January 09, 2025

Synthesis: The AI-Powered Education Born at SpaceX - Chrisman Frank & Synthesis | #60

1 hour 38 minutes

Today, Santiago & Josh interview Chrisman Frank, Co-Founder & CEO of Synthesis. Inspired by SpaceX's school for employees' children, Synthesis aims to provide similar educational experiences to a broader audience and at an affordable price. Synthesis's AI-driven tutor, launched a year ago, has seen significant success, with plans to expand to local schools and national governments. Frank shares his journey and emphasizes the importance of personalized, hands-on, and highly engaging education and the potential of AI to revolutionize learning.

(0:32) True believers, opportunists, and shifts in power

(2:12) How a weekend experiment became Synthesis

(6:19) The "secret sauce" of @elonmusk's school at SpaceX

(9:03) Life is a game, so learn through games

(12:59) Current education models don't scale—AI tutors do

(14:59) @Austen's kids "speedrunning" through K-5 math with Synthesis

(16:01) The ideal education is tutors + maximizing exposure to reality

(23:26) "Schools are particularly hostile to high energy boys"

(26:47) How Synthesis works: games and AI Tutor

(35:01) Screen Time isn't bad (necessarily)

(37:57) Why VR won't play a role in Synthesis' future

(43:51) Sports as critical tools for education

(51:35) "There's an infinite number of games in the world and you can chose to get good at them."

(53:00) Why modern education makes everything uninteresting

(1:02:26) Why Synthesis is unapologetically elitist

(1:06:03) The misguided obsession with IQ

(1:32:13) Plan A for kids: "Build a successful company and train my successor"

#ChrismanFrank #Synthesis #SpaceX #School #Learning #AI #Math #Tutor #Education #Future

Chrisman Frank is a entrepreneur and co-founder of Synthesis, an organization aimed at creating future innovators and problem-solvers. He was inspired to start Synthesis after visiting the Ad Astra lab school at SpaceX’s headquarters, where he saw kids learning and working together in a dynamic real-world environment. Frank was drawn to the school’s approach to learning, which emphasized solving problems and thinking creatively.

Frank’s background is in education and technology, and he has previously worked and an Early Engineer at Class Dojo. He is married with three children and has a passion for creating a new generation of innovators and leaders. Through Synthesis, Frank aims to teach students to think like Elon Musk and tackle real-world problems at scale.

Learn more about Chrisman Frank's work here:

https://chrismanfrank.com/

https://x.com/chrismanfrank

https://www.synthesis.com/tutor

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The New Founding Podcast is recorded at the New Founding HQ in Dallas, Texas, produced by Santiago Pliego & Joshua Clemans, and edited by Jared Cummings.

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