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5 Years, +1000 days & 40 notebooks at Minds Studio

It feels as though it were just last night when, seated alone with my thoughts at a Balinese table, I decided I was going to start this company.

There was no Business Model Canvas, no product, no clients, no actual Business Plan built. It was just me, stumbling alone in an inner search to find something valuable I could dedicate the next few years of my life to. I settled on an idea I’ve always cared about: helping people find the spark that only good teachers and good learning design have ignited for centuries. The spark that starts the fire of becoming a real, unstoppable learner. It’s now been over 5 years since that moment.

Minds Studio’s vision, the fuel that keeps me and the people around this company going through the ups and downs, has always been inner curiosity. Five years later, many things have played out very differently from what I originally envisioned, but that energy remains. I still feel slightly emotional when magic happens. And it happens more and more often.

Why is curiosity so important to me? Having reflected long enough on my own learning experience, I believe curiosity is the secret ingredient that enables the learning reaction to happen. It is the curiosity about what we don’t know, what we can’t understand, what brings us closer to discovering new angles of reality that end up changing our minds and rewiring our brains. It is curiosity about people who are different from us, what brings us closer, what helps us grow. One question, one answer at a time.

The obstacle doesn’t lie in cultivating curiosity – it’s an innate trait within all of us – but rather in preserving it. I believe instilling curiosity, particularly in our children, is what is going to help us solve most of our most pressing challenges as human beings. I dedicate as much time as I possibly can to address this challenge.

A 10-year mission and the 5-year check-in

I’ve allocated myself a decade to establish Minds Studio’s community and develop a sustainable business model. I’m aware that this approach may contradict conventional wisdom from Business Schools, Lean Startup methodologies, or the “Move fast and break things” mantra I once embraced, but it aligns with what I currently feel is necessary.

Committing a minimum of 10 years of my life to construct something I deeply cherish instills a sense of liberation and security within me. The company isn’t solely about seizing a money-making opportunity; rather, it serves as the platform to foster a community grounded in ideals and values. In a world fixated on speed, I find solace in a slower, more deliberate approach. Whether growth occurs swiftly or gradually, I nurture it akin to a gardener tending to growing plants. I cannot rush the process. This mindset enables me to dedicate my utmost effort to those who engage my services and the professionals within the Minds Network that I collaborate with.

This sustained and nurturing endeavor has yielded initial results, which I’d like to share with the world through a concise set of graphs, while safeguarding sensitive information. Here’s where I stand, represented by five simple and direct Key Performance Indicators, after five years of diligent work:

Total Projects executed: 30, distributed as follows

Countries where we have clients: 9, distributed as follows

Total Yearly Revenue follows this progression thus far

Total Minds Studio Members payouts follows this progression thus far

Total Minds Studio Network Members follows this progression thus far

The story I don’t like to tell

After two previous attempts with co-founders, I embarked on this project with my own savings, minimal investment, and no business partners. I transitioned from earning six figures to paying myself the minimum salary for a few months. I relinquished the fancy office, the perks, the Thursday drinks, and the health insurance. Along the way, I lost friends and partners I never thought I would. It has undeniably been brutal and mentally exhausting, to a degree that I struggle to articulate with words. Particularly in 2020, due to COVID, and during the summer of 2022 when I lost 70% of the Studio clients and nearly everything I had earned until then in one month, all while being personally devastated. I genuinely believed “that’s it” at that point. Somehow, it wasn’t. Don’t ask me why.

I took several months off work due to burnout or depression — or perhaps both; I don’t really know. There were times when I didn’t have a clue where to go or what to do. I lacked the motivation to wake up in the morning and face work. I had to reach out to my closest friends for help and question every single belief I held about myself. At some point, I lost faith in humanity and in life’s meaning. I found myself in places I never thought I’d visit, and I don’t know how I held it together. If you’re seeking for answers here, you’ll need to look elsewhere. I’m still here because I couldn’t find anything else to do with my life that would spare me that much pain while remaining true to myself.

Since starting the company, I take one week every year to reflect without technology or connection to the world. During one of these weeks, I realized that I was seeking results too prematurely, and I resolved to evaluate whether Minds Studio is succeeding — or not — as a sustainable business after 10 years of dedication. It’s a significant gamble, I know. In the meantime, I continue to support communities of learners with the expertise and learning science I’ve accumulated over the past 15 years, striving to offer something of value to them.

One thing I can say with pride is that after 5 years, I spend most of my time with people I like and deeply care about. I may have fallen short in terms of making the most money, growing the fastest, and changing the world, though.

My most valuable finding so far

One of the primary discoveries during this period of experimentation has been a personal paradigm shift resulting from my observations while collaborating with groups of learners. Previously, I had always approached the learning journey from an individual standpoint—focused on passing exams, obtaining degrees, and so forth. However, I have now witnessed and experienced the transformative power of learning within a strong community of learners.

Consequently, I now believe that acquiring new skills and knowledge is more attainable when I engage with individuals who share a common interest in the same challenge, rather than attempting it alone. Whether it’s mastering linear algebra, perfecting swing dancing, summiting a mountain, learning a new language, or grasping accounting principles, there’s something about participating in and belonging to a community of learners that evokes a sense of magic, propelling continual growth and progress. Passing tests and obtaining certifications become integrated into the journey rather than being the ultimate goal. This shift fundamentally alters one’s perspective. Suddenly, a transition happens from being a mere student to becoming a true learner, from competition to cooperation, from “me” to “us.”

This discovery has profoundly influenced the trajectory I envisioned for this project. I aspire to architect those “magical experiences” that I have personally encountered. Hence, it’s now prominently featured as the focal point on the Minds Studio homepage, and it underscores my desire for this company to be recognized for constructing “Inspiring learning communities that make learning feel like magic.”

Technology as a tool, not an end in itself

Technology will serve as a crucial component of facilitating that “magical learning” experience. Having graduated from engineering school in 2009, I’ve spent 15 years navigating the intersection of education and technology, experiencing numerous waves of excitement along the way.

The initial wave I personally witnessed was the advent of “mobile apps” following the release of the iPhone. Subsequently, there was the rise of MOOCs, Web3, Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence, and more. Over time, I’ve come to realize that while technologies may emerge and fade, as a practitioner, the significance lies not in the technology itself, but rather in what it empowers us to accomplish. Technology cannot—and should not—dictate the course of action; it is humans who set the direction.

Viewing various technologies as tools, similarly to physical implements, and mastering their usage by understanding their fundamental principles proves immensely beneficial. However, mastering them requires substantial effort. Otherwise, I believe our current “techno-driven” society can become indulgent and distracting rather than genuinely helpful, leading individuals to feel lost amidst the incessant noise.

