Paul Smith

20-year EdTech marketing executive with a keen interest in brand strategy and storytelling. 

"The engineers of tomorrow will be poets." - Terrence McKenna

Paul Smith and Steve Jobs from Apple

About Me

Veteran marketing leader with experience as a marketing director, product marketer ,and product manager. Past companies include Apple, Pearson (PowerSchool), LearnSprout, and ChalkTalk. Former 4th grade teacher and forever summer camp counselor at heart.

Paul Smith & LearnSprout Team at SXSWedu

How I Work

Long periods of extroversion (information gathering) followed by shorter, intense periods of introversion (execution). Product marketing is fueled by information, so tend to lean on relationships with teammates and colleagues across the edtech sector to broaden my perspective.

Paul Smith and General Sherman at Sequoia National Park

My Ethos

If the work doesn't speak to or support the mission, it's going to cause confusion both internally and externally. 

Maintain focus on the mission, be consistently authentic, and tell the story of what is, not what will be or once was.

Paul Smith and Boo the cat

Get in Touch

I'm always happy to meet new colleagues. If you'd like to connect to share ideas or get my feedback on anything related to edtech or marketing, please don't hesitate to reach out. I'm always happy to chat!

heypaulsmith@gmail.com

Personal Blog Posts

PowerSchool rainbow logo and name

Selling PowerSchool to Pearson was not Apple’s biggest mistake in K-12.

I have some experience with both PowerSchool and Apple, and have a few thoughts I’d like to share relating to a recent article by Bradley Chambers that appeared in 9to5Mac. You can read his article here.

In his article, Mr. Chambers states that “…Apple’s decision to sell PowerSchool back in 2006 looks like one of the worst decisions in K–12 in quite possibly their history.”

I respectfully disagree. I believe the biggest mistake that Apple made in U.S. K-12 education was an apparent dismissal o