LRNGO Launched on 11/11/12

Posted on November 11, 2012June 2, 2014 by David C. Brake

Hi everyone, as most of you know, we dropped everything recently to start this company and implement an idea that we thought might change the world. The idea is to create a free website that is the first social marketplace of learning – a place where everyone can find each other locally or globally to connect, teach and learn. As of 3PM today on 11/11 2012, we are now live here at www.LRNGO.com. It is brand spanking new, so there is no one on it yet, but it is free to use and list. If enough people use it the first year, we will keep it going.

Use this website how you wish. If you want to advertise your hourly services to make money teaching what you know, you’re free to do so. If you want to search for someone near you (or online) to teach you something of interest and contact them, go ahead–there are no restrictions. If you want to match up and find someone to teach you in return for learning something from you, you can start a conversation. Check back often as we will be adding a lot of new features.

I believe in the importance of group learning and schools, but true change in education will never come just from within the walls of the classroom. It’s going to come from us – all of us. There’s something we can all learn from each other, and throughout our lives we are all both students and teachers. Please take a look and spread the word. Love to all of you.

All the best,
David Brake

Houston Technology Center Ignition Startup Bootcamp

Posted on October 29, 2012August 13, 2014 by David C. Brake

I’ve been asked by quite a few people in the past two weeks about our experience so far in Ignition, the new startup incubator at the Houston Technology Center, so I thought I’d say a few quick words.

My response thus far is very favorable, and I know we are getting a lot out of the program. Quite honestly, this program came along just in time for us. Being our first tech startup, we had already resigned ourselves to the fact that we would need help and quite a bit of intensive training, and were preparing to look into options out of state. Not that there aren’t already great mentors here, but having access to many experts was really what we were after, and the fact that we are going through the program with others is very helpful. This is not just because of the built in interaction we get when we’re learning from each other, but also the opportunity to learn daily through observation.

I can’t overstate how difficult it is at first to take a step back out of your own “startup zone” and get an external perspective when problem solving (particularly concerning communication), and sometimes watching others working through the same kinds of problems and issues can really help. It was a real eye opener to see that in most cases when we first started three weeks ago, we could explain each others businesses more accurately in two sentences than we could our own.

We could explain each others businesses more accurately in two sentences than we could our own.

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As for the mentors, when you get down to it, it’s much like a university. There are some who have just the experience you need and you hang on every word, and then there are some who may be in completely different industries and might never get what you’re trying to do. However, one of the things I’ve learned over the last three weeks is how much even the latter can have value. There’s something to be said for being able to communicate with and peak the interest of someone who isn’t one bit interested in the internet, but is still interested in your business proposition, and getting the general public excited about your product is clearly a valuable exercise. Besides, they may have an acquaintance in your industry–and whether for investment purposes or just to spread the word about your product, you will want to be the topic of their next conversation.

I must admit that adding involvement in a boot camp that forces us to convert a business plan into a lean canvas, perfect the pitch, refine the go-to-market strategy, and completely rework the financial modeling to an already grueling product development and website launch schedule can be challenging–but every time I think our team has bitten off too much, I remind myself that it’s likely the best practice possible for the kind of schedule we will be dealing with in the days ahead. And while it’s true that we still have a lot to learn, I can safely say that after three weeks we are way ahead of where we were. Of course there are never any guarantees, and this is especially true when it comes to tech startups–but three weeks in, what do I think? Ok, here’s the lowdown. Lots of hard work and lots of fun, but mostly it lights a bit of a fire when you know you’re not the only one out there building something. In fact, when you get enough architects together, the buildings start to improve the whole city and take on a life of their own. It’s an exciting time in Houston.

It lights a bit of a fire when you know you’re not the only one out there building something.

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Photo Credits: Lucy Ayala

Education Going Digital, in More Ways Than One

Posted on October 7, 2012June 2, 2014 by David C. Brake

Those claiming that the American Education system is broken aren’t looking hard enough. It’s not broken, it’s evolving. It’s molding like water to a punch bowl. Where universities are offering ebooks, teachers are getting paid online, and innovation is coming from people’s home computers. The dynamic is changing in relation to human progression. One lever of the system can’t be pulled without influencing all others.

For example, the industrialized free market economy based on raw materials is going digital. Where the money goes in America, so also will at least a part of education. Why should students pay huge amounts of interest on loans, when the rich ecommerce venture capitalists they admire say college can be a waste of time? They’re out creating online communities that connect teachers to students and teachers with teachers, sometimes raking in millions.

Deanna Jump and Freelance Education

What happens to teachers when an economy collapses and they find themselves in need? Apparently, they get crafty, and through fascinating sites like TeachersPayTeachers.com, make decent money on the side. In fact, one extraordinary teacher named Deanna Jump sold her original content teaching guides to hundreds of thousands of people. Why not? Here’s what I find interesting: if one does a search on Amazon for her name…guess what? They won’t find anything.

Ebooks are going this route as well. They’re condensing from epic novels, to small marketing/branding packages of 10-20 thousand words, and from hundreds of pages to roughly 20-60. Non-fiction ebooks are taking off like a lightning bolt strapped on an outbound meteor.

Laid off teachers, through the 21st century virtual world, are finding that they don’t need to deal with the educational system grappling with fiat currency collapse and social transition. Through solidarity, like farmers markets of the first depression era, people are sharing what they have for reasonable prices without interest, undue fees, greed, or crony capitalism.

Two Ways Teachers are Making Money Online

Teacher to Student

This could be anything from ebooks, to blogging or freelance work. A teacher could compose study guides and sell them on any number of sites that cater to parents of younger kids up through college students. They could get hired by online universities and teach from the comfort of their own home, or hired by individuals and go door to door. In fact, teachers all over the US are not only selling their expertise to students in America, but all over the English speaking world.

Teacher to Teacher

Speaking of which, English teachers are showing teachers in China how to teach English to their students through any number of ways. Through sites like TeachersPayTeachers.com, which has generated over fourteen million dollars in sales/income so far, teachers can empower one another and stay out of the clutches of a generically overregulated system that oftentimes strangles them.

Criticism Coming from the Oligarchs

It seems that this emerging and truly free market digital economic model where teachers aren’t supposed to make decent money is disrupting the status quo. Deanna Jump became a millionaire selling her teaching guides after that same establishment kept her living from paycheck to paycheck. How many teachers’ lives and classrooms did she influence in her spare time?

The top down model is crashing and burning, but as a flower will sprout up through the cracks of a decayed slice of road, human innovation will flourish. Expect to see an ebook by Deanna Jump available on Kindle soon, it’s inevitable. Perhaps a how to guide on making over $700,000 by writing the perfect lesson plan for kindergartners that can be bought all over the world.

She is one of many, a part of entire generations going online to make a living. It’s sad that teachers appear so under-valued in our society, but it’s invigorating and inspiring that they can contribute in new and innovative ways. Hopefully, these kinds of stories will cause a few light bulbs to go off in anyone’s head who has something inside them to teach.

Speaking of that, keep reading this blog. It’s coming, we promise. 🙂