponsorship equipped them with adequate resources to capture the 4 broad
segments. Just within 2 years, 10 MS did not only create content enough to cover
the whole NCTB syllabus but also increased the market pie itself by aiming for
students of every category, starting from a toddler in class 1 to employees requiring
specified skills. This strategy of broadening the pool is further discussed in the
Success Factors section. The following figure compares the number of videos and
views in the pre-sponsorship and post-sponsorship period. While 10 MS produced
only an average of 245 videos/year before the sponsorship, the team started
creating 834 videos/year afterward.

Figure 2
Comparison of YouTube Videos Published before and after the Partnership

Source: YouTube
36 ACADEMY OF ASIAN BUSINESS REVIEW, DECEMBER 2020

The partnership is considered the biggest milestone for 10 MS for the right
reasons. Firstly, with the technical and financial support, 10 MS could create the
largest digital content library in Bangladesh, an entry barrier too high for any
competitor to overcome. Its website became the storehouse of digital study
materials for NCTB students. Secondly, the wide content coverage became the
source of growth and sustainability for 10 MS. YouTube views and subscribers
went up exponentially. The brand promise of providing free education for everyone
was well-lived.

Figure 3
Rise of YouTube Subscribers before and after the Partnership

Source: YouTube

Thirdly, 10 MS along with Robi launched a nation-wide activation program

across major educational institutions in Bangladesh. To further encourage students
to join the platform, Robi created affordable internet bundles for students. Finally,
in 2018, the company rebranded itself as “Robi-10 Minute School” (10 Minute
School Rebrands, 2018). The rebranding enabled 10 MS to tap into Robi’s vast
pool of corporate expertise, gain massive exposure, and most important of all, build
a flexible brand image that can be translated into a business entity.

MoU with National ICT Division: Empowering Underprivileged Students

 Robi-10 Minute School 37

During the time 10 MS was booming, the whole country was going through a
massive digital transformation. In 2009, the Bangladesh government adopted its
agenda of ‘Digital Bangladesh’ to digitize the whole country through elevated use
of technology in all sectors. The effort became stronger over the years along the
time when 10 MS was founded. The ICT-friendly government policies put wind to
the sails and 10 MS readily grabbed the opportunity. On 15th January 2017, the
company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the ICT Division
of Bangladesh Government in the agreement of promoting digital education in the
country together. This event brought a big turning point for Robi-10 MS in terms
of reaching out to the students, creating a social impact, and building goodwill
across the country.
In an interview with a national daily in 2017, CEO Ayman Sadiq identified
reaching out to students in the farthest corners of Bangladesh to be one of the
biggest challenges for his company (Mizan, 2017). In the socio-cultural context of
Bangladesh, ensuring the access of the students to the platform is a huge obstacle.
The country did not yet join the digital revolution happening worldwide. According
to the World Bank, only 18% of a total of 158 million people had access to the
internet in 2016. The numbers went down to 15% in the following year making the
task of Robi-10 MS even more difficult.

Figure 4
Comparison of Internet Penetration Rate of Bangladesh with Global Average

Source: Individuals using the Internet (% of population) | Data, 2017

38 ACADEMY OF ASIAN BUSINESS REVIEW, DECEMBER 2020

The collaboration with the ICT division became a gamechanger for 10 MS.
Firstly, they could go beyond the constraint of individual access to the internet.
Leveraging the government infrastructure, the team was able to connect to many
students who did not have access to the internet. Furthermore, Robi-10 MS along
with ICT Division could now broadcast its classes to 2,001 training labs across the
country benefiting thousands of students (Mizan, 2017). Secondly, 10 MS started
working on a project called ‘Learning and Earning’ in association with the ICT
division in 2017 to facilitate basic ICT training for 20,000 girls in the secondary
education level. Through this program, the team empowered thousands of
underprivileged female students. Achieving these feats would not be possible
without national support (Robi-ICT division, 2017). Thirdly. it became
significantly easier for the 10 MS to reach out to its targeted segment more
accurately and efficiently. In the end, Robi-10 MS reached 50,000 individuals and
10% of all educational institutions in the country, through digital labs in 2017
(Jahan, 2017). This extended reach further helped the company in terms of keeping
its brand promise of ensuring free education for everyone, even people at the root
level of the country.

