Why I Turned Down Venture Capital $

​New York City. February. I was standing in front of my classroom when I realized I couldn't do it anymore.

After 12 years of teaching across all grade levels, from elementary schools to universities, in all sectors, filling every possible position, I had hit my breaking point. The passion that once drove me to teach young minds had been buried under mountains of unpaid work driven by out-of-control demands.

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But this isn't just my story. It's the story of millions of teachers worldwide.

 

The Hidden Crisis in Education: UNPAID LABOR

Let me explain what it truly means to be a teacher today:

• We work on a rigid schedule with predetermined vacations, often earning basic salaries.

• Most of us would prefer a year-round ("normal") schedule with higher pay, but that’s not on the table.

• Beyond classroom teaching, we're required to:

  • Create detailed lesson plans

  • Grade assignments

  • Prepare report cards

  • Manage classroom resources (teachers out of pocket money)

  • Handle district bureaucracy

  • Documentation 

  • Coordinating educational paraprofessionals per student

  • Observation sessions

  • Managing classroom staff

  • Weekly team meetings and bi-weekly full faculty meetings

  • Lead parent-teacher conferences in the evenings

  • Supervise school trips that stretch into personal time

  • Teachers, If I forgot something, SAY YES.

 

Here's the kicker: Schools allocate 2-5 "prep hours" per week for this mountain of work. 

The reality? These precious prep hours often vanish when we're called to cover other school needs.

The result? Prep work spills over into our own time, costing us at least 2 extra hours daily—about 40 unpaid hours a month.

 

That’s equivalent to a part-time job – working without compensation.

If it sucks, SAY YES.

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This isn't just about money. It's about dignity, mental health, and the quality of education our children receive. Nobody wants a burned-out teacher in the classroom. It's a lose-lose situation for everyone: teachers, students, parents, and society.

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Zozo: A Solution Built for Teachers

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This is why I created Zozo – a teaching assistant powered by cutting-edge AI & ML technologies that handles prep work in minutes: lesson plans, worksheets, report cards, assessments, grading (even handwritten responses!), class management tools, summaries, reminders, analytics, and a supportive community—all in one place.

 

Here's what makes us different: Zozo is 100% teacher centric. No school administrators. No parents. No students. Just teachers. Why? Because every other EdTech platform tries to be everything to everyone, and ends up helping no one.

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Let me explain by sharing a real classroom scenario:

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Imagine you're starting your 4th-grade Math lesson. The topic is Geometry.

You've prepared a brilliant lesson using a digital platform, students log-in with their account to access class assignment, but:

• 8 students can't connect to WiFi

• 7 have dead devices

• 5 managed to log-in but can't navigate the platform & find the assignment

• 4 forgot their logins

• Only 4 can actually start working

 

If it sounds familiar, SAY YES!

By the time you solve these technical issues, 30 minutes of your 45-minute lesson are gone. Frustration fills the room—yours and theirs. This is the reality that most EdTech companies don't understand because they've never taught in a real classroom. Or, they took $ from those who never did.

 

Why I Said No to VC Funding

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We got advanced negotiating an offer of $1 million. The catch: pivot to a B2B model. In simple words - sell to schools instead of teachers. On paper, it made perfect business sense. In reality, it would have betrayed Zozo’s mission.

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Confused? I'll explain. 

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Let’s go back to the beginning: I founded Zozo in January 24. As more and more teachers started to use Zozo, they provided valuable feedback. Zozo is not perfect (yet). It’s September 24. In order to make Zozo the best product for teachers we need capital. I started getting in touch with investors. The majority rejected me. Those who explained why, either said the education sector isn’t sexy, or, they can’t visualize how this is becoming a multimillion dollar company. Being a woman didn't help much (2% of VC money goes to female founders).

 

Finally, an investor showed interest and discussions moved further. As we negotiated terms, they asked me to change Zozo’s model to sell to schools (B2B), not directly to teachers. For the VC, this makes sense—it’s easier to scale and more profitable. They are doing their job - ensuring 10x return on investment. But I knew this would fail to serve teachers.

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Here's why: When a school pays for a tool like Zozo, it sees teachers’ free time as its own.

When schools pay for efficiency tools, they simply pile more work onto teachers' plates. Any time saved becomes filled right back up with new demands. The cycle continues. The unpaid work isn’t diminished – it is simply replaced.

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When teachers are the customers, they maintain control over their time and workload.

This autonomy is crucial for ending the unpaid labor crisis in education.

 

Only us, teachers, can fix teaching.

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This is where you come in. 

We're inviting teachers, and everyone else who care for teachers, to become not just users, but partners and investors in this venture. We don't need fancy offices or branded merchandise. What we need is capital to hire the best developers and designers to build something truly transformative. Every contribution, no matter how small, brings us closer to our goal: ending unpaid teacher labor and bringing integrity back to teaching.

 

This isn't just another EdTech product. This is teachers taking control of their future.

 

Will you join us?

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Every investment, regardless of its amount, Helps Zozo help teachers.

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If you can’t contribute but still want to help - 

Please share this link with as many people as you can.

They don’t have to be teachers.

Improving teaching conditions benefits all of us. 

From parents spending less on complimentary education,

To the education system, that spends tons on teachers turnover, 

& Most importantly, our children, enjoying their non-burned-out teachers!

 

Together, we can return the integrity to our profession. ​​​

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With deep respect and hope for our profession,
 

Zo