Call Summary: Arpan Gupta (Strata School Strategy)

Overview

Gary Sheng and Arpan Gupta discussed the recent strategic pivot for the Strata School (formerly "Shopify for Teachers") initiative, focusing on recruiting high school coaches in Texas to lead new sports-focused micro-schools. They covered the rationale, the team's current progress, challenges, and potential collaborations.

Key Discussion Points

Strata School Strategic Pivot (Arpan)

• New Focus: Shifted from enabling individual teachers to recruiting established high school coaches (initially sports coaches in Texas) to lead micro-schools.
• Rationale (Joe's Feedback): Joe Liemandt wants coaches as community leaders who can attract students directly, bypassing the need for Strata to handle student recruitment initially. Sports are seen as the primary hook for Texas families.
• Economic Model: Coaches can potentially earn significantly more (~$200k+ profit) running a 20-25 student micro-school compared to typical coaching salaries ($70k-$130k).
• Current Status: Team is developing a coach recruitment strategy and materials (one-pager). Seeking the first pilot coach.

Collaboration & Needs (Arpan & Gary)

• Need for Coaches: The immediate priority is identifying and recruiting suitable coaches.
• Gary's Network: Gary offered to leverage his network, specifically introducing Arpan to Beef Jones (Boys & Girls Club connection, access to athletes) and Mikey Gendell (connections to Bulls/Bucks ownership), to help find potential coaches.
• Marketing Materials: Arpan committed to sending Gary a coach recruitment one-pager to facilitate these introductions.
• Onboarding Process: Acknowledged the need to define a clear process/playbook for launching these coach-led micro-schools (real estate, supplies, funding, etc.), which doesn't yet exist.
• Support Request: Arpan asked Gary primarily for help with top-of-funnel audience building and connections, stating the team can handle the operational research (real estate, etc.).

Challenges & Ecosystem Dynamics

• 2-Hour Learning Access: Arpan reported that Andy Montgomery has been unresponsive ("stonewalling") requests for access to the 2-Hour Learning platform, a critical dependency. This raises concerns about the platform's readiness or internal bottlenecks.
• Joe's Management Style: Discussed Joe's non-confrontational nature but demanding expectations. Noted Joe's intense interest in Strata School recently. Gary suggested being prepared for rigorous questioning and demonstrating scrappiness.
• Team Performance: Briefly touched upon the perceived lack of progress from some Gauntlet grads and the importance of demonstrating value, contrasting with students like Elle/Sloan who understand Joe's expectations.
• Information Gaps: Gary highlighted the difficulty in getting a clear picture of ecosystem projects and progress, emphasizing the need for shared context and communication.

Action Items / Takeaways

• Arpan to provide Gary with the coach recruitment one-pager.
• Gary to introduce Arpan/team to Beef Jones and Mikey Gendell.
• Strata School team needs to define the coach onboarding process/playbook.
• Need to resolve the bottleneck in accessing the 2-Hour Learning platform (potentially requires escalation).
• Continued need for strategic alignment and information sharing between Gary's squad and the Strata School team.