Mobile Application Launch: Solving the Internet Problem

A mobile application incorporated into online learning platforms provides
learners with ease of access and greater flexibility. Moreover, it also facilitates
higher completion rates and generates more user engagement (Pandey, 2016).
Hence, with a vision to increase convenience and decrease pain points, Robi-10
MS launched its mobile application on 29 January 2019.
The application comes with the trademark 10 MS content library, making it a
‘one-stop solution’ for learners of all ages. The app further uses gaming features
such as leaderboard, progress bar, medals, etc. The application was received
extremely positively among the 10 MS community. Only within a year, the
downloads hit 1 million on Play Store. The user engagement statistics retrieved
from the official Robi-10 MS application only validates our former claims.
According to the database, an average user spends 7 minutes 26 seconds daily on
the website, whereas the same user tends to spend 12 minutes 28 seconds on the
application.
However, ensuring convenience to generate higher user engagement and higher
reach is just the surface goal of the turning point. The focus of the application is
not merely on the improved User Experience (UX); rather it has far-reaching
implications in the context of Bangladesh. It has been mentioned earlier that the
internet penetration rate of Bangladesh is as low as 15%. In reality, the disparity
 Robi-10 Minute School 39

between the urban and rural landscape makes the figure even more outraging.
According to a study by LIRNEasia (2019), the number of internet users in rural
areas in Bangladesh was 42% less than that in the urban areas. As if to make the
matter worse, 64.14% of the country’s population is rural inhabitants (Moore,
2019). Therefore, learning through a website was not a possible solution for rural
students for two reasons. Firstly, broadband connection is still an alien concept in
the villages of Bangladesh. Secondly, the stability of the internet connection is
another grave concern. The average mobile internet speed in Bangladesh is 9.06
Mbps, whereas the global average speed stands at 25.06 Mbps (Molla and Islam,
2020). Since the application is suited for both online and offline learning, it has
been able to bring a greater pool of students under the platform enabling Robi-10
MS to march with greater force.

Success Factors

Content Coverage: Broadening the Pond

By the end of 2016, Robi-10 MS had already built its reputation as a trusted
platform among the students. It was time to reinforce trust by establishing authority.
In this process, Ayman Sadiq shared his dream of creating a free content library so
massive in size that it would cater to literally “everyone” (Jahan, 2017). The end
goal was to transmute Robi-10 MS into a one-stop destination for all the 4
segments, and Sadiq was not exaggerating.
On 29 August 2017, the Robi-10 MS team launched its YouTube Channel “10
MS Class 1 to 12”. Up until now, the channel has a playlist of 13,407 videos on
every topic in every subject under the NCTB system. Moreover, they used to
conduct on-demand live videos before any major board examination. The videos
were later uploaded to the channel as well. Furthermore, the team also created 914
smartbooks, the first of their kind, for this target segment.
The second step was to capture a common market among the four segments:
people seeking proficiency in English. The nationwide demand for the English
language in Bangladesh has its roots in her colonial past. Even today, it is seen as a
mandatory job skill and even an indicator of social class in Bangladesh. Thousands
of official and unofficial English coaching centers have mushroomed across
Bangladesh. However, their methods were problematic for three reasons. Firstly,
they charged an exorbitant fee of up to 230 USD for teaching English. Secondly,
most of the tutors did not even include listening and speaking in their course
40 ACADEMY OF ASIAN BUSINESS REVIEW, DECEMBER 2020

materials. Finally, their teaching and assessment methods were not standardized
(Rahman et al., 2019).
Robi-10 MS understood the vast demand for standardized and affordable English
language courses and thus created multiple playlists and smartbooks on learning
the English language. The domain later expanded and covered study materials of
various aptitude exams, i.e., IELTS, SAT, GRE, GMAT, and so on. In an interview
with the Business Development Team of Robi-10 MS, they are even planning to
launch an English app in the future. The course content will be categorized based
on difficulty level and professional needs.
The third step was to leverage the rising extra-curricular culture in Bangladesh.
Since 2010, every major university club was launching its debate competitions,
presentation competitions, business case solving competitions, cultural programs,
and Model United Nations discussion forums. In response, Robi-10 MS in
December 2015 released its playlist on how to crack a business case. The playlist
was an instant hit among business students and got more than 430,000 views on
YouTube. To capture this potential market, 10 MS later launched different
YouTube channels for different needs. The company also started creating content
on topics based on popular demand, i.e., digital marketing, software skills, job
skills, life skills, etc.
The strategy of broadening the pond proved valuable for three reasons. Firstly,
Robi-10 MS could reassess its frame of reference: they were not in the academic
business but the learning business. Such a definition allowed them to not only grab
the biggest chunk of the market pie, rather enlarge the pie itself. Secondly, the
massive content library has become a non-imitable unique selling proposition for
the foreseeable future. Finally, doing so enabled them to move into any industry
that is even remotely related to learning, a topic further discussed in the Future
Recommendations Section.
 Robi-10 Minute School 41

Figure 5
Content Library of Robi-10 MS

Source: Robi-10 MS Mobile Application

Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is a blend of traditional and contemporary modes of
marketing. It combines the conventional ways of celebrity endorsement with
modern-age content marketing. Many companies nowadays use influencer
marketing as a useful tool in their marketing campaigns, but few have been as
successful as Robi-10 MS in channeling influencer marketing to boost its cause.
Founder CEO Ayman Sadiq with his loud and charismatic appearance in different
social media has played a key role in the company’s marketing ventures.
42 ACADEMY OF ASIAN BUSINESS REVIEW, DECEMBER 2020

One of the key factors that solidified Ayman Sadiq’s brand image in the country
is his oratory skills. So far, he has conducted 53 activation sessions at different
institutions and 133 motivational sessions across the country. His vibrant online
and offline presence has earned him a large number of followers across different
platforms. Ayman Sadiq was also endorsed by several internationally recognized
media in the last four years. Forbes included him in 30 under 30 Social
Entrepreneurs list in 2018. In the same year, he received The Queen’s Young
Leader’s award that recognized his work in promoting education. Over the years,
these accolades concreted his brand image in the country and abroad.
Although the overall internet penetration rate in Bangladesh is much lower than
the global average, people’s access to social media is relatively high. Sadiq used
this high ratio of social media access to his advantage and successfully created a
large follower base. As of now, he has 1.3 million followers just on Facebook, and
815 thousand subscribers on YouTube. A majority of the videos that are published
through the official 10 MS Facebook page and YouTube channel are also published
through Sadiq’s profiles simultaneously. Soon, Ayman Sadiq and Robi-10 MS
became synonymous to the mass public. Moreover, people started to recognize him
as a poster boy of online education in Bangladesh due to his extraordinary work in
the area.
Apart from Ayman Sadiq, other public figures in the education sector also
onboarded the Robi-10 MS Team such as Sadman Sadik and Sakib Bin Rashid. For
better clarity, both of these influencers have than 200,000 followers across
different social media channels. As with Ayman Sadiq, major official 10 MS
contents are published simultaneously on their channels as well. Robi-10 MS thus
leveraged the publicity and trust of these influencers, used multi-channel
promotion, and reached a wider segment of audiences, hence a larger website
traffic and app usage with low acquisition cost.

