Back in the early days of the internet, Peter Ranzino found himself captivated by the web’s ability to deliver content to the masses.
And as Business Report details in the new Entrepreneur feature in the current issue, Ranzino was working as a partner in a video production firm when his interest suddenly shifted from the world he knew to one he didn’t.
Ranzino spent three years researching how the burgeoning online realm could be used to push learning resources to different audiences. As a pioneer of new ways to use the early web, Ranzino remembers the environment as a land grab with everyone trying to stake their claim.
“It was a race, but not a sprint,” he says. “It was a marathon.”
He launched his first e-learning enterprise in 1995, and after two successful e-learning ventures he began Learning Sciences Corporation in 2008.
“I think we were really on the ground floor of something that was happening big,” Ranzino says of the market in its early days, a sector now worth around $100 billion. “It was an exciting time.”
Today, Learning Sciences is still pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, developing proprietary technologies that enhance their learning products. But Ranzino does not characterize his business as a technology company. At the core, it’s a learning and development company pushing educational resources through the internet directly to desktops or tablets for primarily corporate clients seeking to train employees in new procedures or skills.
Ninety percent of the company’s revenue is the result of referrals and Ranzino’s unique business development approach. “I target four new clients a year because the clients we have generate repeat business for us,” Ranzino says. “When we finally get that meeting with one of the four, we know exactly how we can be of value to them.”
By staying laser focused on specific goals, Ranzino says he has built an impressive portfolio of local and national clients, from H&E Equipment Services, Albemarle and Entergy to Fox, NBC and Phillips 66.
Read the full Entrepreneur feature. Send your comments to editors@businessreport.com.
