Magoosh

Since 2009, Berkeley-based Magoosh, co-founded by a trio of MBA 2010 graduates—Bhavin Parikh, Pejman Pour-Moezzi, and the late Hansoo Lee—has helped more than 10 million students level the playing field on prep for entrance exams such as the SAT, ACT, GRE, GMAT, TOEFL, and LSAT. Unlike pricy prep classes, which often cost thousands, Magoosh starts at around $130. Thousands of practice questions and video lessons yield a guaranteed 70-point score improvement—or money back. Now at $10 million in revenue, Magoosh—a play on the Persian word magush, describing a wise person—boasts students in 185 countries who have watched 13 million hours of practice videos and taken 550 million practice questions.

1926

The SAT is administered for the first time to about 8,000 students, a supplement to essays already required by the College Board, which continues to oversee standardized testing today. 

2009

While still Haas students, the co-founders release Magoosh’s first product—GMAT math practice questions with video explanations.

2010

Magoosh wins second place in the Intel+UC Berkeley Entrepreneurship Challenge. 

2011

In collaboration with Bay Area nonprofit groups, Magoosh distributes 800 free SAT prep accounts to local high school students. 

2013

Co-founder Hansoo Lee (center) dies of cancer at age 35. Parikh (right), Pour-Moezzi (left), and Lee’s fiancée start the Hansoo Lee Fellowship to support aspiring entrepreneurs at Haas.

2016

With a team of 25, Magoosh ranks No. 186 on the prestigious Inc. 5000, placing it in the top 4% of fastest-growing companies nationwide.

2019

Magoosh CEO Bhavin Parikh is named one of three Berkeley Visionaries by the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce. 

2020

Over 500,000 students have chosen Magoosh for their paid test prep.

2024

The College Investor lauds Magoosh as “Best for Digestible Study Sessions” based on its self-paced ACT course and guided coursework. Forbes names Magoosh the “Best GMAT Prep Course Overall.”