Community Building: Harnessing the True Power of Communities

This section will further demonstrate how low-fund startups can reach millions
of students with minimal marketing by harnessing the power of communities.
According to Aminul Hakim, the president of the ISP Association of Bangladesh,
20.18% of the total national bandwidth is used for Facebook. Bangladesh has more
than 33 million Facebook users. Dhaka is ranked 1 in having the highest Facebook
users to total population ratio (Tarik, 2018).
10 MS saw Facebook as an opportunity since ideally, more than 55% of the
Facebook users match their target audience criteria (Napoleoncat, 2019). As if to
test the waters, on 17 April 2016, 10 MS conducted the first-ever live class in
 Robi-10 Minute School 43

Bangladesh. This response was overwhelming. On 31 May 2016, they created their
first-ever Facebook community called “10 MS Live!”. The purpose of this group
was to conduct live classes, engage the right users, and solve any problems the
students might be having. As of now, the group has more than 1.5 million members.
The success led to the formation of 9 other official groups and numerous unofficial
groups. These Facebook groups became the source of positive word-of-mouth and
user reviews. This example of building communities around the brand by Robi-10
MS became a textbook example of understanding user needs and delivering values
accordingly.

Table 1
Facebook Groups under Robi-10 Minute School

Source: Facebook

As part of accelerating user engagement and drive user-generated content, Robi-

10 MS added a new ‘Notes’ section in both the website and the app. The idea was
to encourage students to share study notes and feature the best notes in the Notes
section. Ayman Sadiq in an interview with ICE Business Times said that 10 MS
never invested in large-scale marketing. In fact, they had a negligible marketing
budget compared to the wide-scale reach. All they had to do was post updates in
the groups and the community did the rest. He concluded saying that creating the
community was the biggest strategy behind the success 10 MS so far.
44 ACADEMY OF ASIAN BUSINESS REVIEW, DECEMBER 2020

Challenges to be Addressed

Content Quality: Rethinking the Fundamentals

As discussed previously, content coverage has been a prime success factor for
Robi-10 MS. Similar platforms such as Onnorokom Pathshala and Bohubrihi were
simultaneously popping up. Thus, to capture the largest NCTB segment, 10 MS
had to create content within a short period. The team accepted the challenge
befittingly and covered the whole syllabus within 3 years of its operation, creating
14763 videos and averaging 13 videos per day.
However, creating educational content demands more than just efficiency.
Engagement and effectiveness are also important key performance indicators. 10
MS could successfully scale its content production because the video formats were
simple: a teacher explaining on a white keyboard. While doing so ensures the
accessibility of education, we must rethink our fundamentals of online education.
Online learning is not merely an alternative to offline education. Students will
truly embrace online platforms only when their perceived value will exceed that of
a physical classroom. They should make education more appealing by
incorporating dynamic content, i.e., animation, virtual objects, etc. and enhance the
learning experience for students. Moreover, some users have criticized the existing
content as well. For example, too short videos, noisy background audio, etc. Thus,
revising the published videos is a task at hand for quality assurance. Furthermore,
the flow of information is unidirectional. Adding a ‘Discussion Forum’ in the
existing platforms would have opened up opportunities for interaction and helped
future students as well.
A quick evaluation of the value propositions of the globally successful EdTech
companies reveals further scopes for Robi-10 MS. Just adding more videos will not
do the trick anymore. Rather, 10 MS needs to diversify its product offerings
through personalized learning, feedback, and assessment coupled with in-depth
analytics and recommendations.

Sponsorship dependent Business Model

Throughout the case, we have discussed how the partnership with Robi turned
out to be a major turning point for 10 MS. Robi did not support 10 MS with only
generous funding but also mentored the team and helped them gain wide-end
exposure. However, the big picture was different. 10 MS was a CSR project for
Robi. Robi had no intention to fund 10 MS throughout its lifetime. Rather, the
 Robi-10 Minute School 45

prime motive was to gradually turn 10 MS into a self-dependent business entity.

The more 10 MS grew, the less sponsorship it would be entitled to.
The original value proposition of 10MS now puts them in a precarious situation.
However, they must acknowledge that there are massive costs associated with
content production and operations. How will 10 MS grow once Robi stops funding
them? The next section will discuss whether Robi-10 MS will go against its former
values to generate revenue from its end users and introduce premium subscriptions
or the company will enter a whole new industry, maybe a new territory, to
complete its business model.

