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Aaron Handwerker

Background​

  • Works at Capital Factory, involved in tours and event hosting.
  • Previous Experience (10 years at Apple):
    • Retail Training & Learning Development: Onboarded new store staff (e.g., iPhone repair) in Southern California.
    • Curriculum Design: Became involved in adult learning theory and restructured Apple's entire training curriculum.
    • Master Trainer (T3): Trained trainers who train other trainers; involved in writing curriculum.
    • Escalation Training: Developed training for handling angry customers, emphasizing empathy.
    • Apple Services (Austin): Transferred to Austin for business development and enterprise sales for Apple Services (iTunes, App Store, Apple Care), which included internal training content production (e.g., podcasts).
  • Startup Experience: Co-founded a startup that was at Capital Factory; fundraising was impacted by the crypto bubble burst.
  • Father is a Doctor of Evolutionary Neuropsychology.
  • Last name is of German origin, meaning "craftsman."

Connection to Alpha Schools​

  • Met Tim Joo and Gary Sheng at Capital Factory.
  • Tim Joo is exploring hosting "AI in Education" meetups at Capital Factory with Aaron's help.
  • Expressed that Capital Factory has a "very healthy relationship with Alpha School."
  • Invited to the June 14th Alpha Activators event and showed interest, offering to be the "biggest devil's avocado (advocate) in the room."
  • His extensive experience in curriculum design and corporate training at Apple is highly relevant to Alpha Schools' efforts to rethink teacher training.

Views on Education & AI​

  • Trust is Paramount: "Education, as in receiving information, is completely built on trust. I am not going to believe a fucking word of somebody I don't trust."
  • Role of Educator: Believes specific teachers change lives, not just lectures. "I couldn't tell you a specific lecture that changed my life. But I could tell you four or five specific teachers."
  • AI as a Tool: Sees AI as an "extremely important tool" to be added to the "tool belt."
  • Skepticism of AI Replacing Educators: Expresses "a huge amount of distrust in this educational tool if it is being used to supplement or replace the educator."
  • Value of Empathy: Highlighted Apple's preference for hiring Genius Bar staff with backgrounds in therapy/counseling over purely technical skills for customer-facing roles, as most issues are user error/environment-related, requiring strong interpersonal skills.

Personality & Style​

  • Logical and pragmatic (e.g., buying multiple colors of a favored shirt).
  • Humorous and engaging.
  • Values efficiency and well-designed systems.
  • Open to new ideas and collaborations.

Strategic Value​

  • Applied AI Society Development: Aaron's 10+ years of Apple training curriculum design and adult learning theory expertise make him invaluable for developing AI education programs for business professionals
  • ChristoFuture Prep Foundation: His extensive experience restructuring Apple's training curriculum and train-the-trainer programs positions him perfectly to help design innovative K-8 microschool teaching methodologies
  • Austin Tech Community Bridge: As a Capital Factory insider who hosts AI education meetups, Aaron provides direct access to Austin's tech ecosystem for Applied AI Society member recruitment
  • Scaling Training Systems: His proven ability to scale corporate training across Southern California and Austin offers blueprint for systematizing teacher training across multiple microschool locations

Potential Collaboration Areas with Alpha Schools​

  • Teacher Training Curriculum: His expertise from Apple could be invaluable in designing and scaling Alpha Schools' teacher training programs.
  • Meetup/Event Hosting: Facilitating Alpha Schools related events or meetups at Capital Factory.
  • Strategic Advisor: Providing feedback and insights on educational models and scaling training.
  • Connecting Networks: Leveraging Capital Factory and his personal network.

Key Relationships​

  • Elijah Springer: Meetup manager at Capital Factory.
  • Josh: UT Professor who teaches Longhorn Startup Lab at Capital Factory.
  • Max Griffin: UFC fighter with whom he's organizing an event.

Interactions​

  • 2025-05-29: Met Tim Joo and Gary Sheng at Capital Factory. Discussed his extensive background in corporate training and curriculum development at Apple, his views on AI in education (emphasizing trust and the role of the human educator), and potential collaborations with Alpha Schools, including teacher training and hosting meetups. Exchanged contact information and was invited to the June 14th Alpha event.

Transcripts​

Transcript IDDateSummary
2025-05-29-aaron-handwerker-capital-factory-discussion2025-05-29Conversation at Capital Factory about corporate training, AI in education, and Alpha Schools collaboration opportunities