Now based in New Orleans and New York, the early-stage education incubator 4.0 Schools has expanded to year round programming for education entrepreneurs.
4.0’s Launch Program is designed for those committed to launching a new product, service, or internal venture. These people have already put their idea into the real world and have the most potential for disrupting education. The ideas don’t have to be incorporated or have revenue or donors.
The Launch Program offers entrepreneurs help in the following areas: marketing, legal, financial planning, strategic coaching, high level overview with goals and targets, weekly check ins, connect to schools and classrooms, and a community of support with education entrepreneurs across the country.
Former Launch entrepreneurs Cameron Middleton, founder of Nomad Schools, gives a behind the scenes look at Launch: Founder’s confession: How I lost and rediscovered empathy along the startup path.
The Launch program kicks off today (October 25) and runs through December 20th. Meet the newest Launch entrepreneurs below:
Maya Gat joins 4pt0 from NYC where she has spent 17 years educating children and adults in- and outside of the school system. She is currently a specialist teacher for a charter elementary school in the Bronx, pioneering a curriculum on activism for children that she developed. David Magier is a technology entrepreneur, repeat startup founder and former corporate attorney. He founded Couptivate, a consumer web startup, and before that worked with a number of early stage technology companies including GateGuru (acquired by TripAdvisor). Maya and David are building Branching Minds, providing parents, teachers and schools a better option to quickly and easily identify, understand and resolve academic and behavioral learning issues.
Daniel Fountenberry is an experienced producer of television news and non-fiction entertainment. He previously served as the Chief of Staff of ABC News, devised business and editorial strategy for Reuters Insider, and developed programming for History Channel International. Before working in television, he taught Language Arts and Social Studies to 7th and 8th grade students. Jason Buhle is a fifth generation New Yorker and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Columbia. His research examines the cognitive neuroscience of emotion regulation, executive attention, and cognitive training. Jason also develops brain training apps for the web and mobile devices. Daniel and Jason are team Borne Digital, a children’s publishing and educational software company focused on delivering the needs of 21st century school through an adaptive reading platform for tablet devices.
Craig Jones spent 4 years in the classroom in South Los Angeles as a Teach For America corps member. After that, he worked for Superintendent Tommy Chang of LAUSD’s Intensive Support and Innovation Center. Craig has worked in the private sector and is a volunteer for the DaVinci High School US First Robotics team. Kevin McFarland holds degrees in Physics and Economics and has volunteered and consulted with numerous education programs. Kevin leads the UCLA Anderson School of Management’s Knapp Venture Competition, is an Anderson Strategy Group Consultant, and an Anderson Board Fellow. Craig and Kevin are team Smartest K12, working with teachers to diagnose student learning needs and then prescribe resources for intervention.
Eric Nelson is a lifelong learner and high school social studies teacher from Minneapolis. Eric’s “aha” moment occurred when he realized how much he was learning about the NFL by playing fantasy football with his buddies. He invented Fantasy GeoPolitics to encourage his students to “play” while learning more about the world in which they live. His classes have been laughing and learning ever since. Eric is launching Fantasy Geopolitics, a social learning game that follows countries and world leaders as they compete for news headlines.