Training “Thousands of da Vincis”
June 20, 2012
Agenda:

Vision

Corporate Summary

Our organization




The Team

Partnerships

Courses and Activities
The Market

Competition

Size and growth

Demographics

Barriers to entry
Financials

Current and projected budget

Ideal fundraising round
Summary
Vision
1. Train an unprecedented number of
interdisciplinary leaders.
2. Guide them as they change society.
Mission: To promote a second Renaissance in the
arts, sciences, and humanities and to unlock and
reaffirm the full creative and intellectual potential
of the individual by providing capable students
with an advanced interdisciplinary education,
training an unprecedented number of polymaths.
Corporate Summary
Industry:
Education
Type:
501(c)(3) charity (open to changing)
Founded:
March 2008
Location:
NYC, Providence, Cleveland, Virtual
Founders:
4
Mission:
Start a school to train an unprecedented number of polymaths.
Advantages:
Unique educational model (no majors), obvious student
outcomes (students improve the world even before graduating),
extensive student support, “incubator” mindset -> unique revenue stream.
Defensibility:
High reaccreditation barrier for established institutions.
Success based on unique metrics.
No similar leadership program in place, existing schools too invested.
Customers:
Undergraduate and graduate students, faculty.
Revenue sources:
Barriers to entry:
Tuition, endowments, grants, equity in student-led companies.
Regional accreditation, establishment of degree programs.
Stage:
~1,000 online students on our course portal.
Establishing a geographic presence in Q3-Q4 2012.
The Team
Michael Barnathan, Founding Director
michael@projectpolymath.org
Michael holds a Ph. D. in Computer and Information Sciences from Temple University, specializing in machine learning
with applications to artificial intelligence in medicine. He also has an extensive industry background in data science and
software engineering, including a Senior Software Engineer position at Google. As a former Adjunct Professor and School
of Science Advisory Council member at Monmouth University, Michael has hands-on teaching experience with courses
such as Data Structures and Algorithms, Java Development, and Web Design. In addition to providing guidance towards
the Polymath Foundation’s vision and satisfying the organization’s information technology needs, Michael oversees the
foundation’s course development and academic affairs.
(J Craig Venter)
James Norris, Director
james@projectpolymath.org
James Norris is a social entrepreneur who specializes in social change, emotional intelligence, time
management, and personal development. He graduated with a triple major/quadruple minor from the
University of Texas at Austin and is the organizer and host of our highly successful Polymath Juntos.
Kristi Attwood, Director
kristi@projectpolymath.org
Kristi Attwood joined Project Polymath from the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, and has been a key
contributor to our strategic planning and market research. She also runs a charity known as Made To Serve,
which provides food, shelter, and aid for the needy in the Kansas City area.
Laban Johnson, Director
laban@projectpolymath.org
Laban Johnson has an extensive marketing background, and is responsible for many of the foundation's PR and
marketing decisions, including how to invest our Google Grant. He has diverse industry and entrepreneurial
experience, and currently writes for Yahoo!
Partnerships
Dell Hines, Founder of Axiom Capital
Dell is the founder and managing director of Axiom Capital, a firm with $120 million of capital under
management, as well as the Treasurer of the Brain Sciences Foundation. The Polymath Foundation is working
with Dell and Axiom to launch the Brain Sciences Summit: a multidisciplinary gathering of the world’s leading
neuroscientists, psychologists, computational biologists, and artificial intelligence researchers with a focus on
curing currently intractable diseases of the brain and nervous system. The summit is taking place on Brown
University’s campus in the summer of 2012, with a longer-term collaboration to follow.
Jeff Peace, Founder of Halcyon Charities
Halcyon Charities is a debt-free 501(c)(3) organization based in Cleveland, Ohio with a large amount of realestate under management, including the Cleveland West Side Community Center and the Halcyon Masonic
Lodge. They additionally have strong ties to Case Western Reserve University, the Cleveland Clinic, and
Harman-Kardon, Inc. Halcyon has offered us a large amount of classroom space as well as access to their
partner institutions, from which we can launch industry collaborations and source faculty and students.
Google Grant
Google has granted us $10,000/month in free AdWords advertising. We are currently utilizing 35% of this
grant for promoting organizational outreach and the remaining 65% for promoting our course offerings. The
AdWords grant also comes with analytics which allow us to derive insights about online course popularity.
Courses and Student Body


