Founder of Gamma ($100 ARR AI-powered slide deck software, started in 2020 now valued at $2 billion)

• Insight that led to founding the company: “On Google slides I was spending 80% of time on the look and feeling, 20% of time on content. It should be backwards.” Paul Graham commented “surely the thing that the slide deck is describing is more valuable than the slide itself.” 
• Emphasized the importance of making the first 30 seconds of the product incredible - was the key factor leading to product viral growth and product-market fit.

Marc Andreesen (a leading VC and former entrepreneur):

• "AI is the first monumental rearchitecture of what is a computer in 80 years."
• "The scenario where you have only a few big AI model winners is like if we just had mainframes instead of desktop and laptop and mobile and watch. It would mean basically the top AI models are the best across many things, and cheapest, and most power efficient, and fastest, and easiest to adopt and use for every scenario. And we are going to want AI infused in everything."

Founder of World Labs (Fei Fei Li, a major contributor to AI progress who is focusing on developing AI models that are spatially rather than linguistically intelligent):

• "So much of our intelligence is built upon visual perceptual spatial understanding. Not just language (the foundation for LLM models powering the current wave of AI). I think they are complimentary."
• Use cases for spatial models include: robots, disaster support like putting out a fire ("words alone aren’t enough"), gaming, scientific discoveries (DNA required 3d visualization)
• "Robots are more like self driving cars than LLMs. 20 years from self driving in desert to in the streets, and we’re not even done yet. And self driving cars are much simpler robots - they’re just metal boxes running on 2d surfaces, and the goal is not to touch anything. Robots are 3d things moving in the 3d world and the goal is to touch things."

Slack Founder on good software design:

• "Good software is less about reducing friction and more about reducing people feeling dumb or having to think when using your software.”
• On tilting your umbrella to let someone else go by more easily: “Bezos famously said ‘your margin is my opportunity’. At Slack we said ‘your non-umbrella tilt is my opportunity’. Your failure to really be considerate and empathetic about other people’s experience can be our critical advantage. Slack wouldn’t have grown the way it did without those little conveniences. ‘Tilt your umbrella’ is still on company swag.”

Views from the New York City Marathon

NYC Thanksgiving Macy’s Day Parade

Shohei Otani played one of the greatest games of all time en route to his second straight World Sefies title last month. Below is a one look into how he did it:

Breaking the mold: Ardern’s entire career became a counter-example to many stereotypes we have about politicians:

• "I asked students to close their eyes and imagine a politician and then tell me what they saw. The answers were always the same: male, old, gray. Then I would turn to what they heard and tone of voice - the words would come quickly: “confident! Angry, aggressive.” I would repeat this exercise in multiple classrooms up and down the country - the answers were always the same."

Advice from Queen Elizabeth: when Ardern asked her for advice on raising children while leading a country:

• “You just get on with it”

Shout out to trout fishing:

• “In the end, I think 3 things helped mom keep going: her faith, her community, and trout fishing”

Guiding advice from her dad, a police officer, after a situation when she thought he would have used force but he de-escalated peacefully:

• “My words will always be the greatest tool I have”

The core passage of the book: the traits we often label as flaws can be our greatest strengths:

• "Here is what I would say to everyone who is not sure they fit: 'If you have imposter syndrome or question yourself, channel that - it will help you. You will read more, seek out advice, and humble yourself to situations that require humility to be conquered. If you over think everything, if you can imagine the worst case scenario, channel that too. It will mean you are ready when the most challenging days arrive. And if you are thin skinned and sensitive, that is not weakness. It’s empathy. In fact all the traits that you believe are your flaws will come to be your strengths. The things you thought will cripple you, will in fact make you stronger, make you better. They will give you a different kind of power, and make you a leader that this world might just need. That’s what I would tell them, and I suppose, in sharing my story, that’s what I’m telling you.'"

Great photos! Love the one of you two crossing and the city lights

1) Improved his luck surface area. ("The most important decision a poker player makes is what table they sit at; The number one rule of fishing is to fish where the fish are”). The below are focused on geography, but Franklin made similar pivots beyond where to live:

• If Franklin had not moved from Boston to Philly at 17 we would never heard of him (got him away from a bad situation and to a smaller city with more opportunities for him to make contributions).
• If Franklin had not moved from Philly to London at 50, he would not have been an impactful statesmen (opportunity had dried up for him in Philly, a state faction started turning against him, and he looked at pivots whether to London or moving out west to help start a new colony).
• If Franklin had not left London to hop between US and France in his late 60s, the US might not have secured needed support from France to win the war (all these moves were extremely difficult and emotional decisions; on his last day in London, per friend, “he grew very emotional. The tears in his eyes made it impossible for him to read” ).