Not AI, just a good old routine

Each workday, I sit before a notepad and pose a simple question to myself: “What did I accomplish yesterday, and what tasks lie ahead for today?”. I’ve repeated this routine over 1000 times now. Some days yield only a few words, while others result in more elaborate entries. This ritual provides structure and purpose to my day. It’s a habit that proves invaluable, particularly during challenging moments. The inertia of habit has propelled my progress. I urge any learner to establish such a routine and adhere to it. It’s something that AI cannot assist with.

The harsh reality is that there are no shortcuts. It’s not easy, and often, it’s not enjoyable. I’ve endured many silent days, many solitary days devoid of the excitement and camaraderie found in an office environment. I’ve questioned the point and relevance of my efforts numerous times.

The answer has always been simply: “I care about this work.” This internal conviction has remained a foundational principle throughout my professional journey, and I’m still committed to it.

The path ahead

Having weathered a pandemic, experienced setbacks, and navigated through unexpected challenges over the past 5 years, I’m cautious about envisioning the next 5 years. We may face financial struggles and close doors this year, or we may still be thriving in 20 years. Only time will tell.

Nevertheless, I’m inclined to make my intentions public and allow the universe to conspire in their realization:

  1. I aim for Minds Studio to emerge as a go-to brand for constructing learner-led communities grounded in the science of learning research. If I were to quantify it, I envision serving over 100 clients across 30 countries by the 10th year.
  2. I aspire for the internal Minds Studio community to evolve into a space where educators, learning experience designers, and technologists congregate and support one another, particularly during challenging times. I aim for the Minds Network community to surpass 1,000 members.
  3. I hope for Minds Studio to develop at least one new learning product and establish one hybrid school that evokes a sense of magic and fills us with pride.
  4. I strive for Minds Studio to identify a clear market fit and secure robust financing from its community (ensuring a runway of more than 5 years) by the 10th year. I target achieving $2.5M in Annual Recurring Revenue by year 10.
  5. I envision more than 50% of the studio’s projects dedicated to learners currently excluded or at risk of exclusion in society.

To the next 5 years 🥂,

Álvaro Sanmartín Cid

Celebrating Minds Studio’s 4th Anniversary ?

While the third year the Studio enjoyed the momentum and energy of the EdTech industry, the fourth brought the turbulence and the headwinds. This is an overdue review of how we adjusted to the changes in the environment during the last few months, including the new products and initiatives, as well as the updated planning for 2023:

What we worked on during 2022

Last year, challenges appeared on many fronts, so it was a time to go back to the core of what the Studio stands for. Building inspiring learning experiences has always been at the heart of why Minds Studio exists, so I decided to revisit the company’s purpose, and make it public. We put in place a new strategy to make it clearer what we do to build inspiring learning communities, and specified the key pillars that exist at the base of what we are building: meaningful learning, community driven, sustainable tech and equality at the core.

In line with that, I decided to invite a few professionals aligned with the Studio’s purpose to join the Minds Studio Network. This is an online space for learning designers, experience designers, architects, engineers, teachers, creatives, tech makers who are not satisfied with the current status quo. I envisioned this network as a “digital EdTech talent village” for those of us who are curious to learn new skills and strive for improvement. Here we share resources, knowledge, research, business opportunities, and generally we help each other grow while enjoying the journey together. If that sounds like you, reach out through the form you’ll find here.

In terms of business, I am glad to say that, after a challenging year, Minds Studio grew its YOY revenue 21% vs the year before, and we increased the number of clients from 7 to 10, being 50% recurrent, long term partnerships. We are currently working with companies in the UK ??, the US ??, France ??, Spain ??, Kenya ??, Singapore ?? and China ??.

Profitability decreased last year though, due to sudden changes in our clients’ businesses and general uncertainty in the market, but I am proud to say Minds Studio has managed to stay profitable since its birth in 2019.

These are some of the highlights of the last year’s work:

Research projects

We worked on 3 different research projects during 2022:

Logo UNIR

UNIR, part of the PROEDUCA Group, is a pioneering project in higher education. Born as a Spanish Online University, it counts now with +50,000 students from +90 Countries and presence in the United States, Spain, México, Perú, Colombia, Ecuador and Guatemala.

As part of the project Universidad 2023 – Starting Up Universities, we have identified and provided an in-depth analysis of 6 projects challenging the status-quo in higher education.

Logo UNIR

Portal Schools is an intentionally diverse community committed to offering students engaging, relevant and personalized learning experiences, while reimagining the traditional model of high school and providing key elements for lifelong success.  

As part of Portals’ career connected learning, we have designed a challenge for their students called “Cool schools”. The goal is to identify the elements of what makes a great school “cool” for their students. As part of this research, Portal’s students will start using design thinking and entrepreneurship tools to develop and present solutions, documenting their journeys along the way.

Logo UNIR

MasterD is the leading vocational education provider in Spain and Portugal, providing over 280 courses to more than 50,000 learners annually. MasterD is part of the KKR Group from 2020. 

At Minds Studio, we worked with the MasterD and KKR leadership teams on designing and implementing a market research to explore different EdTech business options on their international expansion.

Learning Communities – for children

In the last year, we have worked with the following companies to help them build inspiring and engaging learning communities:

Kubrio is an alternative school combining 18+ weekly live clubs, 3+ weekly live bootcamps, and 50+ on-demand nano courses, designed to help your children find their superpowers, and get them ready to become future makers and creators.

Kubrio went through a major transformation in 2022. Its learning model, brand and team went through changes, and we were glad to contribute towards building their InspirEd by Kubrio initiative.

Doyobi helps kids master English language skills by applying listening, reading, writing, speaking and critical thinking in the context of quests focused on different forms of literacies. Students learn 21st century skills while taking part in different adventures in the metaverse.

Minds Studio helped doyobi design and build the first version of Sharpening Minds, a parent community formed to explore and discuss how we can equip our kids for a digital future. Some of the topics discussed here are: positive screen time, online communication, gaming platforms, as well as general topics such as web3 and A.I. and how they impact our children’s education.

Learning Communities – for teens

Purpose in Motion (PIM) empowers young people with the education, resources, and networks to become mission-driven leaders and effective changemakers.

The Seeds For The FutureTech 4 Good program consists of an 8-day intensive program that helps university students ideate and structure tech-based solutions to local social problems. At the end of the year, students participate at a global competition to choose the projects with more potential.

At the Studio, we have evaluated and provided feedback and mentoring tech-based projects from Mozambique, Armenia, Albania, Zambia, Cyprus, Singapore, Colombia, Bahrain, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay… and helped them iterate their prototypes towards their annual competition.

