business plan

shorter version: betting on the sync

[disclaimer: perhaps business plans don't matter so much. but people do matter. currently most aren't mentally free. perhaps a clever plan could help jar that mind game. free us up in a jiffy.]

Informal – because we are seeking no-strings-attached funding, from someone(s) that perhaps:

• has a bunch of money
• has a kind heart, cares about people, wants a better world
• won’t bring along a raised eyebrow
• realizes how much the institution of public ed affects people all over the globe, 7 hours a day, 12+ years, and ensuing mindset [ie: many people think it's illegal to think for themselves]
• is disturbed by the increasing stats on suicide rate, latest global rate, one every 40 seconds, second leading cause of death ages 10-24
• is disturbed by the current amount of phd’s on foodstamps
• is disturbed by the current top scholars, via top sat scores, that appear dysfunctional upon college graduation
• is disturbed by the amount of collateral damage compulsory curriculum/medication are causing/perpetuating
• is aware of the amounts of money currently spent to improve ed through standardized tests and race to the top initiatives (20-50 bill), and on public ed (trillions)
• realizes that we could be changing the world for good, but policy keeps getting in the way
• sees things like Tony Hsieh, perhaps we accelerate people’s dreams/visions in a city and change the world; and do it as the day
• or like Larry Page - wanting to set part of the world aside to experiment
• is curious enough to give something completely different a shot
• wants to redefine sustainability to be more about breathtaking thrivability

So here it is:

We are looking for 20 mill, no strings attached, to model what might happen if we trusted people in a city, a city set up for a timely synchronicity. We want to model what any community could look like if public ed focused more on the public - concerning all the people, than on paperwork/policy of proof and/or mistrust. To model what it might look like in the future if government funding for public ed (currently the #2 market in the US at 1.3 trill), went toward the enlivening of a city/community. And/or to accelerate what the future might look like if we focus more on a time/talent share economy.

[ie: so we infuse one city with the funding, that is well within the means of every city in the world, once we simply redefine public ed.]

We believe scaling the individual will not only hasten equity, but provide ongoing sustainability/thrivability.

We’re thinking, what’s not yet been tried is a city-wide, during-the-day experiment.

1. city-wide, in the city, so that it’s playing out within a cross-generational, eclectic community of people. [ie: not just getting better within a 3rd grade classroom, a school, a business]

2. during-the-day, as the day.  [ie: not just tacked onto the day, not just after hours]

Perhaps a means to making this happen [on a global/equitable scale] in a timely manner is simply getting people to believe it’s possible.

Perhaps if people can see it played out, they will believe enough, to take charge of the day, as the day, in their own cities.
Perhaps we can model this change in just a few short months, if we are amped up with this futuristic vision of funding for people, resources and tech:

• 7 mill – ish: for people, people that need income can be supported to play with us, esp tapping into sabbaticals for teachers in the district, and waivers/scholarships into unis/business for students – so they won’t worry about the potential of being punished later for playing, or for taking a year (on) off – to come back & play our their dream/vision

It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.    -Upton Sinclair

• 8 mill – ish: for places and resources, buying and/or renting spaces (ie: community-owned spaces) for the crowdsourced gatherings that matter, also equipment/resources needed in those spaces, & for traveling to and from those spaces [some specifics: reimburse barry for the use of the be you house, and moneys toward printing be you book (if requested) and for emotionally intelligent signage in the city]
• 5 mill – ish: for tech, while none of the ideas are new, combining them might be, being able to pay experts [to write code, for an app to hasten the time between finding what matters & finding your people…] or purchase resources [wifi, devices,..] will accelerate the ability to make this equitable on a global scale.

Perhaps the synchronicity of the above three is huge, and that synchronicity seems to be what is missing in most attempts for change. Having enough people feeling free to find their art, having the tech to aggregate/crowdsource thinking/curiosities toward gatherings that matter (people finding their people) in a timely matter (like daily), and then having the spaces and resources to do stuff.

Perhaps, some evidences of success:

• documentary of a city changed, perhaps alongside others (ie: Vegas, Kampala, Jackson,..)
• soulbiography-type videos of people changed/changing
• being able to stop anyone on the street to find a mindset of experimentation rather than proof/defense
• non-linear portolfios (the brain) helping people connect, leaving a trail if credentialing is needed
•  (gathering  here)

For an example of more details we see for Loveland, please see: possible evidences

Some fitting words from Seth Godin – this is too important not to be brave and bold – as we believe it is getting at the root of every cause.

20 mill – ridiculous?

Not if it sustains/creates a new/old society/economy..

We must do away with the absolutely specious notion that everybody has to earn a living. It is a fact today that one in ten thousand of us can make a technological breakthrough capable of supporting all the rest. The youth of today are absolutely right in recognizing this nonsense of earning a living. We keep inventing jobs because of this false idea that everybody has to be employed at some kind of drudgery because, according to Malthusian-Darwinian theory, he must justify his right to exist. So we have inspectors of inspectors and people making instruments for inspectors to inspect inspectors. The true business of people should be to go back to school and think about whatever it was they were thinking about before somebody came along and told them they had to earn a living. – Bucky Fuller

Why are we so sure that neither we nor the coming generation, through the right kind of education, can bring about a fundamental alteration in human relationship? We have never tried it; and as most of us seem to be fearful of the right kind of education, we are disinclined to try it.  - Krishnamurti

________________

..enabling professional and DIY scientists to bypass traditional institutional funding sources (governments, foundations, and corporate R&D labs), in the process undermining existing hierarchies that make it particularly difficult for younger researchers or those without approved credentials to be engaged in the enterprise of science.    - Marina Gorbis, The Nature of the Future

________________

is it true that target is spending 20 billion on ed in 2013-2014? wouldn’t it make sense to spend a fraction of that, on a horse of a different color?