Future Plans by Robi 10 Minute School

Addressing the challenges naturally demands from us a solution. This section

will thus discuss the ongoing projects of Robi-10 MS that will enable us to look
into the future, make assumptions based on them, and provide recommendations to
combat the challenges.

E- Training App for Companies & NGOs: Creating a B2B Market

According to Mahmood and Akhter (2011), the employee training domain is still
underdeveloped in the corporate landscape of Bangladesh. Apart from in few
private and multinational companies, training and development are yet unorganized,
inconsistent, and irrelevant to the economy and industry. This situation makes the
management of human resources across organizations difficult and expensive.
Moreover, the training expenditure is not seen as worthwhile, and not considered as
an investment in organizational development in most organizations (Choudhury, et
al., 2020). The 10 MS team identified further issues that need to be addressed. On
18 February 2020, Robi-10 MS came up with a solution. It released its “E-Training
App” on Google Play Store. The team leveraged its expertise in B2C training
modules to drive the B2B segment. The primary target segment of this app was
larger national and multinational corporate firms and NGOs in Bangladesh. The
biggest selling point of the E-Training App is the number of human hours that the
app can save for the corporate houses. According to a case study on the impact of
this app on one of the adopters IDLC Finance, the app has been able to save 8000
human hours on training occasions for the company. The saved time can now be
used for business development purposes, minimizing the opportunity loss of time
(Robi-10 MS, n.d.). As per the claim of Robi-10 MS, the app can reduce training
cost by 73%. Therefore, this app has drawn the attention of the corporate firms that
46 ACADEMY OF ASIAN BUSINESS REVIEW, DECEMBER 2020

are looking to modernize and economize their HR activities. Till now, the new
application has been adopted by 11 major corporations in Bangladesh including
Unilever Bangladesh, Robi Axiata Ltd., British American Tobacco Bangladesh, etc.
The training modules are now offered based on monthly/yearly subscriptions.
The new application was important to the future of Robi-10 MS for two reasons.
Firstly, it offered 10 MS a chance to create a subscription-based revenue model.
Secondly, the application contains features such as training videos, quiz assessment,
field assessment by employers, document archives, onboarding training modules
for recruits, and analytics dashboard to assess employees. These new features can
later work as the foundation for future applications if 10 MS were to move into the
HR recruitment industry, cloud-based peer-to-peer software platform, or paid
master course platform.
In this regard, Udacity’s business model can be an inspiration for Robi-10 MS.
The company reported a 120-percent year-over-year increase in Quarter 3 of 2020.
According to Gabe Dalporto, the CEO of Udacity, most of the revenue has been
generated from the enterprise and government side, including even Fortune 500
Companies and the United States Department of Defense; the organizations want to
partner up with Udacity to build custom courses catered to their specific needs. The
CEO also reported that the demand is strong enough to send out an outbound sales
team to acquire the segment (Lunden, 2020).

The Asian Expansion: Leveraging the Axiata Network

As of now, there has not been any official announcement of any expansion plan.
However, in our interview with Robi-10 MS, we were given a basic idea about the
Asian expansion plan called “The Axiata Opportunity”.
The parent company of Robi is Axiata Group. Currently, the company has strong
footholds in the South Asian region. Before we explain why these countries are
relevant to our case, we need to revise the foundation upon which Robi-10 MS is
standing. We see that the core reasons behind establishing 10 MS were the
following: expensive quality education, poor teaching staff, centralized education
system, and absence of a free online education platform. Robi-10 MS identified the
exact issues in the education system of Nepal, Indonesia, and Cambodia. The
following table describes the Axiata Opportunity in detail.
 Robi-10 Minute School 47