Logo Minerva

Minerva University, a not-for-profit liberal arts university, offering a reinvented undergraduate and graduate experience for bright and motivated students from over 80 countries. Minerva’s undergraduate offering combines an interdisciplinary curriculum focused on developing and applying transferable skills; the highest academic standards; an accomplished faculty versed in the science of learning; a global, urban residential experience that traverses seven countries; and an online active learning environment, that together, result in deep and long-lasting learning.

At Minds Studio, we have been working on designing an immersive learning experience in London, in collaboration with four different partners. Over the last few years, we have also contributed towards the creation of a global university partners network.

Professional Learning Communities

Software Engineers

Logo Minerva

Andela specialises in helping the highly-skilled, global technology talent community in emerging markets, to connect with hundreds of leading companies around the world. Andela’s mission is to connect brilliance with opportunity.

At Minds Studio, we have been working to develop new EdTech user research, products and services for their growing +100,000 software engineer community irrespective of race, gender, and geography.

Data Scientists

Logo Minerva

Bitfount is a platform for distributed data science. They power deep data collaborations without data sharing, using a secure distributed environment.

At Minds Studio, we helped them design and start building a community of data scientists, custodians and researchers using sensitive data who come together to learn how to unlock its full value.

Aesthetes

Logo Minerva

Aesthetic Intelligence Labs offers a host of services for corporate clients and individuals to help them harness the power of their senses, refine their taste levels, and apply them to building brands that stand out, careers that thrive, and businesses that last.

Aesthetic Businesses that don’t just sell goods or services that meet the needs of their customers; but they create experiences, memories and connections that last.

Minds Studio has been working since 2021 with its leadership team to provide guidance and support in the creation of a learning community supported by the appropriate tech tools. In 2022, we have completely automated the onboarding and offboarding customer flows into a new modern learning tech stack.

EdTech Garage
Logo Minerva

EdTech Garage is the network for early-stage European EdTech startups. A non-profit to help startup builders in the idea stage & founders in pre-seed/seed stage get a support network to scale faster.

Minds Studio is working with EdTech Garage on both strategic and operational levels, supporting the design and implementation of existing and new initiatives to serve the community of European EdTech founders.

Plans for 2023

We are currently on track to beat any previous forecast, despite the difficult economic situation that is threatening many markets we operate in. This year is going to be about strengthening at different levels. In particular:

  1. We want to strengthen the learning communities we are building to create an inclusive and diverse society, instead of increasing inequality by only providing high quality education to those who are already privileged.
  2. We are going to grow the network of talented and reliable partners to +100 people. We want to build the future of education together, understanding that it is not a zero sum game, but a collaborative endeavor that will raise the tide for all of us.
  3. We want to strengthen the range and scope of projects geographically (Currently in the US, Europe, Africa and Asia ).
  4. We want to continue increasing the amount of collaborations in terms of research, publishing our findings regularly and through multiple channels.

I look forward to continuing the journey surrounded by curious minds.

Alvaro

Founder @Minds Studio

Exploring what makes schools cool with a community of students @Portalschools

“My school is cool” is something we would love to hear from every kid. We are currently far from that, and at Minds Studio we have decided to dig deeper into the elements and dynamics of schools that motivate students the most.

The goal of this research project is to showcase the best practices we can find in the industry -according to the students- so we can understand a bit better what the students of the current teenage generation are excited to learn.

Why Portal Schools

Portals Schools is an intentionally diverse community committed to offering students engaging, relevant and personalized learning experiences, while reimagining the traditional model of high school and providing key elements for lifelong success.  

Their educational model emphasizes the concurrent attainment of a high school diploma and a college degree within a real world learning environment.  Portal’s campuses are shared with partnering corporations, giving students the opportunity to dive into exciting, hands-on internships, and obtain a diverse range of invaluable learning experiences. Their first campus is housed at Belkin International, in Los Angeles.

Portals Microschools

Portals microschools, which house no more than 60 students per campus, are places where student voices are heard and each individual is valued. Students have ample opportunities to develop their passions and purpose within our community and in the world at large through personalized learning pathways that support them academically, socially and emotionally.

Career connected learning

Career Connected Learning prepares students for their next steps in life and career by combining professional exploration and experience across sectors with personal self-awareness and discovery. It is integrated across the Portal learning experience, from work with professional partners to studio and individual work to advisory and portfolio.

Portal places students in an authentic work environment, providing them regular chances to engage with various roles and departments in the real world workforce. Each student’s career experience is personalized to their interests and career goals. Students have the opportunity to wear many hats and “fail forward,” so that they make more informed decisions about where to dive deep, and what their next steps should be.

The partnership with Minds Studio

Portals is partnering with 12 companies to practice complex problem solving & gain insight on professional practice. At Minds Studio, we have designed a challenge for their students so they start using design thinking and entrepreneurship tools to develop and present solutions, documenting their journeys along the way.

The project brief

Context: Education is universally agreed as one of the most important investments a society can make in its own success. Yet, innovation in the both US education sector and globally is woefully behind many other sectors. There are a number of reasons for this, from outdated ideas, bureaucracy and bad policy to credentialing, talent and socioeconomic disparity.  

According to many experts, here are just a few ways education can improve: first, by empowering students to have more agency in their education and design schools around their needs; second, by sharing best practices and ideas from these schools and students; and third, by helping students do more real world learning in collaboration with companies and communities. To that end, Minds Studio “researches, designs and implements learning experiences in collaboration with fearless companies”

Problem:  The lack of awareness of existing great schools, and lack of understanding about what great schools can be, hinder innovation efforts. This is true for all stakeholders, but students especially, who are far too often removed from the school design process itself.  

Why: Too many schools  are bad, boring, or both. But they don’t have to be. Nor does academic rigor or reputation correspond with student happiness and engagement. This means that very few schools are actually cool; and way too many students are unhappy and underserved. Most people have such a narrow conception of school (often based on their own experience and that of close friends) that we cannot think bigger, nevermind try or build new options. 

Minds Studio is addressing this problem by developing new products, school models, and collaborations to redefine schools as learning communities. Portal students are a part of this movement and have the potential to make an impact. 

Challenge: It’s clear we need more Cool Schools. It’s a massive, generational challenge. One of the key needs is to get students more involved in the process. That starts with understanding what students want and need and which schools are actually delivering. Students will undertake an R&D project to identify precisely that. 