1034 registered students, 68% from the USA (next slide).
Current courses:





How to Create Your Own Website.
Data Structures and Algorithms.
Introduction to the Creative Economy.
Code Like a Rockstar.
Brain Sciences Foundation workshops (Providence, RI):




Upcoming courses:




Building a Brain-Computer Interface.
Functional Neuroimaging and Digital Diagnosis.
Simulating a Brain – How close are we?
Illusions of Control.
Interdisciplinary Critical Thinking.
Human Factors and Functional Aesthetics.
Talks:


How to Learn Everything: Learning Skills for Becoming a
21st Century Renaissance Person.
Replacing the Radiologist: Popular and Actual Concepts in Artificial Intelligence (NYC).
Students by Country
Singapore, 2%
Other/Unknown, 8%
Australia, 1%
India, 3%
UK, 3%
Canada, 15%
USA, 68%
1034 Total
Existing Non-Course Activities

Polymath Conversations / Junto:



Biweekly Mastermind group: bring together polymathic individuals to share their ideas, challenges,
endeavors, and progress.
Modeled on Benjamin Franklin’s 1727 “Club for Mutual Improvement”.
Highly successful for us and the participants:






Polymath Survey: bottom-up market research on student demographics and interests, 52 Responses
in 30 days.
Polymath Columns/Essays
Fundraising: >$2,000 in public donations.




Precipitated the Brain Sciences Foundation partnership.
Large amount of feedback from students and faculty.
Made many valuable and well-connected contacts.
Causes (>1100 registered supporters)
Facebook page (>300 supporters, even after Facebook wipe).
Brain Sciences Foundation Summit
Polymath Summit in Cleveland:




A planned conference and problem-solving gathering themed around an interdisciplinary “grand
challenge”.
Experts from a variety of fields and backgrounds.
Trying to recruit J. Craig Venter as the keynote speaker.
Will partner with Halcyon Charities for space and access to academic resources.
Markets
Undergraduates
Graduate Students
•
Expected majority of our students
•
Expected to be a sizable
minority of our students.
•
Most between 17 and 24 years old.
•
Real-world accomplishment or •
strong potential for it are
expected.
Must love teaching:
considered as important as
research.
•
Alumni may sit in on courses
for free so long as space is
available (students have
preference).
•
Opportunities for faculty
members to develop
increasingly inspiring and
stimulating teaching
methods, further their
communication skills, and
make a difference in each
student’s life individually
and uniquely.
•
High school graduates who seek a
school that will accommodate their
individual pace and purpose.
•
Other exceptionally talented
students, demonstrated by
significant accomplishments or high
test scores.
•
Past accomplishment,
purpose/drive, and fit are the
primary acceptance criteria.
•
We have a self-assessed “Is Polymath
a fit for you?” instrument to help
students decide.
Faculty
•
Most between 27 and 80
years old.
Competition
Olin
•
•
•
Engineering college (est.
1997, first class 2002)
Strong interdisciplinary
component, primarily
exercised through industry
collaborations.
Consistently ranks in the top
20 by Princeton Review and
US News despite its youth.
Soka
Harvey Mudd

Liberal arts college (est. 2001)
which emphasizes
contributive, prosocial
leadership.
•
•

Concentrates two or three
studies together to form semiinterdisciplinary departments.

