Read-A-Thon
👤 Howard Gottlieb (Ran Easy Fundraising Ideas (2002) for a decade first - knew PTAs, the 40-50% product-drive pain, and had cash to self-fund this.)🌐 siteLinkedIn
A veteran fundraiser rebuilt the read-a-thon as software and gave schools a bigger cut than any product drive.
Will it work? · our read
Won a niche. A serial fundraiser rebuilt the school read-a-thon as software, handed schools 75-80% instead of 40-50%, and bootstrapped it to a PE exit. Small market, deeply recurring.
01How the money moves
Students log reading minutes, gather sponsors
→
Donors give online; no product to ship
→
School keeps 75-80%; Read-A-Thon keeps the rest
02The numbers
$150M+ for schoolsStatedrevenue never disclosed
2026
Figures are donation volume and operating metrics off the company site, not company revenue. [our read] read-a-thon.com
Total donations raised through the platform since 2012, per read-a-thon.com; the company keeps a small, undisclosed cut. Company revenue never disclosed. [our read]
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See a full teardown, free → ImportYetiSourcesSources last checked 31 August 2026
read-a-thon.com - homepage: 5,000+ schools, $150M+ raised, school keeps 75-80% (read 2026)Practical Founders - bootstrapped, no outside funding; 4,000+ schools, $30M raised in 2022; sold to PE early 2023Millionaire Interviews #195 - aerospace/retail background; prior company Easy Fundraising Ideas (2002)LinkedIn - Howard Gottlieb, self-described 7X founder
Bootstrapped confirmed: Practical Founders and interviews say Read-A-Thon grew profitably with no outside funding, founded 2012 by serial founder Howard Gottlieb (prior co Easy Fundraising Ideas, 2002), sold to private-equity investors in early 2023 for an undisclosed sum. Company revenue/ARR is never disclosed. The headline $150M+, 5,000+ schools and 75-80% kept were read directly off read-a-thon.com - $150M+ is donation volume the platform processed FOR schools, NOT company revenue; the company keeps a small, undisclosed percentage. Practical Founders cited $30M raised in 2022. verified:false because no first-party company-revenue figure exists. We never score you.