Mackenzie Price

Background

• Founder of Alpha Schools
• Described as a "fiery, blonde woman" who is "pretty charismatic"
• Appears to have a significant leadership role in the Alpha School movement
• Has a daughter, Sloan Price, who is a student at Alpha High
• Has another daughter who recently finished her freshman year of college (a former Alpha student)

Professional Notes

• Gary mentioned needing to "figure out how to scale her presence"
• Appears on many podcasts and has a following, particularly with parents ("GT Moms")
• Could potentially be featured in a reality show concept called "Alpha High" that Gary is considering proposing
• Focuses on demand generation for Alpha Schools, building waitlists
• Has ambitious growth targets (initially aimed for "a million followers," later increased to "10 million followers" by Joe)
• Strongly believes that "real estate will never be our challenge" in scaling Alpha Schools
• Aims for 25 schools with 25 students each as immediate goal (along with Joe)
• For the Austin High School specifically, projects 50 students for next year with capacity for 100
• Emphasizes school density over location: "Everything comes down to number of students, and that's true for parents as well as kids"
• According to Ben Gordon-Sniffen (2025-05-19), positioned as "the Oprah of education" with "the halo effect for the organization"
• Some enrollments come through her influence, but Ben indicates "We're not going to fill schools just like that. Not that she has a million followers."
• Hosts a podcast (as of May 2025) with Jay Lyons managing her social media
• Has been trying for a year to get Alpha Miami properly listed on Google Maps

Alpha Expansion Strategy & Insights

• Believes critical mass of students is essential for new schools: "Everybody wants to go to one of these schools, but they want to go when there's 50 people. They don't want to be the first."
• Has adopted a policy of not announcing new cities until location, guide, and other logistics are secured: "So now we're not announcing new cities until we can say this is the location."
• Highlights the importance of city demographics: "You also have to have the good demographics of the city. So, like, Phoenix can afford an Alpha."
• Identifies parent hesitation as a common challenge: "There's people who are like, we're really interested, but we need to wait a year and watch how it goes."
• Shares Joe Liemandt's goal of accelerating school launches: "The key is, how do we fill a school in six months, not two years?"
• Highlights the importance of community building: "You've got to get the community together and you've got to get enough group of kids where the parents are like, okay, my kid and her friends are coming."

Marketing Perspectives

• Highly critical of current marketing under Jason Applebaum: "Oh, he's the worst."
• Critical of Proto, the marketing consultant firm: "Proto was a consultant firm that was doing marketing messaging, and they've just been terrible."
• Recognizes major deficiencies in digital presence: "We need to rebuild that high school website. It's terrible."
• Working to replace Jason Applebaum: "We're working on trying to get him out."
• Sees basic marketing failures as embarrassing: "I have been, for a year, one year, I'm asking to get Google Maps to update Alpha Miami."
• Skeptical of agency model despite Joe's preference: "Joe has always liked the idea of an agency for everything that is not education."

Faith-Based Education Opportunities

• Open to faith-based school models (but not under Alpha brand): "I love the idea. We wouldn't do it as an Alpha."
• Envisions structure: "It would be like... Whitestone Academy powered by Tomorrowland."
• Has received interest from multiple locations: "I've had some people in Dallas and people in Dripping Springs who are like, we want to do a faith-based school, but then they never really develop it."

Connection Points

• Founder and leader within the Alpha Schools ecosystem
• Gary plans to develop initiatives to help scale her influence and the Alpha School movement
• Gary mentioned potentially whiteboarding ideas with Alpha School students about scaling her presence
• Key connection for understanding parent perspectives and recruitment strategies
• Connected to Julie Jumonville, who has ties to Whitestone Church
• Working with Jay Lyons for social media management
• Scheduled breakfast meeting with Gary for May 22, 2025 at 9am at Joe's Coffee downtown

Insights & Observations

• Shared anecdote about her college-aged daughter being in a class where Alpha School videos were shown and discussed for 30 minutes without the daughter revealing her connection
• Recognizes the pattern of students like Alex "riding the hype wave" after successful moments rather than continuing to build
• Emphasizes student decision-making in school choice: "It is a kid decision at middle school, certainly at high school too"
• Notes the marketing value of perceived exclusivity: "That is one thing you can say you don't know if there's spots. It's exclusive."
• Teases Joe about his ambitious expansion goals (per 2025-05-19 meeting): "What is it, next school year, is it, is our target 100,000 new kids or is it a million new kids, Joe?"
• Recognizes the critical challenge of getting parents to commit to new schools when facilities or community aren't fully established

Relationship Dynamics

• Joe appears protective of her position as the main public-facing figure of Alpha
• Her content/videos are considered valuable but insufficient on their own to drive full enrollment
• Supportive of Gary's initiatives, particularly the June 14th parent event

Relationship with Joe Liemandt (Insights from Gary's discussion on June 1, 2025)

• Financial Dependence: Gary noted that Mackenzie and her husband (Andy Price, Trilogy's CFO) are financially tied to Joe Liemandt: "(1:03:05) And every dollar that they earn is from Joe."
• Lack of Sync: Gary observed a disconnect in their working relationship: "(1:10:40) McKinsey [Mackenzie] and Joe are not even talking. They're not synced up at all."
• Limited Influence over Joe: Despite her support for Gary's ideas, Mackenzie seems unable to override Joe's decisions. For example, Joe rejected Gary's plan that Mackenzie had asked him to create.