2) Started small. A couple key examples Franklin was a part of:

• Started his public service career as a clerk when a position opened up; eventually became a Founding Father
• America's first library started as dozen people (including Franklin) in a small social club sharing books
• University of Pennsylvania started as an academy
• Franklin's passion for electricity yielded no results for many years
• Didn’t rush funding requests with France as America's lead diplomat - Franklin waited for the right time when power on the battlefield led to improved power at the bargaining table (this was a very big deal as US might not have won the war without French funding / support!)

3) Overcame obstacle after obstacle: I had imagined a life with this many accomplishments would be one triumph after another, but I was surprised how many setbacks Franklin had. Here’s a list of some adversities Franklin successfully overcame:

• His older brother managed the family store Franklin worked at and bullied/hit Franklin, leading Franklin to run away from Boston to establish a new life in Philadelphia at 17.
• After decades of contributions to Philadelphia, Franklin ran for a public service position in in the city and came in 13th out of 14th place.
• While representing the US in London during the build-up to the American Revolution, Franklin faced major threats on both sides of the Atlantic (a mob tried to burn down his house in Philly, while he faced a British parliament that accused him for hours and almost sent him to jail).
• Some health issues in his later life (while making titanic contributions to the early US) including having gout, kidney stones, and a twice-dislocated shoulder.

4) Set high standards for himself. A few of many examples:

• In his 20s, Franklin was told he was too argumentative. In response, Franklin set a 3-point standard for himself when he disagreed with someone: 1) acknowledge an aspect of their opinion he agreed with; 2) caveat that he was just sharing his opinion and could be wrong; and 3) share his disagreement in the form of a question. This approach made a major difference in Franklin's ability to collaborate effectively with people, a critical component of his success.
• Franklin documented a set of key standards for himself (moderation, humility, frugality, etc.) and then focused on a different one each week to turn them into habits over time.

5) Hard Working & Detail-Oriented. Franklin worked hard, consistently, and granularly.

• As a Printer in his 20s and 30s, people passing Franklin's printing shop would see him working late into the evening
• Pushed himself to make daily, detailed, practical progress 
• Wrote out plans in incredible detail, minutiae, footnotes (such as the charter for the University of Pennsylvania and procedures for the US Post Office)
• Made slight but impactful refinements to America’s founding documents (such as suggesting the famous phrase “self-evident” be used instead of Thomas Jefferson’s original “sacred and undeniable”)

6) Emotional discipline. One of Franklin's most marked characteristics (one he shared with George Washington and which differentiated him from many others like John Adams) was an extremely high level of emotional self control. A few examples:

• When called before Parliament in London, Franklin felt avoiding speaking back to Parliament members would improve his chances of avoiding jail - he was spoken poorly of repeatedly but maintained his composure (“I kept my countenance as immovable as if my desires had been made of wood”)
• To John Adams, Franklin wrote a very adversarial letter when he was upset, but never sent it, as it gave him the ability to express his frustration without making an enemy.

7) Continually earned an enhanced reputation, including:

• Becoming a leading printer in Philly led to him join a social club that helped him make major contributions to the city (university, library, fire insurance, widow insurance)
• Franklin's scientific achievements played an enormous role in his success as a statesmen - from US to London to France he had more doors open to him and was respectfully listened to
• In London, Franklin eventually stood up against British taxes on the colonies - doing so made him one of the most popular and respected Americans, positioning him for success as a diplomat and founding father

8) Avoided major mistakes (though made some medium ones...). Here are things that weren't part of his life - sounds not too difficult but at least one of these were a part of the lives of other founding fathers, past presidents, and geniuses like Newton and Mozart

• didn’t overspend or speculate away his money (his eventual financial success gave him independence and ability to contribute to public service later in his life)
• didn’t have an affair
• didn't have a duel
• generally avoided making personal enemies

9) Teamwork! Almost all accomplishments were with other people where he was just a part:

1. Co-founding America's first public library, the University of Pennsylvania, and insurance for widows
2. Engaging with the French to secure critical funding and support
3. Playing a key role in the Constitution successfully passing: “Attended the convention punctually and talked about it highly, helping to make it real. Chose to nominate Washington to chairman, when he was the only person who could have been thought of as a competitor ...Franklin's closing speech helped convince Constitutional delegates to vote for the Constitution, was called by some historians the most impressive moment of his life."

