Last Date to Enroll: Network Capital School | Classes Start July 10

Dear Community Members,

I am Utkarsh, the CEO of Network Capital, writer at Harvard Business Review and Chevening Fellow at University of Oxford, reaching out to share that today is the last date to enroll for the NC School. 

Our program will complement conventional school education. It is designed for ambitious and curious students between the ages of 8 and 18 who want to build their category of one.

What happened in the Network Capital Summer School?

Before launching NC School, we conducted a month-long immersive program for 40 students. It turned out to be a fascinating learning experience. In fact teaching these students was the most meaningful thing I did over the summer.

The result speaks for itself. Take a look at their graduation talks and articles. You will be inspired, I promise you that.

I was blown away by the depth and breadth of their beautiful minds. All credit goes to our students and their parents who took a leap of faith on us.

If you know ambitious, curious school students, send them our way. They will discover the joy of learning and forever abandon the FOMO-inspired education inflicted upon them by the test preparation industry.

The Core Challenge

Most schools around the world are designed like factories. They follow the assembly line model and train students for taking tests, following rules without questioning and competing for meaningless goals.

To get the complete picture, one has to go back to 1835 when the British historian T.B. Macaulay, writing in his notorious 1835 Minute on Education, said:

“We must at present do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern, a class of persons Indian in blood and color, but English in tastes, in opinions, in morals and in intellect.”

In simple words, Macaulay’s vision was to create a nation of obedient, efficient and polite clerks - and his hangover has lingered long after his death. Even after independence, the new Indian Government’s first five-year plan grossly ignored the importance of school education by allocating less than $2 million for the entire duration. Macaulay’s hangover was so profound that even as recently as a few years ago, around half the questions in school examinations required students to commit facts to memory.

For example: “What is the speed of light to eight significant figures?”

I am not sure what such a question is meant to accomplish but it surely isn’t innovation, originality or entrepreneurship.

I have been thinking about this ever since I was in school. You can take a look at my TED talk if you wish to explore this further.

The Category of One Philosophy

One of the most efficient ways for students and young professionals to escape competition and play infinite games is to build a category of one. Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz recently published an industry report on the future of work. One of its major takeaways is that the gig economy or the “Uber for X” model is partially making way for the passion economy, where there would be a high premium on individuality and creativity. In other words, the job market will strongly reward creative professionals who question status quo and think out of the box.

How will we help students build their category of one?

Being a student is hard these days. There is information and expectation overload. They are flooded with well-meaning but confusing advice from all corners.

The Network Capital school curriculum is designed to help students follow their curiosity (instead of passion) and train them to learn across disciplines. Magic happens at intersections of knowledge - combining math and music, physics and poetry, design and anthropology.

While specialization is important, rushing to specialize without knowing why you are specializing in the first place can be a recipe for disaster.

The NC high school will have 5 modules:

1. Writing

2. Public speaking

3. Critical thinking

4. Self-discovery through micro-experiments

5. Great books

Faculty

Our faculty comprises Sahitya Akademi winners; Wharton, Stanford, INSEAD MBAs; PhD students at Oxford and leading tech entrepreneurs and investors.

Duration

It takes time to become world class at anything. Treat the NC high school as a complement to the regular school. Students will spend 2 hours a week in classes taught by the top .1% of professionals. In addition, they will spend 1 hour working on assignments. These three hours will have a transformational effect on their careers. They will not only be better prepared for college but also for the infinite game of life.

Our vision is to spark a sense of wonder and curiosity among students so that they inculcate the learn-it-all mindset instead of trying to know it all.

Concluding Thoughts

My mission is to make the Network Capital School the most meaningful learning experience students have ever had. We will of course learn deep-reading, critical thinking, public speaking and writing but we will partake of all assignments and micro-experiments keeping self and community care in mind.

We want to ensure personal attention for each student so we will stop enrolments when the class size reaches 20. We are already half way there. Today is the last date to enroll and we look forward to the learning adventure ahead.

P.S. The NC School is for 8-18 year old students but we also have two interesting fellowships for professionals starting on July 10.

You can get access to both these fellowships by subscribing to Network Capital.

Thanks very much for reading this despite your busy schedule. Have a wonderful day ahead.

Utkarsh