In 1998, Kim Smith, a student at Stanford Graduate School of Business, teamed up with famed venture capitalist John Doerr and Brook Byers to build an organization whose mission was to transform education by supporting education entrepreneurs. The trio recognized that entrepreneurs had revolutionized the fields of science, medicine, and technology, and wanted to bring that same innovative spark to the world of education.

Their idea became NewSchools Venture Fund, and an entrepreneur named Bill Jackson became their first investment. Jackson’s experiences teaching in China and the United States led him to form GreatSchools, a nonprofit organization that uses the internet to help connect and engage parents in their child’s education. More than a decade later, GreatSchools has become the go-to guide for parents aiming to make a smart school choice.

Watch more videos in the NewSchools Presents series here.