At Minds Studio we welcome EdTech Garage to the family of companies building the future of education and technology. This is a very special project for us because it aims to grow the EdTech ecosystem as a whole instead of just one product.
What is EdTech Garage?
EdTech Garage is a non-profit helping startup builders in the idea stage & founders in pre-seed/seed stage within K12, higher education, corporate education and lifelong learning.
What does EdTech Garage offer?
Mainly, a community of +100 early stage founders who are going through similar situations, in different parts of Europe. Some of the activities that are currently taking place at the EdTech garage are:
?? Member Community & Network
Introductions to other EdTech startups in Europe with the goal of learning and growing together.
? FoundersMatchmaking
Access to other EdTech companies’ founders and pitch decks, curated by the EdTech Garage team.
? Meetups across Europe
Regular in-person and online events on a wide range of topics relevant to EdTech founders.
??? Resources & Founder Tracks
Curated resources on funding, internationalization and a directory of the incubators, accelerators, VCs, newsletters, etc.
How is Minds Studio going to be helping EdTech Garage?
In summary, we have been part of the EdTech Garage community for some time, and we believe we can enhance and empower it working together. We will be working on:
???? Growing the EdTech Garage family providing relevant content
??? Design new learning activities and events to bring people together
? Build strategic alliances with other EdTech networks and Partners
How can people join the network?
It is quite easy. Just visit the EdTech Garage website and fill out the application. This is a paid -but affordable- founders community, but if you want to try it out with a discounted fee, please fill out the your contact details below and we will be in touch with a membership discount 😉
It is Black Friday, and I believe that is the perfect day to share my understanding of the concept “of “low time preference”, and how this principle can be used while building a community…or anything else, really.
What is time preference?
In economics, time preference is the current relative valuation placed on receiving a good or some cash at an earlier date compared with receiving it at a later date*1. In other words, it measures how patient you are to get results out of your efforts or your money.
A practical example: Jim and Bob go out for a drink but Jim has no money so Bob lends Jim $10. The next day Jim visits Bob and says, “Bob, you can have $10 now, or I will give you $15 when I get paid at the end of the month.” Bob’s time preference will change depending on his trust in Jim, whether he needs the money now, or if he thinks he can wait; or if he’d prefer to have $15 at the end of the month rather than $10 now.
Black Friday is peak high preference. Every business and individual is trying to maximise returns of their investments today. When the macroeconomic environment is unstable, the amount of high preference decisions increases. Everyone is trying to sell as much as possible and get profits, fast.
What is low time preference?
Low time preference, instead, is about building for the long run independently of the current circumstances. Instead of maximising the return of the investment today, it is about maximising the value generated in the future.
Yes, that is hard.
We can find examples of low time preference projects in all trades. One of my favourite low time preference projects is the Sagrada Familia, in Barcelona. Construction started in 1882 led by Antonio Gaudí, and is still unfinished (!). “My client is not in a hurry.” he said about a project that he probably knew he would not see finished in his lifetime. This construction currently attracts 5 million visitors, generating 17M € in revenue annually.
The roof of the Sagrada Familia seen from the inside.
Every day we face high time vs low time preference choices. Fast food or home cooked meals? Social media or reading a book? Going for a drink or going for a run? Your physical and mental health will be affected by each of those micro-decisions. Like it or not.
Not only our personal life is affected by high vs low time preference. At work, it is up to you to build long term relationships or quick transactional deals. We can build for an economy of hire fast and fire faster, or we can invest in growing something strong together. We can take strategic decisions looking at this quarter’s results, or at the company’s mission. It is always the same principle at play. Simon Sinek calls it The Infinite Game:
Low time preference education
Education doesn’t escape the high time preference vs low time preference principle. Studying the last day for an exam, trying to pass without thinking about absorbing knowledge or skills, is a high time preference decision.
However, when we look at it in depth, any valuable skill builds up on a low time preference process. You didn’t learn to read – a skill you practise every day- with a “0 to hero” course. It takes time. It requires a sustained effort. It meant you had to focus on a specific task repeatedly, many days, without noticing much progress each time. Low time preference at its best.
As a product, I believe education is one of the lowest time preference options you can choose in life. In buying a car, the benefits are perceived instantly. However, in purchasing a “second language course”, the benefits will be only felt after sustained effort, whenever we need to use that language in the future.
Low time preference at the Studio
At Minds Studio, I am determined to build a low time preference business with people who are aligned to this principle. This means we would like to invest in long lasting relationships with our clients and employees, build sustainable business models, and long lasting learning experiences.
When building a learning community, the temptation is to cut corners. Using money to artificially provide an illusion of engagement, “magical results” and hoping that big promises will generate an “explosion” of growth. On the contrary, the low time preference approach of growing a strong base of appreciated members who trust each other to grow together is generally seen as “not fast enough”. We work with businesses and individuals who understand that building for the long term means to grow slower but stronger.
If any of these principles resonate with you, please do not hesitate to leave your contact details here so we can have a -low time preference- chat about the community you are building.
HolonIQ is a global impact intelligence platform for innovative education technology companies. Started in 2018, the company has developed a brilliant tool to analyse and generate insights from a vast array of impact market data.
At Minds Studio we had the opportunity to review the platform in depth and our minds were blown away. We have suggested it to some of our clients for the analysis of business opportunities and potential partnerships or expansions.
One of the Holon IQ maps published on their website
This Australian company has also created relevant industry insights using their own technology. Some examples of it are the “Global Learning Landscape“, “Edtech Unicorns“, “Education in 2030“and other regional charts displaying the most promising Ed-tech companies in the industry.
Holon IQ LATAM EdTech 100
But HolonIQ is not just willing to provide an outstanding technology, it is also heavily investing in building a strong global community. The company is hosting 12 in-person events (New York, Bengaluru, Berlin, Cairo, Jakarta, London, Melbourne, Mexico City, Paris, Singapore and Stockholm) and 3 virtual summits (Africa, East Asia and Middle East) about the future of Education -recently adding Climate Tech and Healthcare-.
HolonIQ’s Future of Education and Workforce track
At Minds Studio, we are excited to be joining the “Future of education and workforce” track, happening in London, on the 16th of November, 2022. If you are interested in joining us, you can find more information here. This is the summit brief:
“Imagining a world where everyone of earth has equal access to the future.
Education, training and the world of work have been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the role of digital will be core to the future of learning – from early childhood, K12, higher education through to workforce upskilling.
We are seeing full spectrum innovation from digital content, online learning, advanced technology from AI to robotics and, web3 to the metaverse into language learning, tutoring, assessment, up-skilling and beyond.
Capital for innovation is flowing into the sector as traditional education systems urgently seek digital solutions right across the learner lifecycle and new models, approaches and solutions emerge to build new competitive landscapes.”
If you are attending the London summit and you’d like to connect with us, please use the following form:
