W03: How do you invest?
This is a Discussion Post related to the third week of 522. How do you invest? This week we’ve looked at how new ventures are pitched: perhaps you can imagine yourself as the person being pitched to? Whether with bank accounts, mutual funds, stock markets, casinos or lotteries, everyone has a unique risk profile. For […]
W04: What’s your ride?
This is a Discussion Post related to the fourth week of 522. What’s your ride? I’ve been very fortunate in my career in that I’ve worked variously in, or with, government, institutions, foundations, non-profits, startups, corporations, etc. They all have their own personalities, cultures and, like all human organizations, soul-draining dysfunctionalities. I’ve discovered I love […]
W13: Who owns the future of learning?
This is a Discussion Post related to the final week of 522. Who owns the future of learning? Now that we’re concluding our journey I’ll ask you to reflect on the famous Margaret Meade quote: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing […]
W02.1: Is Education a “Marketplace”?
A common belief is that education and business are incompatible, like oil and water. For example, almost everyone believes that classrooms should be commerce-free. Yet while the price-tags and marketing aren’t obvious, a global corporate battle is being waged for every item in the classroom, and all the systems that feed it. And our administrators […]
W02.2: Global Dynamics
Humanity’s relationship with technology is changing almost as fast as technology itself, and our hopes and dreams for learning ride the wave of that relationship. For example, just a generation ago we thought computers might ‘automate’ learning. Then the Internet happened and we saw a potential to ‘globalize’ learning. Then digital games blossomed and we wanted […]
W02.3: Who is the Customer?
Most people understand education as a domain populated by “teachers” and “students”, not “customers”. In fact, even the concept of “customer” is difficult in traditional educational settings that attempt to appear free of commercialism. This sensitivity is particularly acute within learning companies because almost always, somewhere in the company, it is usually believed that the […]
W02.4: What is a “Venture”?
Original Value 522 understands a “venture” as any new initiative that is conceived for the purpose of generating original value in the world. Let’s break this down a bit further. First, “value” can mean many things, but in this context it most often refers to accountable economic or social value, and therefore to successful for-profit ventures […]
W03.1: Analyst Bootcamp
The Art and Science of Listening to Crazy Ideas In this section and the next we’re running mini-bootcamps for analysts (the people who evaluate the viability of ventures in anticipation of possibly funding their growth) and entrepreneurs (we’ll break out this term soon, but basically these are the people who conceive, promote and lead ventures). These two groups […]
W03.2: A Game with Three Pitches
If you really were an Educational Venture Analyst, as you are now emulating, you would spend a significant portion of your time responding to “pitches” from people who have ventures they want you to support. A good entrepreneur needs to be instantly and professionally prepared to present three different kinds of pitch, and you need […]
W03.3: Deconstructing a Pitch
The Content For educators, a brilliant feature of pitches, especially 8-12 minute Venture Pitches, is that they are perfect learning objects. They’re condensed diamonds with their most critical facets on display. For EVAs this makes critical analysis easy: any facet that is missing, deeply flawed or irrelevant is immediately apparent. Venture Pitches should display all […]