Table 2
The Axiata Opportunity: Entering Asia

Source: MoEYS, 2018.; Roach, E., 2018.; Roach, E., 2019.; Unicef.org. 2018

Recommendations

Virtual Coaching Centre

As mentioned earlier, 29% of the education expense goes to coaching centers
and tutors, thus making it a 1.43-billion-dollar industry. However, rural students
lack access to quality coaching and yet spend a big chunk of money (26.13% of
total education cost) on substandard ‘personalized learning’ (Trines, 2019). This is
an opportunity for 10 MS to come up with a ‘virtual coaching model’. This model
has the potential to address a significant social issue as well as open up a revenue
source for 10 MS.
To address the viability of the solution, the potential user base of the project
comprises 25.5 million rural students (63.7% of the 40-million student population).
This is a conservative estimate since coaching facilities in small towns are also
below standard. Being the first-ever virtual coaching center in Bangladesh hence
allows 10 MS to leverage this untapped industry.
Nevertheless, questions regarding the original value proposition of free
education are bound to pop up. Taking a new project on virtual coaching does not
equate to monetizing the whole platform since all other facilities are going to be
offered for free as before. Rather, 10 MS is merely creating more value in the
48 ACADEMY OF ASIAN BUSINESS REVIEW, DECEMBER 2020

product offerings by responding to an underlying need of its customers. Since

people are already spending 26% on substandard tuition, they are more than likely
to welcome the idea of availing the same service from the best instructors of the
country who have 5+ years of experience in the education industry- that too at a
cheaper cost. We believe that 10 MS commands significant authority to make the
model a win-win situation.
The services may include scheduled classes for small group of students,
personalized assessment, two-way feedback channel, in-depth analytics to measure
the progress of students, and live consultation with parents. Additionally, the
content library of 10 MS will be linked to the platform so that the students can
access learning materials 24/7.
Furthermore, the project can act as a tool to elevate the partnership with Robi to
a new level. Because rural students do not have access to a fast broadband
connection, Robi can create affordable internet packages and acquire a huge
customer base in the process.

Digital Marketing and Content Consultancy Wing

Only a decade ago, digital marketing was a completely novel concept in
Bangladesh. However, with the digital revolution in place, Bangladesh is now a
breeding ground for digital agencies. At present, there are 34 million active social
media users and 32 million active mobile social users in Bangladesh. However,
what caught everyone’s eyes are the staggering growth rates in the digital
landscape. The following figure shows the prospects of digital marketing in
Bangladesh.
Figure 6
Digital Marketing Landscape in Bangladesh

Source: Digital in Bangladesh 2019 Report | HYPE Dhaka, 2019

 Robi-10 Minute School 49

People thus jumped on the bandwagon of creating digital agencies. Since then,
hundreds of agencies have mushroomed in the metropolitan cities. However, there
was no unified definition of digital marketing in Bangladesh. Most of the agencies
are run by run by 5-6 part-time students having no real-life experience.
Furthermore, digital marketing in Bangladesh translates into Facebook marketing
only. There is no dedicated service for SEO, content marketing, or big data analysis.
Only a handful of agencies such as Analyzen and ADA offers 360° marketing
services.
Thus, we recommend Robi-10 MS to venture into the digital industry. The
company can open a digital marketing and content consultancy wing as a part of its
B2B services. The execution can open potential doors for Robi-10 MS. The
justification for undertaking such a massive step is discussed below in detail.
Firstly, considering the prospects and pain points of the digital sector, a true
digital marketing agency backed by proper industry experience and offering a wide
range of solutions to negate the pain points would be welcomed in the industry.
Secondly, Robi-10 MS has 5 years of industry experience in content creation and 3
years of experience in blog writing. Its present IT department has the experience of
working in collaboration with the National IT Division. Moreover, its in-house
digital marketing department has run extremely successful campaigns for Robi-10
MS on a national scale for the last 6 years.
Thirdly, ADA, a data-driven marketing and analytics company, is a sub-brand of
Axiata Ltd. The agency, however, caters to high profile clients and industry
leaders. Therefore, ADA can mentor the newly formed digital marketing wing of
Robi-10 MS to operate in the mid-market segment of the digital industry.
As discussed before, Robi-10 MS is currently dependent on sponsorships.
Therefore, we believe that opening a digital marketing wing can be a potential
revenue source for Robi-10 MS without hurting its brand promise. Since it is
already a trusted name in the content creation industry, the company can easily
leverage its expertise, network, and popularity to create a clientele base in no time.

