Call Summary: Prenda CEO Partnership Exploration

Overview

First direct conversation between Gary and Kelly Smith, founder and CEO of Prenda. Both recognized the meeting as "providential" given their independently developed aligned visions for microschool education. Kelly expressed strong interest in collaboration, particularly for Texas church-based microschools, and they scheduled a follow-up call for December 18. Discussion covered Gary's background, Joe Liemandt/Alpha comparison, Prenda's Texas strategy, and potential partnership structure.

Key Topics Discussed

Kelly's Opening - Providential Connection

• Kelly's Framing: "I was just talking to our head engineer... he's like, how did that even happen? Like, how does someone like that find you?"
• Kelly's Assessment: "It seems to me like Gary basically like invented this independently and he's just sort of out there promulgating this very similar vision"
• Long-term Commitment: "I told some investors earlier today like, I have no interest in selling this company. I want to just do this forever and just, you know, basically reach millions of kids if I can"

Gary's Background Summary

• IMSA Foundation: Small school (250 kids), intimate class sizes, exploration day, internships - "it was great"
• Google Years: Software engineer on Google Cloud frontend, led small team, 4 years
• Creative Side Projects: Built largest tropical house Soundcloud page, hosted 24 parties/concerts
• Police Brutality Activism: Largest Facebook page; "very soul wrenching... constantly looking at violent videos"
• Civic Innovation: Left Google for nonprofit work; Andrew Yang, Cory Booker, The Rock support
• Ethereum/Crypto Path: Ethereum Foundation grant → consulting → Vitalik Buterin society experiments (Zuzalu)
• Vatican Work: Digital transformation project with Pope Francis; innovation centers leveraging Catholic property worldwide
• Gauntlet AI: Almost thought it was a scam; ended up top of cohort; led to Alpha Schools connection

Zuzalu/Network State Connection

• Kelly's Revelation: "I went to Esmeralda this last summer... I know Janine really well"
• Gary's Response: "Our worlds collide a little bit there"
• Shared Context: Both familiar with pop-up city/society experiment movement

Joe Liemandt & Alpha Schools Discussion

• Gary's Experience: "I felt like I was sold something different than what I experienced internally"
• Gary's Realization: "What Joe unintentionally did was reinvigorate my belief that the future of education needs new leadership, needs new technology, needs new spirit"
• Spirit Contrast: "I could never imagine Joe saying the things that you said with such authenticity in your book... There's a different spirit about the way that you are building this"
• Demo Problem: "Even to this day, people internally in Alpha are not allowed to demo"
• Kelly on Joe's Approach: "He hired a lot of smart people, but he would like install software that watches them work. That's how he did Trilogy... it's just a different approach to humanity"

Joe as Prenda Investor

• Context: Austin Allred connected them; Joe is later investor in Prenda (Austin is early investor)
• Investment Story: "30 minute conversation. I'd never met him before. 30 minutes, $5 million commitment, wired the money. It's done like that day"
• Completely Hands-Off: "He's never initiated anything, any contacts. He's just very, very hands off"
• Pedagogical Alignment: "On pedagogy, we're pretty aligned. And then on human culture, like the OS, the human OS that goes with it... we just differed"
• Different Markets: "We sort of are competing, but we're not really... reaching very different market segments"

Prenda's Texas Strategy

• Texas Launch: "We've never marketed in Texas until last week. We just turned on our Instagram ads"
• Regulatory Work: Worked with lobbyists on statute, rulemaking, comptroller requirements
• Key Breakthrough: "Two years of operation anywhere, including like affiliation with Prenda. So working with Prenda means that box is checked"
• Accreditation Strategy: "Prenda's accredited, system level. By means, by virtue of our accreditation, any microschool we help also checks that box"
• Rural Access Vision: "What I think you want is for somebody in rural Texas, West Texas, to like be able to set up a microschool that matches their values and serves kids in their community"
• Current Texas Staff: "Zero. We have no one in Texas. Our model, we literally have three salespeople for the whole country"

Teacher Opportunity

• Kelly's Prediction: "I actually expect to see teachers like quitting their job in probably pretty high numbers because teachers I talked to are just frustrated"
• Religious Freedom: "A lot of them do want to do religious, but not everybody... I'm religious personally. We don't make it a religious organization, we just try to provide the tools"
• Guide Economics: "Now she can do all of those things and do it the way she wants. Make more money. It's like kind of a win-win"

Prenda Model Details

• Design: "One guide and 10 kids is basically what the format looks like"
• Guide as Entrepreneur: "Our software gives them full visibility into the financials"
• Scaling Options: "We do have that capability... assistant guides. They still go through the same training. They don't have access to the financials"
• Community Benefits: "Field trips together. Kids will play together recess... economies of scale, you just rent one space"

GPS Meeting Philosophy

• Process: "Guide parent student. And we give instructions on how to do this meeting and the kids there and the parents there"
• Agency Focus: "I'm just such a big believer in human agency. It's like that kid needs to buy into it"
• Goal Setting: "Average goal that is set is like 1.8 grade levels of progress"
• Results: "They don't hit it. They get 1.3, but still it's like, that's way better than what they would have done in traditional school"
• Outcome: "They walk away with this empowerment of like, I know how to take ownership of my life and my education"

