Press

Resources for podcast hosts, journalists and editors covering edtech, entrepreneurship and bootstrapping. Please use whichever bio fits your space.

Short bio

Ray Blakney builds bootstrapped, human-first online education companies. A former computer engineer and Peace Corps volunteer, he co-founded Live Lingua, a top online language school built without outside funding. He is now President & Partner at egelloC, an eight-figure company three years in, and co-founder of Productized Education.

Long bio

Ray Blakney builds bootstrapped, human-first online education companies. Over his career he has started about 20 businesses and completed four exits.

Born in the Philippines in 1979 and raised in Turkey, Ray moved to the United States at 15. He attended Northfield Mount Hermon and Case Western Reserve University and began his career as a computer engineer and software developer. From 2006 to 2008 he served in the Peace Corps in Chiapas, Mexico, where he met his wife and future co-founder, Laura.

In 2008 the couple started Querétaro Language School with about $2,000. Ray slept on the school floor for about six months as it grew to more than 100 students a month. When the swine flu outbreak kept students at home, they moved classes online, the seed of what was rebranded in 2012 as Live Lingua. Live Lingua became one of the top online language schools and the only one in that group without outside funding, and Ray was named an Entrepreneur360 honoree in 2015.

Today Ray is President & Partner at egelloC (formerly College Admissions Secrets), founded by Tony Le and now an eight-figure company three years in. Ray co-founded Productized Education, founded the SaaS company Podcast Hawk, and hosts the Crack the College Code and Learn Spanish with Live Lingua podcasts. He has mentored founders at the Harvard Innovation Labs since 2023 and has practiced kendo for about 15 years.

Quick facts

Name: Ray Blakney
Current role: President & Partner, egelloC (since March 2024)
Background: Born in the Philippines (1979), raised in Turkey, moved to the U.S. at 15
Education: Northfield Mount Hermon; Case Western Reserve University
Early career: Computer engineer and software developer; Peace Corps volunteer in Chiapas, Mexico (2006–2008)
Companies: Co-founder of Querétaro Language School (2008) and Live Lingua; co-founder of Productized Education; founder of Podcast Hawk
Track record: About 20 businesses started; four exits
Recognition: Entrepreneur360 honoree (2015); featured in Entrepreneur
Podcasts hosted: Crack the College Code; Learn Spanish with Live Lingua
Mentorship: Harvard Innovation Labs mentor since 2023
Outside the office: About 15 years of kendo

Topics Ray speaks on

Productized education: why human-first learning wins in the AI era
Bootstrapping vs. venture capital in edtech
Starting with $2,000: the Querétaro Language School story
Going online before it was normal
Co-founding a company with your spouse
Joining as an operator: scaling egelloC
Twenty businesses, four exits: the serial founder playbook
Podcasting as a growth engine and the right way to guest podcast
From engineer to Peace Corps to founder
Discipline, mentorship and the long game

Press

Featured in Entrepreneur: “Perfection Does Not Exist”
Entrepreneur360 honoree, 2015: Live Lingua named to the Classics list
CEOWORLD Magazine byline: “Tips for a Successful Digital Transformation” (2021)
Thrive Global: contributor articles
Authority Magazine: “How to Take Your Company From Good to Great”
Starter Story: founder case study
Small Business Trends spotlight (2022)
Disrupt Magazine
Founders Mag
Home Business Magazine

Podcast appearances

Headshot

Download headshot (JPG)

Media contact

For interviews, podcast bookings and press enquiries, please get in touch via the contact page. Preferred introduction: Ray Blakney, President & Partner, egelloC.