Search
Invest Like The Best
Episode 439 Building Alpha School, and The Future of Education
Invest Like The Best

Episode 439: Building Alpha School, and The Future of Education

Invest Like The Best

Episode 439

Building Alpha School, and The Future of Education

Hosted by Patrick O'Shaughnessy

08.26.2025

  • Education
  • Frameworks
  • Leadership
  • Life
  • Professional Investors

Joe Liemandt is the Principal at Alpha School. We cover how personalized, AI-powered lesson plans are changing the future of learning, why the secret to good education outcomes is in getting kids to love school, and what's needed to be able to deliver this technology to a billion students.

This episode is brought to you by:

Ramp. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Ramp⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠'s mission is to help companies manage their spend in a way that reduces expenses and frees up time for teams to work on more valuable projects. Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Ramp.com/invest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus.

Ridgeline. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Ridgeline⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  has built a complete, real-time, modern operating system for investment managers. It handles trading, portfolio management, compliance, customer reporting, and much more through an all-in-one real-time cloud platform. Head to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgelineapps.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to learn more about the platform.

AlphaSense. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠AlphaSense⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ has completely transformed the research process with cutting-edge AI technology and a vast collection of top-tier, reliable business content. Invest Like the Best listeners can get a free trial now at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Alpha-Sense.com/Invest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and experience firsthand how AlphaSense and Tegus help you make smarter decisions faster.

Colossus Profile: Joe Liemandt

Show Notes:

(00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like the Best

(00:06:08) How Alpha School Is Revolutionizing Learning

(00:12:47) Personalized Tutoring with AI

(00:19:59) Measuring the Impossible: 2x Learning Outcomes

(00:25:39) All Educational Content Is Obsolete

(00:35:51) Motivating Students: The Key to Success

(00:42:06) Life Skills Workshops: Real-World Lessons

(00:47:47) The Key to Happiness: High Standards

(00:52:33) The Role of Guides and Coaches

(00:58:22) Feedback Loops and AI in Education

(01:04:20) The AI-Powered Classroom Experience

(01:15:06) From Self-Doubt to Limitless Learning

(01:28:20) Challenges in Public School Systems

(01:41:56) Gamified Learning and Technology

(01:49:46) From Trilogy to Trillion-Dollar Markets

(01:55:05) Why Software Companies Fail

(02:01:21) Trilogy University

(02:10:39) Lessons from Mentors

(02:17:25) Pushing Limits and Finding Passion

(02:27:12) Joe's Kindest Thing

08.26.2025

Hosted by Patrick O'Shaughnessy

  • Education
  • Frameworks
  • Leadership
  • Life
  • Professional Investors
Building Alpha School, and The Future of Education
Apple Podcasts Spotify Overcast
Inquire about sponsorship
Apple Podcasts Spotify Overcast
Inquire about sponsorship

Introduction

Patrick
My guest today is Joe Liemandt. Joe is the principal at Alpha School and the founder of Trilogy Software and ESW Capital. He became the youngest member of the Forbes 400 in the 1990s before vanishing from public view for two decades, only to emerge with a $1 billion bet that he can make kids learn 10 times faster using AI.

Joe has built an AI tutoring system so effective that students at his Alpha School literally beg not to take summer breaks, achieving two times learning outcomes in just two hours with standardized test results that compete with the very best schools in the world.

We dive deep into why this could be the most valuable product he's ever built, his contrarian thesis that traditional SaaS is facing AI-driven obsolescence, and how his experience buying a hundred plus software companies prepared him for this moonshot in a trillion-dollar market that hasn't been innovated on in 200 years.

Access the full transcript
Sign in or register to view episode transcripts.

Contact

Get in touch at help@joincolossus.com