Unranked.
•
STEM college (est. 1955).
Strong emphasis on the
general education
component of its
curriculum, both in and
outside of the sciences.
Consistently ranks as one
of the strongest
undergraduate colleges in
the sciences.
Competition
 Brick and mortar schools:



Local market.
Very different (and very inflexible) model.
Hard for them to pivot.
 Khan Academy/Singularity University:


Online courseware – competes with our bootstrapping
strategy, not our vision.
They do not intend to become actual schools.
 Coursera, Stanford/MIT online programs:



Closest competitor: courses from actual schools.
No integration, no projects, no creativity offerings.
Good coverage of engineering but missing a wide swath of
subjects.
 The Minerva Project:



Just starting up, distant competitor. No traction yet, team
is weak at the moment.
Goal: full online (traditional) degree programs.
We have already contacted them and plan to collaborate
at a later stage, once they have a strong team in place.
© Royalty-Free/Corbis
Our Philosophy: We are
actively working to build
mutually beneficial
relationships with other
universities, rather than
focusing on competing with
them.
Comparison
Tuition annual cost
Room/board annual cost
Polymath Institute
Olin College
Soka University
Harvey Mudd
$13,125 (year 1)
$32,812 (est.)
$40,000[3]
$27,214[2]
$42,140[1]
Estimated $12,000,
depending on area
$14,500[3]
$10,628[2]
$13,858[1]
Multiple and
Interdisciplinary
Engineering
Liberal Arts
Science, Engineering, and
Mathematics
Location
Online, then Providence,
Cleveland, or NYC
Needham, MA
Aliso Viejo, CA
Claremont, CA
Leadership Training?
Yes, students choose and
manage their projects.
No, SCOPE students are
strictly workers.
Yes, through volunteer
/ study abroad.
No, Clinic students are
strictly contractors.
Integrative?
Yes, cross-cutting
approach unified by
student projects.
Concentrates two or three
studies together to form semiinterdisciplinary departments.
No, lacking study in
the sciences and even
the capstone is
unidisciplinary.
No, traditional
departmental model.
Project Driven?
Yes, a customizable
student-designed
approach guides the entire
curriculum.
Yes, through its SCOPE
program: many students do
projects driven by academic
and industrial needs.
No, traditional model.
Limited, through its Clinic
capstone program: the
college contracts teams of
students out to companies
for ~$40,000 (the students
are not paid).
Curriculum Focus
1http://www.hmc.edu/admission1/costsandaid.html
2http://www.soka.edu/admission_aid/tuition_and_fees.aspx
3http://www.olin.edu/admission/costs.aspx
The Market (USA)
TAM: $309 billion
SAM: $43 billion
14% of students interested in multi-disciplinary studies
(12% of bachelors degree students overall, and 16% of students at 4-year
nonprofit colleges in 2009 chose >1 major, and the number is increasing.
Source: Department of Education study)
SAM
$43 billion
As of 2010, the USA has a total of 14.6 million
students enrolled full-time in higher education
(source: US Census Bureau). 14.6 million* average
yearly tuition of $21,189 for a 4-year college =
rounded to $309 billion
SOM
$7 billion
We expect to eventually capture approximately 15% of the
local market (students in the New York area with an
interest in interdisciplinary studies).
Revenue Streams
Alumni
Donations a minor and
inconsistent source of
additional revenue.
Incubator
Tuition
$246 million/year:
7,500 students.
$32,812/year per student.
1Computed
as
𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ∗𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙_𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟
𝑏𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑡
$66 million/year:
7,500 students.
Grants
Research program prerequisite.
