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Platform product · 0 → 1
Hercules ERP
Education Operating System
Education Operating System
Built a unified education management platform from zero — replacing 6+ disconnected tools across admissions, finance, academics, and operations into a single source of truth across 25+ campuses.
13
Modules shipped
25+
Campuses on one platform
2,600+
Student journeys digitised
+15
NPS improvement
Platform Architecture
13 modules. One operating system.
Click any module to explore.
Click any module to explore.
Four layers — each owning a distinct domain, all sharing a single data backbone. Click a module to see the problem, decision, and measurable outcome. Layer pills filter the view.
Admissions
Operations
Academic
Growth
Click any module tile to expand details and screenshots
admissions
CRM
Admission conversion
admissions
Enrollments
Student journeys digitised
admissions
Scholarship
Revenue leakage stopped
ops
Finance
Monthly reconciliation
ops
RBAC
Policy violations reduced
ops
Inventory
Asset loss reduction
ops
Support Tickets
NPS post-launch
academic
Academics
Faster program setup
academic
CMS
Quiz coverage achieved
academic
Tutor Management
Faster tutor onboarding
growth
Affiliates
Affiliate revenue driven
growth
Comms
Communications automated
Growth layer
Affiliates
Affiliate network management, KYC, and payout engine
Problem
Affiliate leads came via WhatsApp — no KYC, no attribution, frequent payout disputes. No structured partner channel. CAC from paid channels was ₹85K+.
Decision
Built Affiliates as ERP backbone for emConnect app. KYC verification, BDM mapping, lead attribution, payout triggers tied to enrollment confirmation in Finance module.
Impact
₹17.9 Cr
Affiliate revenue driven
350 admissions · CAC −33%
10,000+ verified affiliates in 4 months. Fraud eliminated. Became 2nd largest acquisition channel after Google Ads.
Screenshots
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Integration Ecosystem
Hercules at the centre of
every critical workflow
every critical workflow
Every external tool flows through Hercules — creating a single source of truth and eliminating data silos across finance, sales, academics, and student communication.
Razorpay
Fee collection
JODO
EMI finance
Propelld
Student loans
LeadSquared
CRM sync
connects to
Hercules ERP
Single source of truth
connects to
Freshdesk
Support tickets
WhatsApp API
Student comms
Emverse LMS
Academic delivery
Firebase
Auth · notifications
Build Philosophy
Three principles that shaped
every architectural decision
every architectural decision
01
Microservices over monolith
Each module owns its domain. Finance can fail without taking down Academics. Modules ship independently, scale independently, and can be replaced without rewriting the platform.
02
Single source of truth
Before Hercules, the same student's data lived in 6+ places with 6+ versions. Every module reads and writes from the same PostgreSQL backbone — one record, one state, no reconciliation.
03
RBAC as a first-class concern
Access control wasn't bolted on — designed in from day one. 5-level hierarchy covering campus managers, counsellors, finance, academics, and admins. Zero unauthorised access incidents post-launch.
Key Learnings
What building a platform
from zero taught me
from zero taught me
01
Sequencing modules is the hardest PM decision in a 0→1 platform. I shipped RBAC and Finance before features — because without access control and payment integrity, nothing downstream could be trusted.
02
The biggest risk isn't what you build — it's what you build too early. Several modules were descoped from v1 and shipped in v2. That decision protected platform stability during initial rollout across 25+ campuses.
03
Operational adoption is harder than engineering. Campus managers at 25 locations had wildly different workflows. Change management and training cost more time than the actual feature development.
04
A single source of truth is worth more than any individual feature. The moment Hercules became the authoritative record for finance, enrollments, and support — every downstream product (emConnect, AURA, ECHO) compounded in value.