“The Uber of Tutoring”: Alumni Company To Offer Tutoring On Demand

For James Marshall (Business, ’23), what started as a late-night favor for his younger brother has evolved into a full-time startup aimed at transforming how students get academic help.

James Marshall is the founder of SnapTutor, an innovative online tutoring platform set to launch on September 21st. Designed to streamline the tutoring process, SnapTutor is built to connect students with available tutors instantly, no searching, no scheduling hassles. Just submit a request and get help, fast.

How It Began

The concept of SnapTutor first took shape during James’s sophomore year at Menlo College in Silicon Valley. One night, his mother asked him to look over his younger brother’s paper. The edits paid off, with his brother scoring well, but James realized the real-time learning opportunity had been missed. “I helped him fix the paper, which was now technically correct, but he didn’t really learn why the edits mattered,” James recalls.

That moment sparked something. He pulled an all-nighter drafting a rough business plan, and the concept of SnapTutor was born.

The COVID-19 shutdowns at Menlo College prompted James to transfer to John Paul the Great Catholic University, where he says some of the biggest and most formative leaps for his company took place. “I was able to work on SnapTutor as part of my coursework, get feedback from professors like Joe Connolly, and test ideas with fellow students as a focus group,” he says. “The school essentially acted like a business incubator for me.”

James participated in LaunchPad I and II, using those courses to define the core service model and conceptualize the platform infrastructure.

How SnapTutor Works

Most tutoring platforms require families to sift through endless tutor profiles, compare rates, and coordinate schedules. James wanted to remove that hassle.

With SnapTutor, students or parents simply fill out a short help request form, including the specific subject they need help with, and the request is posted to the SnapTutor server where tutors can instantly claim it. “Whoever is available first, picks it up,” James explains. “Like ride sharing or food delivery apps, but for tutoring.” Appointments can be made in advance, or requested immediately.

SnapTutor is designed to serve middle school and high school students. The tutors are a pool of carefully hand-picked college students, graduate students, and recent college graduates who have demonstrated strong academic performance and teaching skills. They are sourced from within James’ Catholic network, which will also appeal to religious families seeking tutors who are both high quality and trustworthy.

“We stand apart from all other online tutoring solutions, from both a technical and value perspective,” says James.

SnapTutor is currently on track to reach 50 tutors well within the first month of launch, helping ensure students experience lightning-fast responses and minimal wait time.

Full-Time Entrepreneur

After graduating with his Business degree from JPCatholic in 2023, James moved to Nashville, working a variety of jobs in high-end sales and project management in the automotive and jewelry industries, while cultivating SnapTutor on nights and weekends. This year he made the leap to focusing on the company full-time.

Now, with the platform’s launch set for later this month, James is channeling all of his energy and entrepreneurial drive into fine tuning the platform and preparing to scale up the enterprise. For him, building SnapTutor is more than just a business venture; it’s a way to give students the same kind of support that once made all the difference in his own education.

“Throughout my academic experience, from grade school throughout high school, I relied heavily upon my network of tutors,” says James. “Were it not for them, I would not have achieved the level of academic performance I did.”

You can learn more and join his email list at www.snaptutor.com