The deliverable

This deliverable will be published on the MS website and other potential partners’ publications, and shopped to Minds Studio’s list of clients to build a global project with the students’ insights at heart. It will consist of:

  1. A review the top 10 schools shortlisted by the Minds Studio Network according to 5 different criteria set in advance by the students & Minds Studio.
  2. A set of recommendations to each of the schools shortlisted, after interviewing different stakeholders of the shortlisted schools. What are the highs and lows of these cool schools? What is the student experience like?

The timeframe

This project kickstarted on the 10th of January, and it will run for 4 weeks. If you are interested in participating do not hesitate to reach out to Minds Studio.

Growing the European EdTech Startups community with EdTech Garage

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.

? Founders Matchmaking

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 😉

Building learning communities with low time preference

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.

*1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_preference

Holon IQ Global Community – Future of Education and Workforce

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:

Purpose In Motion – Tech4good learning community focused on investigating and solving social problems

Minds Studio has been collaborating during the last 2 years with Purpose in Motion, an organisation based in Hong Kong and with wide reach in China. This organisation empowers young people with education, resources, and networks to become mission-driven leaders and effective changemakers.

PIM’s vision to build a sustainable and equitable future where everyone can unlock their full potential and discover joy in their social purpose resonates with us, and we decided to step up and help their team with their Tech4Good challenge.

The program consists of an 8-day intensive program that helps university students ideate and structure tech-based solutions to local social problems. At the Studio, we have evaluated and provided feedback to projects from Mozambique, Armenia, Albania, Zambia, Cyprus, Singapore, Colombia, Bahrain, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay… and we felt welcome in the truly global community that PIM has built during the last few years.

The Purpose In Motion learning community

If you are interested in helping STEM university students build their own startup projects to address social and environmental problems, PIM is continuously looking for mentors and judges to continue running their global program. You can check all the information HERE. The results of the PIM initiatives speak by themselves:

Results of PIM’s programs according to their website

But the Tech4Good program is not the only one at PIM. These are some other examples of the kind of partners they are working with to build socially responsible learning communities:

Goalkeepers is an initiative of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that brings together emerging and established leaders from around the world to accelerate the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In 2019, PIM conducted a call for proposals and evaluated various projects from Goalkeepers across China, aimed at enhancing communication and advocacy of SDGs, while empowering young people to catalyze action and collaboration. Selected projects will be awarded funding totaling 1 million RMB.​

Yenching Academy is a Master’s program in China studies with an emphasis on interdisciplinary, designed to draw upon diverse viewpoints to explore issues related to contemporary Chinese society and culture. With a mission to cultivate mission-driven leaders, PIM’s Impact Lab at Yenching Academy matches Yenching Scholars in teams with non-profits and social enterprises. Working closely with local entrepreneurs as mentors, scholars explore local issues, and learn about effective social impact before deciding how to make the greatest impact with funding and/or pro-bono support.​

You can find more initiatives and case-studies HERE. We were impressed in the last couple years by the PIM’s team and organisation, and we would like to continue supporting their growth and reach. Thank you for trusting Minds Studio in your journey!

Lessons learned by designing a new way of learning.

There are very few people in the world who have had the privilege of witnessing radical changes in the lives of other people thanks to the combination of education and technology at scale. I have been very lucky to be one of them. 

The study, experimentation and data analysis that I went through during the last ten years has allowed me to witness hundreds of transformations which had previously seemed impossible. Learning and helping others to learn has been, is, and will be the main focus of my life.

The goal of this article is to share examples of good educational practices that I have had the opportunity to witness. On some occasions I was incredibly privileged to able to participate in their design, in collaboration with some of the most advanced and innovative institutions that exist today.

However, before we dig into it, please let me start this story by giving you some context about my personal story.

My Education.

Ever since I was little my dad had to force me into going to school every morning. I think this was representative of how much the idea of school motivated me.

Despite having been through almost all levels of the European Education System, there has always been something about the school experience that I did not fully agree with. Like many passions in life, when they are involuntary and enforced by a third party in a standardised manner, they usually turn into suffering. Even the things that we love the most.

The American psychologist Dr. Peter Gray, author of numerous clinical trials and studies1 of learning in children, said: “We are so blinded by the idea that children must be forced to learn that we cannot imagine the possibility of children learning much more if we did not force them”.

After the classic “study to the test” school experience, I decided to enroll a the Electrical Engineering at the Polytechnical University of Madrid.  Around that time this “degree” was known for only being accessible to bright students, who typically ended up at investment banks, in technology or at strategy consultancies. It was a combination of “dare at the reach of few” and the supposed high chances of being “socially valuable” that made me choose this path.

Following the mentality of “performing” I embarked on a five year journey in one of the most academically demanding engineering schools in the country. Despite not having much free time, I spent most of the little I did have on two things: 

1. Teaching maths and physics to younger students

2. Learning to speak English, which enabled me to go to two of the places that radically changed my life: The University of California at Berkeley, and Harvard University in Boston.

In the classroom I was just another student, listening to an unending stream of information from teachers that, in general, repeated the same Fourier Transformations or Maxwell’s equations year after year, exam after exam.

When I taught, however, I relished the freedom to experiment. We proved Hooke’s law with weights and springs, and tested Archimedes’ principle in the kitchen. We observed the Doppler effect with two drops of water in the sink, exploring everything together, rather than being teacher and students. It was creative, fun, and in many cases, unforgettable for everyone involved. If it had not been for those students and the hundreds of hours of work in scientific-based experiments I would have never been able to become an engineer.

It was only once I finished my university education that I really became a learning machine. Having regained my independence, I rigorously studied everything I could find about the human learning process – from the most fundamental aspects (biology, physics, chemistry, and its emotional components) to the more external aspects (social factors, learning environment and accessibility).

I am not, however, a theorist in the matter. Since 2009 I have been part of the foundational process of multiple companies and organisations whose goal was to better the lives of people by helping them learn effectively. Some projects have been designed for adults, others for children and teenagers, but always in a variety of social circles of people from different backgrounds. Sometimes, it was the design of learning programmes for high earning technology companies in Silicon Valley, and others they were for refugee camps in Greece. I have treated them all with the same dedication and respect that they deserve – because the magic of a good education is that it can change lives, even in the most inhospitable places on earth.

Like any other person who has dedicated over a decade to the study and experimentation in a certain field I do not want to ignore the bias that my own opinions carry. During these years I have witnessed a lot of unsuccessful experiments. Other times they have been so transformational, that they have changed the learning paradigm I now use in the design of educational solutions across schools, universities and a breadth of companies. I am well aware that some of my conclusions may potentially be refuted by new scientific advances in the matter in the future. Everybody who works in this field is constantly experimenting, looking to be  corrected by data -and the market- when we are wrong.