Interactions

• 2025-04-08: Gary is at Alpha School and has recently interacted with her or her work
• 2025-04-17: Met briefly with Gary Sheng and others during their visit to Alpha School. Discussed potential meeting/dinner for following Wednesday involving Zach Levi.
• 2025-04-18: Met Mahaveer Dharmchand (IBM Watson co-creator) during his visit to Alpha School. Learned about his background and his "Parental AI / Buddy System" startup concept, expressing enthusiasm.
• 2025-05-12: Participated in Alpha High staff meeting, discussing enrollment targets, real estate strategy, student projects, and parent/student decision-making dynamics.
• 2025-05-19: Not present, but discussed in meeting between Gary Sheng, Ben Gordon-Sniffen, and Ron Roberts. Ben described her positioning as "the Oprah of education."
• 2025-05-20: Met with Gary Sheng, discussing Alpha School expansion challenges, marketing issues, faith-based education opportunities, and the planned June 14th parent event. Scheduled follow-up meeting for May 22.
• 2025-05-23: Met with Gary Sheng, Samuel Armes, Ron Roberts, Ari Crane. Discussed the urgent need for a marketing overhaul at Alpha. Confirmed the departure of Proto and Jason Applebaum. Requested a comprehensive marketing strategy (30/60/90-day to 1-year plan) from Gary's team to unify "Future of Education" with Alpha school enrollment, manage upcoming new city launches, and fix the NYC school strategy. Agreed to champion this plan to Joe Liemandt and Artie Michel. Expressed strong preference for targeted, high-value events (thought leadership, private dinners with HNWIs) over broad community festivals. Confirmed availability for an event on June 14th. Shared insights on current marketing deficiencies (ads, websites, lead nurturing) and key needs. Mentioned upcoming travel to DC and Miami, with potential to meet Samuel Armes in Miami. Ari Crane was briefly introduced as a candidate for a "Head of Parents" role. Gifted a vinyl record by Gary's team.
• Approx. May 30, 2025 (Reported June 1, 2025): Mackenzie asked Gary to put together a plan for the AI school. According to Gary: "(1:08:56) Mackenzie on last Friday. Mackenzie Rice. I said, put together a plan. (1:09:01) I liked everything I've heard from you so far, Gary. Put together a plan, and then let's review it." However, Joe Liemandt subsequently rejected this plan.

Last Contact

• 2025-05-20: In-person conversation with Gary Sheng at Alpha School
• 2025-05-23: In-person meeting with Gary Sheng, Samuel Armes, Ron Roberts, Ari Crane.

Contact Information

• Email: mackenzie@2hourlearning.com (primary); MKP@[domain] (filtered/secondary)
• Scheduled Meeting: Friday, May 22, 2025, 9:00 AM at Joe's Coffee downtown

Notes

Transcripts

Transcript ID	Date	Summary
2025-05-23-summary-sheng-mackenzie-price-samuel-armes-ron-roberts-ari-crane	2025-05-23	Transcript Summary: Sheng, Price, Armes, Roberts, Crane (2025-05-23)
2025-05-20-mackenzie-price-alpha-schools-discussion	2025-05-20	Alpha Schools Strategy Discussion with Mackenzie Price - May 20, 2025
2025-04-18-final-conversations-alpha-school	2025-04-18	Alpha School tour and discussions with Gary, Mahaveer, and engineering team
Insights from Gary's June 1, 2025 conversation with David Kobrosky suggest that while Mackenzie is supportive of Gary's contributions to the AI school project and initially encouraged his strategic input, her ability to influence Joe Liemandt may be limited. There appears to be a communication and operational disconnect between Mackenzie and Joe. Her financial ties to Joe also add a complex dynamic to her role.	2025-04-17-alpha-school-visit-with-eddie-dunn	2025-04-17
2025-04-18-afternoon-introductions-alpha-school	2025-04-18	Introductions between Mahaveer Dharmchand and Alpha School staff discussing AI projects
2025-04-18-alpha-school-tour-with-carson	2025-04-18	Campus tour explaining educational philosophy and introducing engineering team
2025-05-12-alpha-high-staff-meeting	2025-05-12	Alpha High staff meeting discussing enrollment targets, academic progress, and strategic initiatives