Alpha Two-Hour Learning Discussion - May 21, 2025

Participants

• Gary Sheng
• Amanda Shipka (Alpha Schools/Two-Hour Learning)
• Joe Marone (Alpha Schools/Two-Hour Learning)

Summary

This discussion focused on Alpha Schools' Two-Hour Learning product, its various business models, current state, and go-to-market strategies. The conversation explored the product's capabilities, limitations, and potential use cases, with particular attention to sales processes and potential opportunities for collaboration.

Key Topics Discussed

Two-Hour Learning Business Models

Joe Marone outlined three parallel business models for the Two-Hour Learning platform:

1. Private School Integrations:

   • For existing private schools charging substantial tuition (>$10K)
   • Schools pay $10K per student for Two-Hour Learning
   • Alpha provides academic curriculum while schools maintain control over the rest of the day
   • Led by Dave Patine
   • Implementation timeline: Fastest cycle would be to start now for fall launch

2. Public School Integrations:

   • Implemented through NTSS interventions for students who are behind
   • Subject-specific solutions for public schools
   • Features "a 1.75 growth multiplier expectation or guarantee"
   • Led by Jenna (last name not mentioned)

3. Direct-to-Parent/Homeschool Platform:

   • $10K per student direct license fee
   • Parents maintain ownership of their child's education
   • Designed for self-service use by students
   • Requires minimal parent teaching involvement
   • Led by Joe Marone and Amanda Shipka

Joe explained the distinction between their product lines: "Where we draw the line at who's receiving the funds for the license. If it's coming directly to Alpha, then it would be us... But if the money's coming to us, that's ours. As soon as they organize into their own entity, they want to be their own micro school or private school, then I hand those off to Dave Patin."

Current Product State & Development

Amanda described the current state of the platform and development priorities:

• Current platform works but "doesn't look like a $10,000 experience" for demo purposes
• Being rebuilt to improve scalability (current version requires manual management of course plans)
• Moving away from third-party solutions like IXL toward proprietary content
• Developing "AlphaLearn" as the delivery UI alongside "TimeBack" platform
• Key development priorities: content creation, dynamic learning paths, and improved onboarding
• Timeline: significant improvements expected "within a few months"

Amanda clarified: "I would say that it doesn't have issues. It's just not visually appealing for a demo. And it's not very scalable as is because it requires some manual management of the course plans for all of the students."

Sales Process & Demonstrations

The team discussed their approach to product demonstrations:

• Weekly product demonstrations with "Hollywood-level polish" are being developed
• Current demos require explanation as the interface doesn't immediately convey value
• Maintaining human interaction in sales process is crucial for trust-building
• Plan to enhance demos in next 2-3 weeks to include both product introduction and walkthrough
• Resistance to providing self-service demos due to product appearance and complexity

Joe emphasized: "Every week we're doing multiple sessions. These sessions need to be like Hollywood-level polish, where we do a product introduction and a hands-on demonstration. And we will run those from now until the end of time. Or until a better solution presents itself."

Student Experience & Results

The team shared insights about student outcomes:

• Students complete academics in approximately two hours per day
• Parents don't need to teach - the system handles instruction
• Joe noted: "They're testing this week, throwing up some amazing numbers, sitting at their breakfast table with a bowl of fruit in front of them and a laptop, double up and triple up on the growth that their friends are getting, going to eight hours of school and two hours of homework every day."
• Amanda emphasized: "The parents don't have to teach them. That's the huge differentiator for our program, is the parents are not the teachers. The parents are accountable."

Potential Opportunities

Gary discussed several potential opportunities:

1. Jewish Schools in NYC:

   • Yeshivas facing potential shutdown for not meeting academic standards
   • Two-Hour Learning could help them comply while maintaining religious focus
   • Gary called this a potential "layup sale and integration"

2. Corporate Microschools:

   • Creating schools near corporate offices for employees' children
   • Gary: "The general idea is next to any office that has a bunch of parents that want a better educational model for their kids."
   • Joe endorsed this as a "win-win-win" scenario

3. Homeschool Families:

   • Gary's friends Ari and Jennifer in Dallas considering homeschooling
   • Joe offered to provide personalized demo
   • Discussed complexity of starting microschools vs. simple homeschooling

4. Potential Government Work:

   • Gary mentioned exploring the First Step Act initiative for incarcerated individuals
   • Would involve education/upskilling for rehabilitation

Challenges Discussed

Several challenges were identified:

• Product demo limitations (visual appeal, data integrity issues)
• Scaling issues with current platform
• Content development needs
• Complex sales cycle requiring human interaction
• Microschool economics (Joe noted operators often "significantly under-thought that their base charge is 10k and they have to maintain profitability at some tuition number above that")

Next Steps

1. Joe to send Gary a bookable link for a one-hour personal demo for his friends Ari and Jennifer
2. Gary to connect with Dave Patine on Friday to discuss private school integration opportunities
3. Potential collaboration on improving the top-of-funnel sales process
4. Gary to continue exploring various opportunity areas while coordinating with the appropriate teams

Key Quotes

• Joe Marone: "It's awesome to see them. They're testing this week, throwing up some amazing numbers, sitting at their breakfast table with a bowl of fruit in front of them and a laptop, double up and triple up on the growth that their friends are getting, going to eight hours of school and two hours of homework every day."

• Amanda Shipka: "The parents don't have to teach them. That's the huge differentiator for our program, is the parents are not the teachers. The parents are accountable."

• Joe Marone on why they don't provide self-service demos: "It doesn't look like a $10,000 experience. Most of the valuable components are... shielded by one or several layers. The data isn't always awesome."

• Joe Marone on sales scaling: "I don't actually perceive communicating a product at scale, moderate scale, to be a point of friction... I think our ability to scale the message will match our ability to scale students."

• Joe Marone on corporate microschools: "If parents want to do that, I do think it's an amazing idea, especially if you have real estate... lease it out to a school and you give your employees a great benefit at the same time. You've got something to tuck into your annual enrollment. The win-win-win, right?"

• Gary Sheng on his potential role: "I'm very good at building partnerships, building trust, honestly, political strategy, and just relational strategy."