As one who has experienced developing a new company in a market dominated by behemoths, I would have to say that there is really no reason to fear the Pearsons of the world. Between 1986 and 1997 I was involved in the birth, development and eventual sale of a voice messaging services franchisor that directly competed with AT&T, MCI and all of the 'Baby Bells' (the remnants of the breakup of the old AT&T). Even though there were dire predictions that our company would never survive (much less flourish) in the face of the deep pockets and immense technical research budgets of the monolithic phone companies, we proved the opposite to be true. Large companies by their very nature usually leave portions of the overall market behind as they move toward developing what they consider to be the most profitable opportunities. It is precisely in these niche markets that new players can grow and even develop to scale. Voice-Tel not only survived but ended up as a leader in an industry that was non-existent just 10 years earlier. Even though the shift away from the touch-tone telephone toward the PC inevitable moved voice messaging toward email, many of the players have adapted to the changes and continue to survive to this day. What does this have to do with the School Improvement Industry? The lessons are essentially the same. Behemoths turn, change and adapt much more slowly than do their entrepreneurial counterparts. In the process they leave behind (and sometimes create) plenty of opportunities that can be quite fruitful for smaller players. I call the practice 'gleaning', which harkens back to the Biblical story of Ruth and her subsistence by following behind the harvesters and picking up what they left behind. In her case, she eventually ended up as the wife of the land owner (but lets not take the analogy too far -SMB gleaners don't always end up merging with their monopoly competitors). The point is that the large players leave enough behind to become the means of livelihood for others. Small and medium size Education Services companies need to stake out their field and find a niche where they can exist and grow. As in the case of Ruth, that hard work and diligence will not go unnoticed and greater opportunities will present themselves. There is a place in this market for a lot of players, including those who represent substantial revenue potential - even though those revenues would only be considered a 'rounding error' by the Pearsons of the world.