Notehall Student Notes Update | Shark Tank Season 1

Sean Conway’s challenges with ADHD and keeping up in class inspired him and his co-founder, D.J. Stephan, to create Notehall, a platform where students can buy and sell class notes. This platform supports both high-achieving and struggling students by offering them access to comprehensive study materials. Will they be able to persuade the sharks to invest in their business? Let’s find out in our Notehall update and pitch recap.

If you’re short on time, here’s a quick overview of what happened to Notehall after Shark Tank.

Sean and Stephan entered Shark Tank Season 1, seeking $90,000 for 10% equity in Notehall Student Notes. Ultimately, they reached an agreement with Barbara Corcoran for $90,000 for 25% equity.

In terms of a Notehall update, shortly after its episode aired, the company expanded its reach by signing a major deal to access more schools and students. Consequently, Notehall eventually saw significant growth and was acquired by Chegg.

Shark	Result
Barbara Corcoran	Accepted offer of  $90,000 for 25%
Kevin O’Leary and Robert Herjavec	$90,000 for 25% equity
Daymond John	No offer
Kevin Harrington	No offer

Shark Tank Notehall Pitch

• Entrepreneurs: D.J. Stephan and Sean Conway
• Business: Platform to buy and sell study notes
• Ask: $90,000 for 10% equity
• Result: $90,000 for 25%
• Shark: Barbara Corcoran 

Sean and Stephan began their pitch to the sharks by sharing the inspiration behind their innovative creation, Notehall.

Inspired by Sean’s struggles with ADHD and the challenges of keeping up with classes, they aimed to expand Notehall globally by seeking an investment and expertise from the sharks.

Notehall is an online platform designed to simplify note-taking and sharing for college students. Its intuitive interface allows users to upload, organize, and share their class notes easily.

Moreover, the product’s features, such as search, filtering, tagging, and categorization, help students quickly find the notes they need while offering offline access to downloadable PDFs.

Beyond note management, Notehall also operates as a marketplace where students can buy and sell notes, outlines, and study guides.

Furthermore, this peer-to-peer system benefits both sellers, who can earn money from their notes, and buyers, who gain access to quality study materials.

In the first year, 40% of the student body participated, resulting in nearly 6,000 customers and $30,000 in sales.

The sharks were impressed by the presentation, though Robert Herjavec expressed concern over the $900,000 valuation, leading Daymond John and Kevin Harrington to exit the negotiations.

Sean confidently claimed the company would be worth $24 million in four years, even offering to stake half the company on this promise.

This sparked interest from Kevin O’Leary, who offered $90,000 for 51% equity. Soon after, Barbara Corcoran quickly followed with a similar offer of 50% equity.

As a result, the entrepreneurs responded to Barbara’s offer by countering with 15% equity, under the condition that if the company didn’t reach $1 million in sales, they would repay the shark’s investment.

Mr. Wonderful then revised his offer to $90,000 for 35% equity, and Barbara adjusted her offer to $90,000 for 25% equity.

Meanwhile, Robert entered the bidding war, offering $115,000 for 35% equity and leveraging his experience in internet businesses.

This move intensified the debate among the sharks, ultimately leading Robert and Kevin to team up against Barbara, offering a combined deal of $90,000 for 25% equity plus their shared expertise.

In the end, Sean and Stephan accepted Barbara’s offer of $90,000 for 25% equity, a decision that left Mr. Wonderful visibly unhappy.

Keep reading our Notehall update to find out what happened next.

Shark Tank Notehall Update

Our research on the Notehall update found that the deal with Barabara Corcoran never closed.

Instead, Sean and Stephan opted out of the initial arrangement with Barbara to participate in the DreamIt Ventures accelerator program. 

As a result, this program provided Notehall with mentorship, funding, and access to a network of 54 universities and approximately 750,000 students in exchange for a 60% cut from all online sales.

Notehall’s business model, which involved students selling class notes for profit, sparked controversy.

In addition, several professors raised concerns about the platform monetizing intellectual property.

Our Notehall update found that Chegg acquired Notehall for an estimated $3.7 million in June 2011. Nonetheless, some reports suggest a $10 million sale.

The acquisition allowed Notehall to scale, offering study materials to students across numerous universities and community colleges. Sean and Stephan left the company.

At the time of writing, Notehall is fully integrated into Chegg. We are calling this Notehall update a success.

Would you like to learn about the other companies featured in Season 1, Episode 8? Follow the links below for our other company updates from the episode.

• Treasure Chest Pets Update
• Throx Update
• Washed Up Hollywood Update

Before you go, check out our Shark Tank Season 1 page for more updates.