Billionaire’s Advice to Young People
Joe Liemandt

• Performance claims. Liemandt states Alpha is “the best performing academic school in the country,” claiming every single class is top 1% (≈ 15:36–15:47). He says the academic engine teaches ~10× faster and that in ~2 hours/day students learn more than twice as much as peers in a six‑hour day plus homework (≈ 16:03–17:43).

   

• Model in brief. Students work with a learning‑science‑based AI tutor (“not like ChatGPT,” per Liemandt) for a concentrated two‑hour academic block; the remainder of the day focuses on life skills (leadership, entrepreneurship, financial literacy, public speaking, socialization, grit) (≈ 17:05–17:16; 39:35–41:24).

   

• Cost today & path to access. He says current Alpha tuition is $40k–$75k; Alpha is also launching $15k micro‑schools (e.g., Texas sports academies), with voucher programs (~$12k) bringing parent pay to ~$300–$400/month (≈ 1:02:23–1:03:16).

   

• Scale vision & funding. Liemandt says the goal is a sub‑$1,000 tablet that can teach “everything in two hours” for a billion kids; he adds that he has put $1B in to kickstart the effort (≈ 1:04:28–1:05:12).

   

• Economic education. He emphasizes financial literacy from kindergarten and describes middle‑school practices like “Robinhood for kids” simulations and learning credit‑card interest (25%) by borrowing and repaying at school (≈ 4:59–5:05; 6:41–7:31).

   

• Philosophy on standards & motivation. He asserts that high standards increase happiness and advocates an “athletic ethos” in academics (≈ 35:16–36:27).

Key Takeaways & Highlights 🎯

1. Top‑1% claim and 2‑hour day.
   Liemandt claims Alpha is top‑1% in every class and that students learn more than 2× as much in ~2 hours/day vs. a six‑hour traditional day (≈ 15:36–17:43).

    

2. 10× faster via AI + learning science.
   He says the engine is built on learning‑science principles and teaches ~10× faster, delivered through an AI tutor rather than a lecture model (≈ 16:03–17:16).

    

3. Life skills as the other half of the day.
   Afternoon work centers on leadership, teamwork, entrepreneurship, financial literacy, socialization/relationships, storytelling/public speaking, and grit; examples include post‑game press‑conference training and a fifth‑grade food truck to teach gross margin (≈ 39:35–41:24).

    

4. Financial literacy from K–12.
   He describes starting money education in kindergarten, then “Robinhood for kids” exercises and borrowing at interest so students experience 25% credit‑card APR in a safe setting (≈ 4:59–5:05; 6:41–7:31).

    

5. Costs & access.
   Alpha campuses: $40k–$75k tuition. Micro‑schools: ~$15k, with ~$12k vouchers in some states → $300–$400/mo parent pay (≈ 1:02:23–1:03:16).

    

6. Scale plan & capital.
   Goal: sub‑$1,000 tablet that can teach “everything they need in two hours” for 1B children; Liemandt says he has invested $1B to kickstart (≈ 1:04:28–1:05:12).

    

7. “High standards = happiness.”
   He argues kids thrive with high expectations and cites an athletic model for academics (≈ 35:16–36:27).

    

8. SAT anecdotes.
   In the intro, the host references three Alpha students scoring 790/790/790 on the SAT Math; Liemandt says “in our school, that’s normal” (≈ 0:30–1:04).

Key People & Concepts

• Joe Liemandt — Principal of Alpha; founder of Trilogy/ESW; leading the scale plan discussed here.
  
  
• Alpha School — Private K‑12 model using an AI tutor for academics and life‑skills workshops in the afternoon.
  
  
• Micro‑schools / Sports Academies — Lower‑cost campus model (e.g., for D1‑bound athletes) with ~$15k tuition (≈ 1:02:44–1:03:09).
  
  
• Sub‑$1,000 tablet — On‑device AI tutoring target for 1B learners (≈ 1:04:28–1:05:05).