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Mixpanel, a private sector company, just raised $65M with this power point deck. It’s 12 slides long.
Of course, they didn’t raise the money because of the deck. They raised the money because of their company’s potential for profits, which they were able to capture in twelve slides.
Mixpanel effectively raised $65 million by pitching VC’s with a smart and clear idea — that’s more than $5 million per Powerpoint slide.
From what I gather about private sector investing, VCs are mostly looking at the talent of the founders and the potential for outsized profits (VCs make most of their money on 10% of their bets). 12 slides and solid diligence can be enough.
Compare this to Race to the Top applications, where the average winning application length was 343 pages.
In my experience, non-profit fundraising is somewhere in between. Major asks require 20-30 slides and maybe a twenty page written support document.
Reflections
1. Government is a Different Beast
Because of the potential for corruption, I understand why government wants a lot of documentation in order to justify its investments. That being said, I do think the RTTT program would have been strengthened by a more sober analysis of states’ ability to implement. But, again, paperwork is probably an unavoidable tax of government investing.
2. VCs are More Accountable than Foundation Staff
VCs go out of business if their investment portfolio fails to deliver enough profits. This is generally not the same with program officers. Depending on the the foundation, there may be some results based accountability on staff, but the ultimate accountability of foundation staff is in pleasing the founder or board of the foundation. This creates different incentives than those of a VC.
3. Foundations Vary A Lot
In my experience of foundations, I’ve seen a wide variety of diligence processes, some better than others. I’d be curious to see a researcher (paging Rob Reich) try to figure out why this is. Some guesses: (1) whether or not the founder is alive (2) the quality of the executive director (3) the ideology of the foundation.
EdTech Firms Need to Weigh Approaches Based on Funder Types
By Neerav Kingsland - Dec 24, 2014
Mixpanel, a private sector company, just raised $65M with this power point deck. It’s 12 slides long.
Of course, they didn’t raise the money because of the deck. They raised the money because of their company’s potential for profits, which they were able to capture in twelve slides.
Mixpanel effectively raised $65 million by pitching VC’s with a smart and clear idea — that’s more than $5 million per Powerpoint slide.
From what I gather about private sector investing, VCs are mostly looking at the talent of the founders and the potential for outsized profits (VCs make most of their money on 10% of their bets). 12 slides and solid diligence can be enough.
Compare this to Race to the Top applications, where the average winning application length was 343 pages.
In my experience, non-profit fundraising is somewhere in between. Major asks require 20-30 slides and maybe a twenty page written support document.
Reflections
1. Government is a Different Beast
Because of the potential for corruption, I understand why government wants a lot of documentation in order to justify its investments. That being said, I do think the RTTT program would have been strengthened by a more sober analysis of states’ ability to implement. But, again, paperwork is probably an unavoidable tax of government investing.
2. VCs are More Accountable than Foundation Staff
VCs go out of business if their investment portfolio fails to deliver enough profits. This is generally not the same with program officers. Depending on the the foundation, there may be some results based accountability on staff, but the ultimate accountability of foundation staff is in pleasing the founder or board of the foundation. This creates different incentives than those of a VC.
3. Foundations Vary A Lot
In my experience of foundations, I’ve seen a wide variety of diligence processes, some better than others. I’d be curious to see a researcher (paging Rob Reich) try to figure out why this is. Some guesses: (1) whether or not the founder is alive (2) the quality of the executive director (3) the ideology of the foundation.
Editor’s Note: This piece original ran on Neerav Kingsland’s site Relinquishment. It is republished here with permission of the author.
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Monkey brains and video games: Pittsburgh researchers learn how to learn
Learning a new skill can be tricky, and neuroscientists aren't entirely sure how humans do it. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University are using video games, brain implants and Rhesus monkeys in an effort to figure it out
Via WITF. June 12, 2019
It’s Game Over for the Institute of Play. But Its Legacy Lives On.
“When we heard the news, it was definitely sad... The idea of how education could be transformed through play and games was inspired by the research the institute was doing on games and learning, and which inspired us as social entrepreneurs and practitioners.”
Via Edsurge. June 10, 2019
STEM School Center Combines Air Force Training, Gaming
According to the Air Force Research Lab, the goal of the Learning Laboratory is to "serve as a national authority on the integration and application of game-based technology to address USAF education and training needs. In addition to leveraging off-the-shelf technology to benefit Warfighter training, our goal is to inspire student interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), specifically modeling and simulation, and to equip the next generation defense workforce."
Via Military.com. June 10, 2019
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