Paid Courses & Certification

COVID-19 has rocked even our fundamental assumptions. With universities at a
deadlock, the world has seen the rise of Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs).
Only Coursera had 10 million+ enrollments in May, an astounding 644% increase
compared to last year (Shah, 2020). So far, 11 major universities have offered
premium Coursera accounts to their students in Bangladesh. While no solid data
exists, the authorities of the two biggest universities of Bangladesh, Dhaka
University and North South University, disclosed that a total of 12,000 and 35,000
50 ACADEMY OF ASIAN BUSINESS REVIEW, DECEMBER 2020

students enrolled in the courses, respectively. But the accounts will be deactivated
after the lockdown ends. Therefore, a large segment of students familiar with
MOOCs will be looking for an alternative after the lockdown.
However, the payment procedure is considered as one of the greatest obstacles in
availing courses on international MOOC platforms because they require credit card
payment. But credit card penetration is only 0.86% in Bangladesh. On the other
hand, Mobile Financial Service (MFS) is pervasively used in Bangladesh. As per
Bangladesh Bank, there are 81 million registered MFS accounts and 27 million
active users (Mobile Financial Services data, 2020). Robi-10 MS can thus
incorporate MFS payment and introduce freemium advanced courses. The master
courses will include learning through video courses, practice quizzes, study
materials including practice files for software courses and personalized assessment
and feedback channels. Awarding certificates upon successful completion can act
as further incentives. 10 MS can thus gain a competitive edge through personalized
assessment and feedback, since the absence of such facilities is marked as one of
the biggest drawbacks for most MOOC platforms, thereby reducing the validity of
the certificate. In the freemium model, course materials on the basic contents will
be kept free as before. However, advanced, and practical lessons along with
personalized assessment features and certificates would be granted upon payment.

Figure 7
Proposed Revenue Model for Robi 10 Minute School
 Robi-10 Minute School 51

Conclusion

UNICEF claimed that 11.3 million children in the elementary level and 20.6
million at the lower secondary level are out-of-school. Among the rest that
graduates, millions of children complete primary education without a solid
foundation in basic numeracy and literacy. Since the last 6 years, Robi-10 MS
under the robust leadership of Ayman Sadiq has solved similar deep-rooted
problems in the education sector of Bangladesh and, in the process, built authority
and goodwill across the country. However, bigger challenges lie ahead. Shouldered
with the massive task of maintaining content quality for 1 million students and
generating a solid revenue model, 10 MS is now channeling its expertise to create
corporate training solutions and leveraging its national and corporate network to
expand into Asia. As part of future recommendations, we coined the concept of the
virtual coaching model. We further provided justifications as to why 10 MS should
leverage its content expertise to enter the highly potential digital marketing
industry. Furthermore, with the advent of the pandemic, Bangladeshi students have
readily adopted MOOCs. Hence, we recommend 10 MS to cater to the rising niche
segment by creating more values.
However, offering video-based educational content has a relatively low entry
barrier. Therefore, diversifying the business scope may threaten the core mission of
Robi-10 MS of serving poor students with high quality content. Nonetheless, we
believe that the revenue generated from the diverse sectors can be channelled to
render the current business model a success financially and operationally.
The imminent problem concerning trade-off between the core value proposition
of Robi-10 MS and the sustainability of the business model had been uniquely
solved by Robi-10 MS without catering to any of these extremes. On one hand,
Robi-10 MS has been catering to the still underdeveloped corporate training
domain by leveraging its expertise in B2C training modules to drive the B2B
segment. On the other hand, it has released a new segment comprising of the
advanced versions of courses with reasonable cost, keeping the basic and
intermediate versions free of cost. This case of Robi-10 MS can be generalized
across multiple South Asian countries and thus lies as a testament to all the
struggling EdTech startups out there.

(Received November 17, 2020; Revised December 17, 2020; Accepted December 18, 2020)

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