Open Source Discussion

• Kelly's Concern: "You talk a lot about an open source system and billionaires and stuff... our company is for profit"
• Kelly's Honesty: "I'm not actually close to open source. I think my main resistance is that I just literally don't understand it"
• Gary's Response: "It's a matter of time horizon... Databricks just raised like a series L with multi-billion dollar valuation. And they're the main contributor, open source contributor to Apache Spark"
• Thought Leadership Equivalent: "Even thought leadership around how to create a good microschool is... for schools that are less tech, that's the equivalent to open source"
• Long-term Vision: "What it should be as easy as setting up a new school as like creating a new lovable project"

Potential Partnership Structure

• Kelly's Vision: "If somebody that was good at selling and that really was able to get in and solve problems with people was willing to do that... we'd see a lot more success"
• Compensation Acknowledgment: "I would feel bad, like just having you do it for free"
• Ecosystem Value: "Somebody that's passionate and smart and awesome in our ecosystem. Like I'm going to learn from you as you encounter things"
• Product Loop: "I'm running product. So it's a pretty short loop... we would be able to actually make some changes as we go"

Gary's Current Activities

• San Antonio Mentor: Helping spiritual mom explore multi-pod school; "she was initially like, oh, let's do a Christian charter school. I'm like, let me tell you about Prenda"
• Tauren Wells Connection: Christian music artist who hosted Christian Grammys 3 years; potential church partnership
• Zachary Levi Vision: Ranch-based school concept; "very outdoorsy, a lot of your day is just like helping out with the ranch... doing a lot of creative stuff"

Heather Clayton Staker Connection

• Mutual Friend: Both know Heather well through different channels
• Kelly's Connections: Cambridge ward overlap, brother Matt started Acton school in Utah, went to college with sister Brooke
• Gary's Note: Heather offered to connect him with Elder Gong (LDS church leader)

Elder Gong & LDS Discussion

• Gary's Interest: "Supporting the Catholic Church and thinking through their digital transformation strategy, I was like, hmm, does Salt Lake have a strategy right now?"
• Future Vision: "I really would not be surprised if a lot of the best schools for pre-college are... faith-based schools and faith-based apprentice schools"

Timeline Urgency

• Gary's Assessment: "The next two months are really significant for laying the foundation for really a movement in Texas"
• Strategic Timing: "How important even the rest of this year is... to just plant seeds with the right people that can just exponentially grow it"

Key Quotes

On Providential Meeting:

• Kelly: "It seems to me like Gary basically invented this independently and he's just sort of out there promulgating this very similar vision"
• Kelly: "This exists like outside of us. And anyway, it's fun. It's fun to see the work of God in all of it"

On Alpha/Joe Contrast:

• Gary: "I could never imagine Joe saying the things that you said with such authenticity in your book... There's a different spirit about the way that you are building this"
• Kelly: "He hired a lot of smart people, but he would like install software that watches them work. That's how he did Trilogy"
• Kelly: "On pedagogy, we're pretty aligned. And then on human culture, like the OS, the human OS that goes with it... we just differed"

On Human Agency:

• Kelly: "I'm just such a big believer in human agency. It's like that kid needs to buy into it"
• Kelly: "They walk away with this empowerment of like, I know how to take ownership of my life and my education"

On Texas Opportunity:

• Kelly: "What I think you want is for somebody in rural Texas, West Texas, to be able to set up a microschool that matches their values and serves kids in their community"
• Kelly: "Those kids could never pay for private school, even at lower numbers. And so they need the scholarship to start"

On Long-term Vision:

• Kelly: "I'm thinking in the millions, like I want millions of kids doing micro schools and I don't see any reason why that doesn't happen"
• Gary: "The next two months are really significant for laying the foundation for really a movement in Texas"

On Collaboration:

• Kelly: "I'd love to do something together. I think there's a huge opportunity"
• Kelly: "If somebody that was good at selling and that really was able to get in and solve problems with people was willing to do that... we'd see a lot more success"

Action Items / Takeaways

• Follow-up call scheduled for December 18, 2025 at 4pm MT / 3pm CT
• Both to bring questions and think about partnership structure
• Gary to continue cultivating church relationships (Ida in San Antonio, Tauren Wells, Zachary Levi)
• Kelly acknowledged Gary's unique positioning for Texas church-based microschool expansion
• Potential paid arrangement discussed but details deferred

Special Context

Joe Liemandt as Shared Reference Point

Both have direct relationships with Joe - Kelly as investor ($5M), Gary through Alpha Schools. Provides interesting perspective: Joe invested in Prenda without involvement, contrasting with his controlling approach at Alpha. Kelly's assessment: "I think he cares, but I think his model of humanity is just different."

Regulatory Moat

Prenda's work with Texas legislators created a 2-year operational advantage - new microschools need affiliation with established organization to qualify for ESA funds. Combined with system-level accreditation, Prenda has significant first-mover advantage in Texas.

Faith Alignment

Both are believers (Kelly LDS, Gary non-denominational Christian) but Prenda operates as secular platform supporting all types of microschools. This creates opportunity for Gary to be specifically faith-focused voice within Prenda ecosystem without changing company positioning.