10) Franklin brought a sense of fun, joy, and curiosity which helped connect him with others and energize him over a long life of contributions:

• Franklin followed his interests, most notably in lightning and science which led to his discovery of electricity
• Franklin consistently had a good sense of humor, told stories, and generally was enjoyable to be around and work with. Quote from a Franklin contemporary: "I never saw a man who was in every respect so amiable in all ways"

What’s the problem with most schooling today?

• “Educating kids is the most important thing we do as a society, and it hasn’t been changed in 200 years. Teachers are great, but the 200 year old model of one teacher in front of the classroom most of the day is the problem. The teacher in front of the classroom is like the worst way to teach people…"
• “In a time-based model (a certain amount of time allocated for each part of the curriculum  before a test and then moving on regardless of how well you did), only a small set of students can master the material and get a 100%. In a mastery-based model, everybody can. The model is the problem.”

The Opportunity AI Unlocks

• Highly tailored teaching has not been scalable given the teacher/tutor to student ratio it would require. Gen AI has changed the scalability constraint
• AI enables dynamically generating lesson plans precisely fit for each student’s knowledge level and interests. 
  • Example 1: Student doesn’t read much but likes Marvel movies and has friends on their soccer team. Can then create a story for them to read about them and their friends saving the world, and move up the reading comprehension.
  • Example 2: Student finds fractions boring, but likes fashion and shopping for clothes. So teach fractions through fashion rule ratios. 
  • Example 3: Student doesn’t like statistics, but loves baseball. Teach statistics in terms of baseball.
  • Example 4: To learn world history, students generated songs with AI. Students remembered what they learned better.
  • Example 5: Student wasn’t interested in WWI. But liked Taylor Swift. So GenAI created an analogy to when Kanye took microphone from Taylor during Grammys, expanded on that, added names of who was who for WWI. And the kid went from being deeply uninterested to literally saying “ok I am going to remember this forever”

The Pitch

1. 2 hours is all you need. "This whole concept of we need to have kids spend 6 hours a day plus homework for 12 years. It’s just not even close to true. And according to learning science people have cognitive load limits, so they can only learn so many new chunks of information in a day if you want them to retain it. Your kid can learn everything they need to know in 2 hours a day. The amount of time they need to spend is so much less than what we spent or what parents expect. If your kid is 1 year behind, your kid is only 20-30 hours behind at Alpha. You can teach an entire grade level of one subject in about 20-30 hours (compared to the typical 180 school days 1 hour each and homework). It’s 5 to 10 times faster. It just doesn’t take that long. And they all get 5s on their APs."

2. Your kid can love school more than being on vacation. “The top commitment of Alpha is kids will love school. Students often don’t like school, the school experience is not fun. We’re going to be able to transform their years in school because they are not gonna sit in class all day. Motivation is 90% of the solution.”

The Model

1. Teachers/Guides: 5 students per guide ratio at the lower levels; higher ratio as students get older to allow more space per student 
2. 2 hours daily of AI-generated course material (there is also an AI vision model used to analyze student interaction with their generated lessons and provide feedback)
3. 4 hours of time post-course material for "workshops" (examples have included students managing a food truck for a year and learning about operations, profit and loss statements, and marketing; writing a musical; working on robotics; practicing public speaking and storytelling in front of real sports journalists)

Double Click - Avoid a Swiss Cheese Student

• Much of knowledge is built on top of each other (addition -> multiplication -> algebra). 
• Without mastering each layer it’s like Swiss cheese: "you’re building this foundation with all these holes, and it’s going to collapse as you get high enough."
• At most schools: “A teacher in front of a 6th grade classroom has to deliver 6th grade material. But many students will not have mastered prior material and need a 4th grade lesson, but they won't get it again. And if they get 80% of the next lesson they will move on even though they haven't mastered the material - the standards are just too low. And then as kids get older the biggest issue isn't that they're struggling with the current material but with the prior material that the current material builds on.”
• Difference at Alpha School: " A student got a 740 out of 800 on the math SATs (a top percentile score). But from that test we saw she didn’t have fluency with a component of division. So we literally sent her back to 3rd grade level math. We’re the only school in the world that will take a student with a 740 and send them back to 3rd grade math. And she then got a 790."

What's Next?

• Scale the software over the next year to support more schools
• Federated schools (such as sports or music academy that use the 4 hour workshops to specialize, or for more academics for kids who love that)
• Like the iPhone (and unlike much of the education model that has remained fairly stagnant), improve the model to get better every year