The New SAT is Live! Meet Shaan Patel, Founder of PrepExpert and Shark Tank Winner

This is the second interview for my new series, Meet the Future: Interviews with Innovators. Stay tuned next week for my inspiring interview with Katherine Krug, founder of BetterBack and a recent Shark Tank Winner.

I had the pleasure to interview Shaan Patel, founder of 2400 Expert SAT Prep, recently renamed PrepExpert. Shaan is also a young entrepreneur who won a deal on ABC’s Shark Tank, signing with Mark Cuban. Shaan and Mark came together just in time for the release of the new SAT.

Shaan's SAT prep company is formerly known as 2400 Prep, which is now PrepExpert, a Mark Cuban Company.

Shaan, please tell me a bit about your background:
My parents immigrated to the United States from India in the mid-1980’s. Before I was born, they landed in Chicago, in hopes my father could work as a pharmacist-transferring his pharmaceutical degree. However, the requirements to work as a pharmacist in Chicago were not equivalent to those in India.

Therefore, they moved to Las Vegas and purchased a budget motel. I grew up in my parent’s motel and attended local urban public schools, which had a dropout rate of 40 percent. As a young child living in a budget motel, I observed many struggles parents faced on a daily basis. I also noticed how many students lost opportunities. Following my father’s work ethic, I knew I had to work hard to succeed and to give back the way they gave to me.

People called me a genius. I never considered myself a genius; I was and still am self-motivated and determined to succeed.

Please tell me about your personal SAT experience. How did things transition for you from high school valedictorian to becoming a student at Yale and USC?
My plan was to do my best on the SAT so I could get into the university of my choice. My career goal was, and still is today, to become a physician. I needed a very high SAT score to achieve my goals. The first time I took the test, I received a score of 1760. After hours of studying in the library, preparing and identifying patterns for the test, I was able to improve my score from 1760 to a perfect 2400. I was admitted to the most prestigious universities and I won nearly $250,000 in scholarships. I also met the President of the United States. In addition to my work as an entrepreneur, I am currently an MD/MBA student.

Congratulations on your success. Please tell me about the motivation behind your first SAT prep book.
I wanted to give back and help other students. Living in a motel, I knew I could make a difference. Many students who stayed in our motels, dropped out of school to work at casinos on the Vegas Strip. I knew these kids were capable of much more and deserved a chance to rise out of poverty. Before I created 2400 Expert SAT Prep, I tried to sell my SAT manuscript to over 100 agents and publishers; and the manuscript was constantly rejected. However, I never gave up. I piloted a few SAT prep courses in Las Vegas. The results were astonishing. Students showed an improvement of 376 points.

At first, the courses were challenging to fill, but as word of mouth spread about the increase in test scores, parents began contacting me with requests to build more courses. McGraw-Hill noticed my work and offered me a book deal. Although they originally rejected my first manuscript, they published my first SAT prep book, SAT 2400 in Just 7 Steps.

SAT 2400 in Just 7 Steps has sold over 20,000 copies and has been a #1 bestseller on Amazon for SAT Prep.

You are a big fan of Shark Tank. How did the idea to propose your book and courses to the Sharks arise?
Actually, my roommates at Yale told me I should apply, and I decided to try out. I stood in line for nine hours, among hundreds of other entrepreneurs. A few weeks after the first meeting, Shark Tank called me with a request to send in a an eye-catching and creative video pitch. After the video, they invited me to participate in the show.

Please tell me about your experience with Shark Tank and working with Mark Cuban.
It was an overwhelming experience. The initial recording was approximately one hour and thirty minutes. Out of that time, 10 minutes of air-time is actually played out on TV. I closed a deal with Mark for $250,000 in exchange for a 20 percent equity stake in my test-prep company. Since working with Mark, the company has expanded into 20 new sites throughout the country. We are also opening a new location in Schaumburg, Illinois (outside of Chicago). We have grown both online and offline.

Working with Mark is amazing. As busy as he is, he takes time to make himself accessible through various means. I can drop him an email or text him through his Cyber Dust application. He is very responsive. He also set me up with a supportive team to make sure our site didn’t crash when the show aired. His accounting team takes care of our numbers and books while his business team provides vast marketing and strategic advice for growth. I am very lucky and grateful to have a partner like him.

Shaan, what is one of the best things you’ve personally experienced with your company?
When students contact me to let me know they were admitted into their desired university, and it was due to the services we provided.

There is nothing more spectacular than knowing we are making life-changing differences for young adults, and for our future.

There is more to this story, including Shaan's top five secret SAT tips and a discount code for any of Shaan's SAT courses.

If you are interested in learning his five secret tips for the SAT and/or would like the discount code, please visit EdNews Daily (full-length article originally published on this site).

If you missed my interview with Christopher Gray, founder of Scholly and Shark Tank winner, please visit this link.

About Me:
You will find me on LinkedIn's new application among Influencers via the education technology and management channel.

I also manage ED News Daily, contribute to the Huffington Post and was recently featured on Cision’s Influencer Blog. Please follow me here or via Twitter.