Ditch That Textbook

What Ditch That Textbook does

Ditch That Textbook is a bootstrapped, founder-owned K-12 educator content platform founded in 2012 by former high school Spanish teacher Matt Miller. The company provides teachers with practical, classroom-ready resources for integrating technology into instruction, centered on Google Workspace for Education and Microsoft Education tools. Its core free assets are a twice-weekly email newsletter reaching more than 100,000 educators, a blog archive of more than 600 posts, and a library of downloadable Google Slides and Drawings templates covering gamification, digital escape rooms, virtual field trips, and subject-specific K-12 activities. Revenue is generated through a diversified creator-economy mix: paid keynote speeches and workshops booked via the website, six Amazon-published books (including Benjamin Franklin Award winners), Teachable-hosted online courses (e.g., the Virtual Field Trips course at $19), ticket and sponsor revenue from the annual Ditch Summit virtual conference, and a print-on-demand merchandise storefront via Printify.

The underlying technology is a WordPress-based content and community platform with course delivery outsourced to Teachable; the company does not operate a proprietary LMS or SaaS application, nor does it expose a public API. Distribution is owned-first: the newsletter, blog, podcasts (DTT Podcast, Google Teacher Tribe, Microsoft Educator Insider), and Matt Miller's personal social channels (Twitter/X, Facebook, Pinterest, TikTok) together form the top-of-funnel acquisition engine that feeds paid offerings. Recent product additions include a Virtual Field Trips paid course (2024) and the AI for Educators resource hub and AI Teacher Toolkit (2025), positioning the company as a neutral educator-focused reference across both major classroom platform ecosystems.

Name

Ditch That Textbook

Legal name

Ditch That Textbook

Website

https://ditchthattextbook.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Ditch That Textbook is a bootstrapped K-12 educator content platform founded in 2012 by Matt Miller, providing a 100k+ subscriber newsletter, 600+ blog posts, free Google/Microsoft ed-tech templates, six published books, online courses, and keynote speaking for individual teachers and school districts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Teacher Professional Development and Educational Technology Resources

NAICS

Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)

akta.pro primary industry

Teacher-Led Digital Lesson Packages & Instructional Resources (EDAFACAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Teacher Editions, Lesson Plans & Classroom Resources (EDAGAAAI), K–12 Digital Curriculum & Interactive Lessons (EDAGAEAA)

Keywords

• Teacher professional development
• Educational technology resources
• Classroom teaching templates
• Edtech teacher training
• K-12 instructional resources

Headquarters

HQ city

Tell City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Speaking Engagements (Keynotes & Workshops): Matt Miller is booked for paid keynote speeches, workshops, and conference breakout sessions at schools, districts, and events. This is a primary revenue driver and the top GTM acquisition event. Services are booked via the Work with Us page and direct contact.
2. Book Sales (Amazon): Six published books sold primarily through Amazon: Ditch That Textbook, Ditch That Homework, Don't Ditch That Tech, Tech Like a PIRATE (award-winning), and others. Books are bestsellers and Benjamin Franklin Award winners. Sold as individual one-time purchases.
3. Online Courses (Teachable): Paid online courses delivered via the Ditch That Textbook Teachable store. Currently includes the Virtual Field Trips course ($19). Courses include video content, tutorials, templates, resource lockers, and certificates of completion.
4. Free Email Newsletter (Audience Builder): Free twice-weekly newsletter with practical teaching ideas delivered to 100k+ educators. Serves as the primary audience-building and trust-earning channel, feeding into book sales, course enrollments, and speaking bookings.
5. Merchandise Store (Printify): A print-on-demand store (via Printify) selling Ditch That Textbook branded merchandise. Linked from the main navigation under 'Store'.
6. Ditch Summit Virtual Conference: Annual virtual conference (DitchSummit.com) featuring sessions from Matt Miller and guest educators. Revenue likely generated through ticket sales and sponsor partnerships.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Ditch That Textbook is an educator-focused ed-tech content platform that equips K-12 teachers with practical classroom strategies through a twice-weekly free email newsletter (100k+ subscribers), a 600+ post teacher blog, six published books, downloadable Google Slides/Microsoft templates, and paid online courses (e.g., Virtual Field Trips). The company also delivers paid keynote speeches, workshops, and an annual virtual conference (Ditch Summit) as professional development services for schools, districts, and education events.

Product overview

Ditch That Textbook is an educator-focused educational technology resource platform offering a comprehensive portfolio of free and paid resources for teachers. The core offerings include a twice-weekly email newsletter (100k+ subscribers), a teacher blog (600+ posts), and published books by founder Matt Miller. The platform specializes in providing practical, classroom-ready templates and tutorials for Google Workspace and Microsoft Edu tools. Key product modules include Google Slides Resources & Templates, Virtual Field Trips (with a paid online course), Microsoft Edu Resources, AI for Educators guidance, and Digital Escape Rooms. Additional offerings include the Ditch Summit annual conference, multiple podcasts (Ditch That Textbook Podcast, Google Teacher Podcast), Gamification Resources, EfficienTEACH time-saving tools, and the Tech Like A PIRATE book/resource collection. The platform operates on a freemium model with free newsletters, blog content, and templates supplemented by paid courses, books, and speaking engagements.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Books by Matt Miller

Quantifiable outcome

• 100k+ educators receive practical teaching ideas through the free email newsletter every week
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration10 records

AI capability7 records

Feature6 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Nearpod: Interactive K-12 lesson platform with ready-made content and teacher authoring tools. Overlaps with DTT's interactive Google Slides templates and digital escape room content, but as a paid SaaS platform rather than free resources.
• Pear Deck: Interactive presentation add-on for Google Slides, used widely in K-12 classrooms. DTT actively recommends and creates tutorials for Pear Deck, making it a complementary tool that could also compete with DTT's own interactive Slides templates.
• Book Creator: Digital book creation tool popular in K-12 classrooms with a library of teacher examples. Comparable to DTT's digital creation tutorials and template ecosystem around creative classroom outputs.

Broad incumbents

• Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT): The dominant marketplace for K-12 teacher-created resources, including templates, units, and lesson plans. DTT's free template library is a content substitute; TpT represents the scale alternative to DTT's direct-distribution model.
• Khan Academy: Large-scale free K-12 educational content and teacher tools provider with well-funded institutional backing. Represents the scaled, nonprofit incumbent alternative in the free K-12 content and PD market.

Direct peers

• WeAreTeachers: Major free online publication and community for K-12 teachers featuring teaching ideas, printables, and sponsored content. Mirrors DTT's content-led GTM with a newsletter, blog, and sponsored resource model.
• TeachThought: K-12 thought leadership site publishing articles, podcasts, and PD resources on innovation in teaching. Overlaps directly with DTT's blog and podcast assets and competes for the same educator audience.
• Common Sense Education: Provides free, educator-reviewed K-12 digital citizenship, ed-tech, and classroom resource content, with a similar freemium model (free curriculum + paid district programs). It is the most direct comparator to DTT's curated, teacher-friendly content approach.
• Edutopia: George Lucas Educational Foundation's K-12 educator platform offering free articles, videos, and resources on innovative teaching strategies. Competes for the same teacher mindshare via free, practical content and partner-driven distribution.

Others

• EdSurge: Ed-tech news, research, and product information source for educators and administrators. Less direct on content, but competes for K-12 teacher attention and is a parallel channel for ed-tech discovery.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/jmattmiller
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/ditchthattextbook
• Facebookfacebook.com/ditchthattextbook
• Pinterestpinterest.com/ditchthattxt
• TikToktiktok.com/@ditchthattextbook
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ditch-that-textbook

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ditch That Textbook