Eventual endowment into the billions.
Portion of faculty grants (~$250 million)
10% turn their projects into businesses.
E[net worth]: $1.76 million per business1.
5% equity stake in each.
using Census/IRS data at
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0755.xls and
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/00co05nr.xls
Primary Expenses
Personnel
$40 million/year:
~100 staff
~250 faculty (30:1)
~25 administrators
$60,000/year per staff
(salary + benefits)
$120,000/year per faculty
$175,000/year per
administrator
Equipment
$54 million/year:
200 classrooms ($80,000 each)
100 collaborative spaces (…)
250 offices ($40,000 each)
4 buildings ($5 million each)
Scholarships
$45 million/year (tax free):
$6,000/student-year average
Progress (Past)
Formation
• Website up in December 2007.
• Incorporated in March 2008.
• Recognized as a 501(c)(3) charity by the IRS in September 2008.
Team Building
• Recruited first cofounder (James Norris) in January 2008.
• Recruited founding team (Michael Barnathan, James Norris, Alan Dunne, Kristi Attwood, Laban Johnson)
by March 2008.
Bootstrapping
• Raised first $1,000 of donations by March 2009.
• Launched first course, “How to Create Your Own Website”, on April 4, 2009 to 44 students.
• Gave first standalone talk, “How to Learn Everything”, on June 13, 2009.
Curricular
Planning
Funding and
Facilities
• “Knowledge web”/course clusters: November 2009.
• First formal curricular plan: August 2010.
• Curricular and sequence charts developed: Fall 2010.
• Secured preliminary classroom space through Halcyon and Axiom in January 2012.
• Find funding to build out first physical classes – currently pursuing.
Progress (Future)
• Q3-Q4 2012: Refine curricular charts to meet accreditation requirements.
• Q1 2013+: Ramp-up course offerings, hire permanent faculty.
Degree Program • Q1-Q4 2014: Get one full department up and running.
Implementation
Accreditation
First Year:
2015
SelfSustainability
• 2014-2015: Build core curriculum.
• 2015: Partner with an accredited school to fill any holes in core curriculum.
• Q3 2014-Q3 2015: Submit degree program for regional accreditation (Middle States).
• 2013-2015: Begin recruiting students and families for first class.
• Fall 2015: Welcome first matriculating class (~50 students w/similar concentrations).
• 2015-2019: Assess outcomes, iterate on model.
•
•
•
•
By 2017: Develop research program, pursue research grants.
Q2 2015-Q3 2016: Build 2 additional academic departments.
Fall 2016: Second class of ~100 students.
2018: Begin developing non-academic services.
Near Future Plans
 Brain Sciences Collaboration: June – August 2012.
 “Building a Brain Computer Interface”
 “Machine Learning and Functional Neuroimaging”
 “Simulating the Brain – How Close are We?”
 Polymath Summit: Planned for Summer of 2013.
 Oriented around an interdisciplinary “grand challenge”; e.g. “turn the insights from the
cancer genome atlas into targeted treatments”.
 Bring together intellectuals in variety of fields to collaborate and work on problem-solving.
 Lead to longer-term networking, projects, and connections: we’ve committed space in
Cleveland to hosting these collaborations.
 Recruit inaugural class: Target is 2015.
 Ramp up courses and talks:
 BSF Workshops: June 25 – 28, 2012
Instructor: Michael Barnathan
 Computational Intuition: June 27, 2012
Instructor: Michael Barnathan
 Education and Creativity: Fall 2012
Instructor: Vahram Diehl
 Discrete Mathematics: Fall 2012
Instructor: Bill Shillito
 Tech. Entrepreneurship: Winter 2012
Instructor: Jacob Way
Financial Projections
Tuition:
Room and Board:
Equity:
Partnerships:
Grants:
Donations:
Total Revenue:
2011
$300.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$120,000.00
