The Knowledge Project

Joe Liemandt is the principal of Alpha School and the founder of Trilogy Software and ESW Capital. Liemandt dropped out of Stanford to build Trilogy, made the cover of Forbes twice before thirty, became the youngest member of the Forbes 400, then vanished from public life for twenty-five years. But he didn’t stop building. Through ESW Capital, he quietly became one of the most prolific acquirers of software businesses in the world. Now he’s back with a $1 billion bet that AI can make kids learn ten times faster, and that school as we know it isn’t just inefficient, it’s broken. At Alpha School, students spend two hours a day on AI-driven instruction and score in the top 1% on standardized tests. The rest of the day is devoted to what Liemandt calls life skills: leadership, entrepreneurship, teamwork, and real projects that kids actually care about. There are no lectures, and kids don’t move forward until they master the material. He argues the traditional classroom was designed for a narrow slice of students and wastes everyone else’s time. The fix isn’t more money or better teachers; it’s rebuilding from scratch around mastery, motivation, and AI. This conversation covers his full arc from sleeping on the floor at Trilogy to being mentored by Jack Welch, to deciding that “kids must love school more than vacation” was a non-negotiable design principle. He explains how Timeback works under the hood, why he’s comfortable streaming student screens to AI in real time, and how he plans to scale it for a billion kids. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. ------ Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (00:08) Is the Current Education System Broken? (07:01) Alpha School: What is it? (11:01) Alpha School: Results (14:55) Ad Break (16:55) Selection and Affordability (23:20) Current Classroom Struggles (26:40) What Does Mastery Mean? (35:37) Can You Change the System? (39:19) Teaching Through AI (44:27) How Do You Solve Motivation? (57:01) What Makes A Good Guide? (01:01:04) Coaching Kids (01:05:17) Teaching Life Skills (01:08:18) You Can Do Hard Things (01:13:25) AI Monitoring (01:21:08) Effort vs. IQ (01:23:36) Physics for High Schoolers (01:24:40) What Happens After Alpha School? (01:37:08) Investing in Yourself (01:38:21) Conversations with Jack Welch (01:45:49) Trilogy IPO: The Choice to Not Go Public (01:51:40) Physical vs Virtual (02:03:18) Paying Kids To Learn (02:11:01) What Is Success For You? ------ Newsletter: The Brain Food newsletter delivers actionable insights and thoughtful ideas every Sunday. It takes 5 minutes to read, and it’s completely free. Learn more and sign up at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fs.blog/newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ------ Follow Shane Parrish: X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/shaneparrish⁠ Insta: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/farnamstreet/⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/shane-parrish-050a2183/⁠ Follow Joe Liemandt: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liemandt/ Tools to help your kids: Math up to grade 7: https://www.synthesis.com/tutor High School Physics: https://physicsgraph.com Math Grade 8-12: https://www.mathacademy.com ------ Thank you to the sponsors for this episode: +Granola AI, The AI notepad for people in back-to-back meetings: https://www.granola.ai/shane Check out the Granola Notes. +Shopify: https://shopify.com/knowledgeproject Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Harrison McCain learned salesmanship by talking his way into a pharmaceutical job at 22, then spent five formative years under K.C. Irving, absorbing lessons in vertical integration, relentless deal-capture, and "management by suggestion." He quit with no plan, two newborn kids, and no income. His brother Bob noticed that New Brunswick potato farmers were shipping raw potatoes to Maine for processing into frozen fries, then buying the finished product back. The McCains pooled $100,000 in family money, assembled capital from five different sources without giving up equity, and built a plant on a cow pasture in Florenceville. The company's core strategy was to avoid competition entirely: enter markets where frozen fries didn't exist, prove the market by exporting first, hire locals, and only build a factory after the numbers justified it. The U.S. was the one market that scared Harrison, and he patiently waited 16 years before a $500 million acquisition of Ore-Ida's foodservice division finally cracked it. Along the way, Harrison nearly destroyed his most important customer relationship with McDonald's by telling their buyer he didn't need to tour his plant, a mistake that took years to repair. By the time he died in 2004, McCain Foods operated 57 factories across six continents, sold in 160 countries, and processed a million pounds of potato products every hour. ----- Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (01:03) The Offer (04:35) Learning From the Best (12:30) Time to Build (19:45) Going Global (27:57) The McDonald’s Mistake (31:17) The Operating Principles (33:24) Florenceville: I Like it Here (36:10) Characteristics of an Entrepreneur ----- Upgrade: Get a hand edited transcripts and ad free experiences along with my thoughts and reflections at the end of every conversation. Learn more @ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fs.blog/membership ------ Newsletter: The Brain Food newsletter delivers actionable insights and thoughtful ideas every Sunday. It takes 5 minutes to read, and it’s completely free. Learn more and sign up at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fs.blog/newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ------ Follow Shane Parrish: X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/shaneparrish⁠ Insta: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/farnamstreet/⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/shane-parrish-050a2183/⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Connor Teskey is the CEO of Brookfield Asset Management, one of the world’s largest investors, managing about a trillion dollars across infrastructure, power, real estate, private equity, and credit. In this exclusive interview, his first as CEO, we explore his approach to capital allocation, isolating variables, and building a business designed for long-term growth. Discover why effective investing begins with minimizing losses, how waiting for perfect information can result in missed opportunities, the strategies Brookfield uses to manage market risk while maintaining upside potential, and the key insights he gained working alongside Bruce Flatt. This discussion goes beyond investment strategies, offering a glimpse into Connor's perspective on decision-making in an uncertain environment, mentorship, culture, positioning, and talent. It's a rare inside look at the operations of one of the world's most tight-lipped firms. Enjoy! ----- Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (00:05) State of the Union for Brookfield (04:14) Nature of Investing (07:24) The Rise to Brookfield (12:06) Your Work Ethic is in Your Control (17:30) Ad Break (19:00) Data Center Deep Dive (22:22) How Does a Deal Come to Be? (29:34) Taking Bets Against Consensus (32:00) What Happens Post Business Acquisition? (40:44) Ad Break (41:55) Lived Experience Through Crashes (43:44) Where Does Talent Matter the Most at Brookfield? (47:10) Identifying Talent (58:18) Using AI to Increase Value Not Cut People (01:01:58) When Was Brookfield the Underdog? (01:03:38) Personal Ambition Over the Next 20 Years (01:10:34) Behind The Scenes of Oaktree (01:15:17) Work and Life Harmony (01:17:54) Time Allocation (01:19:58) The Most Fun Deal to Work On ------ Newsletter: The Brain Food newsletter delivers actionable insights and thoughtful ideas every Sunday. It takes 5 minutes to read, and it’s completely free. Learn more and sign up at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fs.blog/newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ------ Follow Shane Parrish: X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/shaneparrish⁠ Insta: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/farnamstreet/⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/shane-parrish-050a2183/⁠ Follow Connor Teskey: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/connor-teskey-67931326b/?originalSubdomain=uk ------ Thank you to the sponsors for this episode: +Granola AI, The AI notepad for people in back-to-back meetings: https://www.granola.ai/shane Check out the Granola Notes: https://notes.granola.ai/t/b0c2c94e-a330-4f0f-a62d-beb3c946a539-009c2hma +Download The League App today and find your perfect match! https://click.theleague.com/qmhm/0vdzsmj5 +Shopify: https://shopify.com/knowledgeproject ----- * Note: ‍Shane and guests may hold positions in assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing in this conversation should be considered investment advice, financial guidance, or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Always do your own due diligence or consult with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices