Below is our recent interview with Robert Dunfey, Founder & CEO at HelloLesson:
Interviewer: Robert, you’ve just landed on the Inc. 5000 list for 2025. What does this recognition mean for HelloLesson and your Las Vegas roots?
Robert Dunfey: Thank you, this feels like a celebration of our entire team’s grit. In just three years, we’ve seen a remarkable 99% jump in revenue and a 219% surge in staffing. But beyond the numbers, it signals that our approach, connecting students with exceptional instructors across disciplines is resonating. We’ve grown from a small Las Vegas startup in 2011 to a global marketplace with over 150,000 students served across more than 2,300 locations in the U.S., Canada, Ireland, and the U.K.
Interviewer: That’s incredible. How do these numbers stack up in today’s booming EdTech environment?
Robert Dunfey: The broader EdTech landscape is exploding. The global EdTech market is forecasted to swell from around $215 billion in 2024 to $773 billion by 2033 a CAGR of 17.3%.
The online education segment alone is expected to expand from approximately $389 billion in 2025 to $565 billion by 2030. As for digital education, that market is set to skyrocket from $26 billion in 2024 to $134 billion by 2030, growing at a blistering 31.5% CAGR.
These show enormous tailwinds and we’re poised perfectly within this growth trajectory.
Interviewer: With such rapid growth, what’s fueling HelloLesson’s progress at the team and operational level?
Robert Dunfey: Our secret sauce? People. We expanded our staff by over 200%, but we did it thoughtfully keeping our DNA intact. We now have operations managers in every region, curriculum specialists behind each discipline, and a tight knit coaching community.
Each new instructor is onboarded with mentorship, tech support, and continuous training. We also empower instructors to scale their teaching into hybrid or online formats. That support helps them turn part-time coaching into sustainable livelihoods and improves loyalty and quality.
Interviewer: AI seems to be everywhere. How are you integrating AI into HelloLesson?
Robert Dunfey: AI isn’t replacing our coaches, it’s enhancing them.
- Smarter matchmaking: Our AI engine analyzes availability, student goals, lesson type, instructor tone, and location to suggest the best possible pairings.
- Adaptive learning tools: We offer optional AI driven modules (think auto-generated practice drills for skateboarding or pronunciation feedback for language students).
- Business intelligence: AI helps us predict spikes in demand for example, mixology courses surge before holiday seasons and allocate staffing proactively.
This isn’t theoretical our operations team can detect a local spike in interest and scale instructor availability in just a few hours.
Interviewer: As global demand grows, what’s next for HelloLesson?
Robert Dunfey: We’re planning expansion into Asia and South America next year. We’re also developing a new AI powered instructor toolkit it will streamline scheduling, progress tracking, and material updates in real-time, and equip instructors with insights about retention and student satisfaction.
One instructor recently told me, “I never imagined teaching a stranger halfway across the world and having that become my best month ever.” That’s the power of what we’re building a human connection, powered by scalable tech.
Interviewer: Thanks, Robert. HelloLesson is truly shaping the future of personalized learning.
Robert Dunfey: Thank you and thank you to SuperbCrew for helping us share not just our growth story, but the human story behind it.
