Pivot — Educational Platform for Creative Professionals

Pivot. Educational Platform for Creative Professionals. $2.1M Seed

A U.S.-based educational platform that helps people become independent, creative professionals ($2.1M raised according to Crunchbase)

Industry
Edtech

Design Deliverables
Product UI, Landing, Brand system

Location
New York, USA

Year
2021-2022

The goal

To build an alternative to creative colleges in the US market through direct access to working professionals

Business context

Traditional creative degrees cost $30–80K and 4 years. Often disconnected from where the industry actually is. Learners were paying a premium for credentials, not skills.

Direct access to industry experts existed, but there was no product that made it feel credible, structured, and worth choosing over a degree.

What I built

Acquisition funnel

Designed and iterated the primary conversion surface; contributed to growth toward $20K MRR

Worked cross-functionally with CEO, CPO, CMO, analyst, and engineering

Optimized for continuous experimentation and faster iteration cycles

Paid acquisition flows

Built standalone promo pages for acquisition campaigns

Created flexible page structures for multiple traffic sources

Design language

Built an in-house design language on top of Shuka brand foundations

Structured typography, color system, and reusable patterns

4 Business & fundraising support

Co-created investor pitch deck with CEO

Contributed to materials used during the $2.1M Seed round

Acquisition funnel

Designed and iterated the primary conversion surface; contributed to growth toward $20K MRR

Worked cross-functionally with CEO, CPO, CMO, analyst, and engineering

Optimized for continuous experimentation and faster iteration cycles

Design language

Built an in-house design language on top of Shuka brand foundations

Structured typography, color system, and reusable patterns

Paid acquisition flows

Built standalone promo pages for acquisition campaigns

Created flexible page structures for multiple traffic sources

4 Business & fundraising support

Co-created investor pitch deck with CEO

Contributed to materials used during the $2.1M Seed round

Outcomes

$20K

MRR at peak

100+

Learners graduated
with strong NPS

Learners graduated with strong NPS

4.7

Excellent on Trustpilot
with 43 reviews

Excellent on Trustpilot with 43 reviews

The company was eventually shut down after failing to achieve sustainable product–market fit

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Outcomes

$20K

MRR at peak

100+

Learners graduated with strong NPS

4.7

Excellent on Trustpilot with 43 reviews

The company was eventually shut down after failing to achieve sustainable product–market fit

Pivot Team:
Mike Peregudov, CEO, Founder
Kostya Gorsky, CPO, Co-founder
Dina Shishkina, COO
Amber Artiaga, Head of Community
Carol Carlovich, SMM
Mariam Prazyan, Head of Talent
Paul Schneider, Senior Designer
Alex Shamray, Head of Growth Marketing
Kirill Akimenko, Marketer
Alisher Tursunov, Communications Designer
Sarahi Medina, Sales Manager
Timur Sharipov, Developer
Nadia Vorontsova, Assistant
Sergei Bortnikov, Outsource Designer

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Contact

hireschneider@gmail.com ↗