Towards a new way of learning

I would recommend reading in depth “The New Education: How to Revolutionize the University to Prepare Students for a World In Flux”2 by Cathy N. Davidson. In her book, Davidson provides a fantastic description of the evolution that the education system has undergone since Taylorism of the 20th century, to the world in the 21st century.

In sync with Cathy’s theory, I believe we are in a time of change of the productive paradigm from Taylorism to something else:

In Taylorism, the productive model that leads education is industrial and specialised. Teaching is used to standardise processes and generate efficiency in industrial production. For this purpose, it is necessary to train individuals in a disciplinary manner (lawyers, engineers, architects…) as engaged pieces of a larger machine.  Individuals must, therefore, be specialised and replaceable, so that if one fails another “specialist” can step in and the system can continue working.

We can observe this legacy system in the majority of schools and universities all over the world. We are still training students in abilities that are evaluated by a test that determines their aptitude to receive a certificate or degree at the end.

On the other hand, in the tech-enabled world that we are working towards, the majority of functions that can be done as a standardised chain will be done by information technology. In this context, the individual stops being a piece in a machine, and becomes a unique part in an active network (similar to a neural structure). For this reason, instead of memorising, students participating in this new way of learning are taught to extract conclusions, integrate disciplines that allow them to make complex decisions helping to adapt interconnected systems to any unexpected changes.

New institutions recently created are building programs towards a completely different education system, although they are still a work in progress. Many of these new schools have less than a decade of trajectory, and their efficiency will only be evaluated with time. It is promising, however, to see that innovative schools like Minerva University in the US, LIS in The UK, or Tomorrow University in Germany receiving official awarding powers in the last couple years.

The principles

Under the Taylorist educational paradigm, the individuals’ objective is to reach the peak of knowledge through the construction of increasingly specialised degrees. However, in the new way of learning this objective transforms. The individual is more valuable to society if her connections in the network are active and strong in a relevant group or network. By “relevant”, I refer to a group of people, areas of knowledge or professional experience relevant to today’s society.

Please think about this fictitius example: who would you hire to develop your company’s Machine Learning/AI transformation?:

a) an engineer who graduated cum-laude and specialised in an academic institution without a relevant professional network

b) an engineer without an academic title who has worked 5 years with Tesla, been publicly recommended by Elon Musk and has had experience working with the team that developed navigation systems that the company will use in the future

While the market of advanced education in the world is increasing3, the students at institutions of advanced education in the USA have been decreasing around 7-8%  over the period 2020 to 2022. The arrival of alternatives, and the lack of efficiency of traditional degrees, encourages students to try other routes.

In 2020, Minerva University, an institution that had not yet been fully accredited in the United States (later accredited in 2022) received over 25 000 applications, and admitted only 2% (a lower percentage than Ivy League universities). This is an institution without a campus, where the classes take place online through a tool called “Forum”. In 2022, the London Interdisciplinary School (LIS) opened its doors, and became the first interdisciplinary programme of problems and methods to receive recognition by the English regulator since the 1960s. Both institutions’ admissions were not based on the students’ academic records, but on their background, circumstances and talent4.

At Minds Studio I have had the pleasure of working with both universities (Minerva and LIS) in the design of a small part of their new programmes. Looking back across the last 10 years, considering the design of these and other various projects of this new way of Learning, I have put into practice two key principles: 

  1. Students should develop transferable skills. These abilities should allow them to resolve problems or complex situations that they have never seen before, independently of the moment in time in which they are tested (eliminating the “study to the test” mentality).
  1. The learning experience should bring a substantial change in the students’ social environment, generating a community of people that they can turn to during any part of this process.

This new way of learning (and teaching) requires significant effort in redesign, and should be careful not to fall foul to the mistake of simply giving the old system a makeover. Educational institutions resistant to adapt to change will soon become irrelevant, as the latest figures of student enrollment show5

However, just because the principles of construction are changing it does not mean that existing institutions lack them. They are, simply, different from the earlier ones. 

Let me use another example to illustrate this concept, using a physical analogy. Gravity, physics and architectural principles apply the same way to build a small house in the countryside, than to build a cathedral in the heart of a city. When we talk about the architecture of learning, the same thing occurs. If the foundation is solid, the result will make everyone who passes by it feeling good, and what is being built will stay strong and useful for many years.

Unfortunately, the previous education paradigm is filled with “prefabricated programs”, and our students are looking for something much much better.

Materials to build a new way of learning

Following the example given earlier, and without wanting to excuse the lack of reflection and principles in many educational programmes, in some way this lack of technique is not unusual.

Historically, humans started building their homes with sticks, stones and everything in their reach. With time, advances in technology and science created a new field of specialised knowledge that allows us to build bridges and skyscrapers in diverse environments. I want to believe that we find ourselves in a prehistoric time when it comes to learning science. We should look to add our grain of sand in building this necessary evolution.

What are those materials that are being used to build this new way of learning then? Let me review some of those I am aware of so far:

1. Learning is an emotional activity. Therefore, its design needs to manage emotions and participation should be optional

Neuroscience has proven that the connections between neurons produced in the brain are stronger and longer lasting when there are emotions (positive or negative) involved in the creation of a new memory or fact6. It has been sufficiently proven that the prefrontal region of the brain plays a key role in decision making and short term memory. However it is the limbic system, the primary region of the brain controlling our emotions, that is associated with long term memory. This is where we want our students to store the skills and knowledge we are teaching them.

Therefore to achieve solid learning we must think about which emotions we want to provoke in the student from the primary emotions (surprise, sadness, fear, anger, happiness or disgust). Traditionally, fear (“the final exam” “the grades”), has been the leading factor on this learning journey. 

However, when we make this experience optional, past experience has shown us that it is possible to reach a state that allows the student to “flow”7, transforming learning into something enjoyable. It can also cement itself into our memory through surprise, happiness and other secondary emotions like pleasure and pride.

When learning is a voluntary activity, the students are much more receptive to creating new connections in their brain than if they were forced to learn by memory. This is due to the fact that most students that are forced to go to class disconnect their limbic system and limit themselves to being present but not receptive.

2. Learning goals should be designed based on the science of learning and not to “go through content” or prepare an exam.

The following example was extracted from Dr. David Kohler’s Skills for Trainers course8. If we wanted a group of students to be able to start a fire in the case that they might need this knowledge at an emergency, we would have a few ways to do it:

Under the paradigm of individual learning, we would create a curriculum that could explain step by step the different phases that are necessary to create a fire with rocks, sticks and other materials. To finish we would prepare an individual exam that, once it is over, would give the student the credential that proves they are capable of starting a fire.