$1,138.00
$121,438.00
2012
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$15,000.00
$120,000.00
$2,000.00
$137,000.00
2013
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$100,000.00
$120,000.00
$2,000.00
$222,000.00
2014
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$100,000.00
$120,000.00
$15,000.00
$235,000.00
2015
$700,000.00
$150,000.00
$0.00
$125,000.00
$500,000.00
$40,000.00
$1,515,000.00
2016
$2,100,000.00
$375,000.00
$20,000.00
$300,000.00
$1,000,000.00
$20,000.00
$3,815,000.00
2017
$6,750,000.00
$1,125,000.00
$75,000.00
$300,000.00
$1,250,000.00
$60,000.00
$9,560,000.00
2018
$15,000,000.00
$3,000,000.00
$200,000.00
$300,000.00
$2,500,000.00
$100,000.00
$21,100,000.00
Operating Expenses:
Faculty:
Staff:
Administration:
Sales and Marketing:
Accounting:
Legal:
Facilities:
Student Housing and Dining:
Total Operating Expenses:
$1,500.00
$0.00
$0.00
$120,000.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$121,500.00
$3,000.00
$0.00
$0.00
$120,000.00
$0.00
$0.00
$500.00
$0.00
$123,500.00
$7,500.00
$0.00
$0.00
$120,000.00
$0.00
$0.00
$500.00
$0.00
$128,000.00
$300,000.00
$60,000.00
$150,000.00
$200,000.00
$45,000.00
$0.00
$500.00
$0.00
$755,500.00
$750,000.00
$300,000.00
$400,000.00
$250,000.00
$45,000.00
$250,000.00
$10,000.00
$200,000.00
$2,205,000.00
$1,500,000.00
$500,000.00
$500,000.00
$180,000.00
$125,000.00
$250,000.00
$10,000.00
$550,000.00
$3,615,000.00
$2,000,000.00
$750,000.00
$500,000.00
$200,000.00
$125,000.00
$500,000.00
$1,500,000.00
$1,100,000.00
$6,675,000.00
$2,625,000.00
$1,250,000.00
$850,000.00
$300,000.00
$175,000.00
$500,000.00
$4,500,000.00
$2,750,000.00
$12,950,000.00
$60.00
$24.00
$84.00
$0.00
$80.00
$80.00
$0.00
$80.00
$80.00
$240,000.00
$5,000.00
$245,000.00
$625,000.00
$5,000.00
$630,000.00
$800,000.00
$10,000.00
$810,000.00
$1,250,000.00
$10,000.00
$1,260,000.00
$1,250,000.00
$50,000.00
$1,300,000.00
$121,438.00
$121,584.00
($146.00)
$137,000.00
$123,580.00
$13,420.00
$222,000.00
$128,080.00
$93,920.00
$235,000.00
$1,000,500.00
($765,500.00)
$1,515,000.00
$2,835,000.00
($1,320,000.00)
$3,815,000.00
$4,425,000.00
($610,000.00)
$9,560,000.00
$7,935,000.00
$1,625,000.00
$21,100,000.00
$14,250,000.00
$6,850,000.00
Capital Expenses:
Classroom Equipment:
Printing and Shipping:
Total Capital Expenses:
Total Revenue:
Total Expenses:
Profit/Loss:
Fundraising
Ideal investment: $5 million
 It will cost about $2.5 million to build out our first class.
 Major investment 2014-2015, return expected 2018-2019.
 Use Cleveland and Providence space provided by our partners until 2017, then a
campus as we outgrow it.
 Mostly operational expenses:
 Payroll
 Facilities
 Student Housing
 Importantly, this will also get our research program started.
 This makes us eligible for research grants and endowment funding.
 It greatly increases the prestige of the institution.
Summary
 Goals:
 Give students an education which unlocks their full potential.
 Train polymaths on a large scale and ignite a Renaissance.
 Curriculum:
 Ambitious project-based focus built on student goals.

Real-world projects are inherently interdisciplinary.
 Projects dictate courses, research, etc.
 A college that is also a startup incubator!

Leadership training and advising

Startups grow naturally from projects, and we incubate them and support their growth.

Revenue stream built around success of student-led companies.
 Measuring Success:
 Tests are a proxy, not an end metric.
 Evaluate a student’s contribution to the world by the quality of his creative output!
 Students act as creators, and their creations advance society even before they graduate.
 Degree value is self-evident: the world would recognize projects even without the degree.
 This will grant the university significant standing.