However, there are other ways to achieve complete and solid learning. Firstly, establishing a clear objective (“the students will be capable of successfully lighting a fire under adverse circumstances”). Then, defining what successful learning outcomes look like (for example, creating and maintaining a fire for 10 minutes in any weather). And finally, adjusting the difficulty of the assessment to the experience of the student based on the surrounding conditions (students will only have sticks and stones, for example).

With the second approach, the learning experience becomes a collaborative effort. It is likely that some students will master the skill faster than others, but all participants experienced the creation of fire first hand. Students are aware that this ability may need to be used in an unexpected situation, for example, when they get lost in the mountains and they need to keep warm on a rainy day. Not just on the test day.

Now imagine that the process is repeated multiple times during the life of the student with a community of people with whom they create trustworthy relationships. This will achieve, in a natural manner, an improvement in the student’s long term memory and the overall learning experience.

3. Solid learning requires learning how to collaborate with people from different backgrounds who join forces for a project or common goal

If we thought of learning as the construction of a building, we would not expect only one person to be in charge of all of the necessary activities for its construction. In the same manner, to learn a new skill it is necessary to know other meta skills that allow us to interact with people from different backgrounds, disciplines and experiences. This could be applied to building a house or learning something new (playing the piano, singing, etc.).

This is why it is fundamental to look at learning as a social process and not an individual one. We are continually adding experiences and connections throughout time that form a group of disciplines that the students combine in a unique manner. Following the earlier example, an engineer will learn how to play a piano in a very different manner to a writer, but doing it together will make it easier and more effective for both of them.

4. The speed and depth of the lesson should depend on the individuals and their circumstances, and it should not be forced but facilitated in a coherent manner.

In the same way each human body is different to any other, the mind is different as well. If a person has the ability to run 100 metres in 10 seconds we would not as that person to run the same length as someone who weights 140kg, or one that has an injury preventing them from walking.

However, it seems like mental agility is treated in a different manner than the purely physical, and this causes a lot of students to abandon their studies because of a lack of confidence in their capabilities. A good learning experience design will take this into consideration.

5. Learning is a muscle we need to use, not a finish line we need to cross.

The evaluation is just a component of the learning process, with the goal of informing the student on what they should work on or review. However, the most important thing is not to reach the end of a course but to never stop finding goals, keeping our learning journey going.

Staying in shape, therefore, is the main objective of any solid and sustainable learning programme. If this is not the case the individual will end up throwing away developed abilities into a metaphorical junk drawer.

From my personal point of view, qualifications that lack a continuous evaluation process do not have validity if they are not re-evaluated after certain periods of time.

The journey we have yet to go through

Even though it seems unbelievable, the great revolution of information and communication has changed the production models of the planet in less than 30 years.

The standardised education system as we know it is a little over 120 years old, originating from a need to supply workers during the industrial revolution due to a lack of qualified teachers. Therefore it makes sense that we find ourselves in a time of transition from one model of education to another, and the existence of changes in the paradigm that are not yet accepted by the majority of the population.

Those who have understood that learning is a muscle that we need to use often have become the biggest agents of change in the society that we live in, and are highly sought after.

I have seen with my own eyes the transformation of many people who had no job nor prospects, develop a new skill in just a few months thanks to this new paradigm. After just a few months they started receiving 15-20 weekly messages from headhunters and all sorts of business. I have also seen children who hated going to school suddenly develop a passion for learning. An exciting future awaits all of them.

I am aware that they are not the majority and that there is still a long way to go. But I also think that if we build a firm base with the right materials and we follow the principles that work well, we will build a better way of learning and a better society.

Our students will move us, surprise us, and will become our great teachers along the way.

Alvaro Sanmartin Cid

Originally published by “Nueva Revista“, UNIR. 2021.

References:

1 Peter Gray, https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/freedom-learn

2 Cathy N. Davidson, https://www.cathydavidson.com/books/the-new-education/

3 Calderón, Massification of Higher Education revisited

4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Interdisciplinary_School

5 CNBC, More colleges face bankrupcy even as top schools face record wealth

6 Learning how to learn, by Barbara Oakley. https://barbaraoakley.com/books/

7 Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Flow

8 David Kohler, PhD. https://hydralabs.co/team/david-kohler/

Learning is a team sport, not a single player game.

At Minds Studio, we are in constant experimentation and sometimes new revelations appear along the way and change our world. One of the most transformative ones has been the following change of paradigm:

Learning is not a single player game, but a team sport.

This is not intuitive, as we have spent our lives in schools and universities who approached teaching as a “single player” game. We were assessed by our individual performance through tests and exams designed to measure our knowledge, skill, or how we can apply both to solve problems.

Do you want to learn to play an instrument? Take classes and practice to pass the exam.

Do you want to learn maths? Do your homework, go to class, get a tutor, pass the exam.

This approach leads to the “study to the test” we all know, whose effectiveness for long term skill development are far from ideal . The majority of people take the classes, pass the exam, do their homework and…

…They forget most of it fast.*1

At Minds Studio we realised that, in order for our learning experience designs to stand the test of time, we could not only look at this activity from the individual perspective, but we needed to add a new variable: the learning community.

Because we have all experienced what a team sport is. A group of individuals coming together regularly to contribute individual efforts towards an elevated goal (win the match, classify to the next round, etc.).

Sometimes, people just gather for practising their skills (like basketball training, or a tennis class). But other times, they gather in front of an audience to assess and test their skills (as we evaluate for the next karate belt, or we play a football tournament over the weekend). In those special moments, people usually invite their loved ones (friends, family, partners…) and they celebrate their successes -when they happen- together.

And this is important.

Do team sports generate knowledge and skills in each participant? YES

Do those skills stand the test of time? YES, much better than if we were playing alone.

Why don’t we do this when we learn a new skill at school?

…hmm…hmm…

Designing learning with the community in mind

After careful consideration, we realised that if we wanted to commit to designing the best learning experiences possible, we could not limit ourselves to the individual. We had to understand the learning environments as much as learning process or outcomes*2.

Model of the LEPO framework, by Rob Phillips, Camel McNaught and Gregor Kennedy available HERE on ResearchGate

Going back to our earlier sports example, think about what needs to go right in order to become a karateka:

  1. Find the right Dojo (‘Dojo’ is a Japanese word that means ‘place of the pursuit’ . The word ‘do’ meaning ‘the way’ or ‘the pursuit’ and ‘jo’ meaning ‘a place’) – The right learning environment
  2. Find the right teacher and practice regularly throught the different levels during a sustained period of time (Apparently, around 5 years to reach the black belt) – The right learning process
  3. Demonstrate certain skills that build up on top of each other every time you are assessed in order to “be awarded” the next belt. – The right learning outcomes

Generally, once you approach the mastering of a skill, the way to keep the “muscle of learning” active, is to continuously use it and start teaching it to others – as it usually happens in martial arts-.

What does “community learning” mean?

Education has been mostly focused on the learning outcomes (Generally crystallised by degrees or certificates) and the learning processes ( Which are mostly determined by the teachers). Little attention has been given to the learning environment, especially to the interactions of the learning community. This is actually the key element that keeps the learner coming back to continuously learn, even after the assessment (exam, test, etc.) has passed.

“Community” is a magic word that most projects aspire to have, but very few really dedicate the efforts and resources it deserves, given its importance on long-term effectiveness during the learning journey.

“Community” is hard, because it is complex. As any “environment”, it is a combination of little details that make you feel welcome, or excited, or it could very easily turn into cold or too much for me.

“Community” is not just a network of people, although many people just refer to their network as such. Community is a group of people who keep coming together over what they care about*3. A course has an end date, if we really care about what we learned, we should continue to be connected after all the coursework is done.

A community uses technology, but it is not a tech tool.

The same way a cook will use different utensils to prepare a great dish, a great learning community will need a lot of tools, but the tools themselves won’t solve the problem. You would be going to bed hungry if nobody acted on the tools and the processes needed to enjoy a good meal. Learning communities need human minds to build the environment, the process and the outcomes so it evokes the feeling in the learner that the journey is seamless.

Many companies try to solve the “community” problem by just providing tools to their users, and waiting for them to engage with them. Our experience is that that it just won’t work.

Our commitment to building inspiring communities

We believe any company or institution that aims to educate people to acquire skills, tools or knowledge, are in the business of building a learning community. However, we also know many of them don’t know it yet.

We aim to become a reliable partner in the process of building and nurturing effective and inspiring learning communities, and we are changing our work focus at the Studio accordingly.

In order to do that, we know we need to find the best talent (learning designers, experience designers, tech experts, product managers, etc.) to work with us on that journey. We also need to find the companies daring to invest in an intangible but strategic asset for their businesses.

We will explain more about our community learning framework soon. If you’d like to know more about it, please register below:

*1 “Exploring Cramming: Student Behaviors, Beliefs, and Learning Retention in the Principles of Marketing”. Shelby H. McIntyre and J. Michael Munson.

*2 “Towards a generalised conceptual framework for learning: the Learning Environment, Learning Processes and Learning Outcomes (LEPO) framework”. Rob Phillips, Carmel McNaught, Gregor Kennedy.

*3 “Get together: How to build a community with your people” Bailey Richardson, Kevin Huynh, Kai Elmer Sotto.

2021 at Minds Studio

This has been, without doubt, the best and most productive year at the Studio so far. This is a review of the products and initiatives that have been launched during the last 12 months, and the plans for 2022:

InspirEd by Galileo

Galileo is a Global, Forward-Thinking School For Self-Directed Learners. Minds Studio has been working with Galileo since 2020, and 3 initiatives have been launched so far.

After gathering 10,000+ people in the Homeschooling Global Summit, and launching the Family Experience Days, the leadership team was looking for a more regular initiative to keep the conversation alive all year round.

The team came up with the design of a series of Clubhouse events that run 3 times a week. Conversations are recorded and published via the InspirEd podcast, and the InspirEd Magazine.

Since July 2021, InspirEd has hosted +50 Conversations. We have hosted some of the most prestigious leaders in the Alternative Education space, growing the Galileo community to a new level geographically, and in terms of audience.

PAZ Talent Accelerator explosive growth

PAZ is bridging the skills gap by connecting forcibly displaced talent with the tech industry. At the Studio, we have been working at PAZ on different projects since its inception in 2018.

This innovative social enterprise, led by Leticia Galdón, has reached unimaginable results in 2021. With over 600 applications, the operations grew faster than ever. The team had to grow, new funds arrived, mentors network expanded an order of magnitude. 8 out of 10 forcibly displaced professionals that went through the program took back control of their lives through a new job in tech. Mind blowing.

Multiple technical and educational systems needed to be designed to prepare the company to this kind of growth. 25 Cohorts needed to be organised and coached, +200 interviews arranged. +100 Mentors needed to be onboarded. It was an explosion of interest in Diversity and Inclusion that drove the business into a new stage after +3 years of bootstrapping.

If you’d like to know more about the project, his is one of the multiple interviews that were published about PAZ in 2021:

You’ll hear big news about PAZ in 2022.

LIS opened its doors in London

The London Interdisciplinary School (LIS) is building a new university that prepares students to tackle the most important and complex problems.

LIS, led by Ed Fidoe, brought together a diverse and outstanding group of academics, entrepreneurs, and educationalists to prepare for the 2021 launch. Minds Studio co-created with philosophers, epidemiologists, artists, journalists, behavioural scientists, and mathematicians, and the LIS leadership team some parts of a new learning experience never seen before.

This reimagined university revolves around the concept of Interdisciplinarity. For those new to this concept, it means crossing the boundaries of existing mental models to create new and relevant modes of understanding and experiencing the world.

LIS was the first UK University to receive new awarding powers from the start in over 50 years, and has launched the first official cohort in September 2021. The journey has just begun, and we were excited to be part of its starting point!

Aesthetic Intelligence first learning experience in flight

Aesthetic Intelligence is not simply about beauty; it’s about delight. Aesthetic Businesses don’t just sell goods or services that meet the needs of their customers; they create experiences, memories and connections that last.

Pauline Brown, a renowned expert on luxury branding, and Paula Oriol, a serial entrepreneur, know all about it. They trusted Minds Studio to guide them in the definition and development of the Ed-tech stack to build their first digital learning experience in 2021.

In their own words: “The Minds Studio team helped us set up a learning platform in record time.  More than collaborators, they have the ability to become part of your team and are always ready to take it a step further. Every challenge was overcome with quality and efficiency and where others would have said it was not possible, they insisted and tried to find another solution.

Scoolinary PRO Workshops launched

Scoolinary is the leading on-demand cooking school for professional chefs and foodies. His leader, Jordi Ber, trusted Minds Studio in 2020 to design a new concept of hybrid learning, combining live classes with online videos.

The result was Scoolinary PRO, a learning experience that combines group accountability with live tutoring that launched in early 2021. Students gather in groups to learn with the help of a tutor, that meets with them online once a week.

Since March 2021, several groups of students have met on a monthly basis to improve their cooking skills using the principles of the Minds Studio learning experience, that was tailored to the needs of the Scoolinary subscribers.

Experimenting at the Bitcoin Studio

Bitcoin took a very important role at Minds Studio during 2021. This new digital asset experimented an explosive growth that inspired its adoption globally, including the first country that adopted it as legal tender.

Inspired by the work of Daniel Prince at the Once Bitten Podcast, Minds Studio decided to create a very special learning group that launched in January 2021, meeting once a week for +50 weeks. You can listen to the launch interview HERE.

In the Bitcoin Learning Group, a community of self directed learners help each other understand the technology, values and ethos of this new form of money. If you’d like to experiment it yourself, you can find more information and apply to join the group HERE.

Piloting a new company culture of learning with Interacso

Interacso provides digital solutions with a business perspective in mind. A mix between design, coding and business strategy. Since 2019, Oscar del Río, the founder and CEO of the company, has relied on Minds Studio to encourage a culture of learning, redesigning the classic corporate “upskilling” approaches.

During the Interacso 2021 pilot developed by Minds Studio, a group of self-directed Interacso curious employees joined 3-month sprints to improve their skills while developing their personal passion projects.

Some of the participants created their own mobile apps, video-games or machine-learning algorythms. Project-based learning combined with hybrid interactions and a company-wide demo-day were tested internally.

Published the Future of Work Playbook

The Future of Work Playbook shares nine strategic “plays” that business leaders can take – in their own organizations and in partnership with others – to achieve a future of work that works for everyone.

The project was led by Tim Frost at Xynteo, a purpose-driven advisory firm founded in Norway that works with the world’s largest organisations to help them find new ways to grow.

Minds Studio was invited to participate in the creation of this initiative along with a community of leaders from business, policy and civil society, committed to supporting a more positive work future for all.

We look forward to continue strengthening this strategic collaboration in 2022, and we hope others could use some of the key learnings to improve the way they work and learn today.

Sponsored the EdtechX global challenge

EdtechX is a global student competition to source the best ideas to transform the future of learning and work. Winning teams receive a collective prize package worth $25,000. It includes mentorship, internship opportunities, subscription credits, and more from companies such as Google Cloud, IBIS Capital, or Transcend Network.

With this initiative, Minds Studio wants to keep growing its network of learning designers, engineers and Ed-techpreneurs to build a global talent network. Thank you to EdtechX for letting us be part of it!

Improved the way we design learning experiences with Metonomy

Metonomy is a Canadian company trying to answer the question: How do human beings help others in a productive way?

David Kohler is Metonomy’s founder and principal. He has worked with 1,000s of professionals in the last decade to understand this important question, and developed a series of trainings for coaches, facilitators and instructors. At Minds Studio, we took one of them in 2022 and wrote an extensive review of our learnings, that you can find HERE.

Setting the 2022 Intentions

Although some of our projects we are working on can’t be shared due to NDA agreements or because they not been launched yet, the samples displayed publicly provide a good summary of the kind of ideas that Minds Studio promotes .

The work done last year has positioned Minds Studio in a privileged situation to look at the future with optimism. Although the company is still young, 2022 is going to bring new opportunities to continue growing stronger.

These are some of the principles we would like to follow in the following 12 months, to keep aligned with our mission:

  1. Continue launching education products and services to build an inclusive and diverse society, instead of increasing inequality by only providing high quality education to those who are already privileged.
  2. Grow a trusted network of talented and reliable partners to build the future of education together, understanding that it is not a zero sum game, but a collaborative endeavor that will rise the tide for all of us.
  3. Increase the range and scope of projects geographically (Currently in the US, Europe and LatinAmerica), and start working with governments to scale the impact of life-changing learning experiences.
  4. Expand the horizon of our publications and research, publishing our findings regularly and through multiple channels.

We don’t know what 2022 will bring, but we definitely know where we are heading and with whom!

The journey has just begun,

Alvaro Sanmartin Cid

Founder of Minds Studio

2021 Thank you list

At Galileo, I would like to appreciate the trust of Kelly and Vlad, and the support received by the team (Nadine, Daniel, Kaya, Lenn, Stacey, Yho, Lizz, Maté, Serj, Mareile, and many more!) and all the guests that spend hours talking to us on Clubhouse. I really believe we are building the school of the future!

At PAZ, I can’t express with words my gratitude to Leti for all she is doing to make the project grow. This year, I would also like to appreciate Blanca, Rocío, Nadia and Max for jumping to bring the PAZ to a next level. I don’t want to forget to express my gratitude to the +100 mentors that are working with PAZ candidates every day.

At LIS, I would like to appreciate Carl and Amelia, who kindly invited me to participate in this amazing initiative with María, Isaiah, Waqas, Ebrahim, Marielle, Mattia, James & Hayley. Thank you for all insights and intellectual stimulation!

At AILabs, it’s been incredibly fun to build the project with Paula. I am super excited to learn more about Aesthetic Intelligence, a new concept to me, although it resonates with me deeply.

At Scoolinary, I would like to express my gratitude and professional respect to Jordi and Martin, who have created incredible products together. I learned so much with them. Also, thank you to the entire Scoolinary team and tutors for their collaboration through the design & launch phase!

At the Bitcoin Learning Group, I could not thank enough to Daniel Prince for his guidance and care through the Bitcoin community onboarding. Also, I express my appreciation to everyone that showed up to spend time with us learning about technology, philosophy, ethics, politics and even family building!

At the Interacso team, I would like to start thanking Oscar and Alejandro for all the years of trust and mutual support. Some relationships are more important than any business.

At Xynteo, I would like to say thank you to Mahima for keeping me in her mind to this opportunity, and to Tim and his team for making it such an enjoyable experience.

At EdtechX, I would like to thank the organisers and, specially to all the students that participated and interviewed at Minds Studio. 2022 will bring plenty of oppportunities to them!

At Metonomy, I deeply enjoyed the conversations with David, and his kindness to share his learnings with me.

In addition to those who were working with Minds Studio in 2021, I would like to appreciate the time that some people dedicated to learn and explore with me, even if we didn’t have a specific project or purpose.

You are (In no specific order): Akshay, Iván , Caroline, Christine, Xiangcen, Zamácola, Itziar, Lynn, Rafael, Gareth, Caleb, Joe, Alberto, Husayn, Pierre, Mathieu, Blaise, Ameer, Leah, Linna, Polkan, Felipe, Jose, Elliott, Ambica, Ruth, Declan, David, Jeff, Miguel, Danny, Sergio, Marta, Linna, Matthew, Jaime, Gabi, Scott, Santiago, Gonzalo, Julia, Jaime, Filmon and Dawn.

You have all been part of the Minds Studio journey, and I will always be grateful for your time and contributions.