1/ Beginner's mindset

Kids are fearless learners.

Beginner's mindset is the key to learning anything. This is why kids pick things up so fast.

Adults are inhibited by what we think we can and cannot do.

2/ Grit

Kids don't give up easily.

They have a beautiful obduracy about them.

One of the most important qualities a founder needs is grit.

Sheer determination to never ever give up.

Read 9 tweets

John Tan | Founder Skills for Kids 🚢

@therealjohntan

1 Oct

School rewards obedience and following instructions.

Life rewards imagination and bending rules.

This is what investing in founders and working with kids taught me about raising mavericks.

🪡

1/ Let kids know about the big, hairy problems humanity is facing.

Climate change. Racial inequality. Poverty.

Less time memorising the periodic table, more time discussing SDGs.

Kids often tell me they want to be rich. I tell them solve climate change and you will be.

@joinender

2/ Learn through play

Unstructured play takes imagination.

Kids develop creativity and problem-solving skills by learning through play. Building on Roblox and Minecraft for example.

Check out Minecraft competitions on @joinender and simulations on @synthesischool.

Read 9 tweets

John Tan | Founder Skills for Kids 🚢

@therealjohntan

26 Sep

Ninja Van just raised US$578m.

I wrote them their first cheque. US$50k.

This is what I learnt sitting on the board of a 3 person startup that grew to 61,000 employees in 6 countries.

🪡

1/ Know when to move on

The Ninja Van founders were running a startup making custom shirts. Marcella was not doing well.

While running Marcella they realised existing logistics providers are not set up for e-commerce.

So they left Marcella to start Ninja Van.

2/ A founding team that stays together despite a failed startup has a much better shot at success with their next startup

Marcella had 5 founders. 2 of the 5 left early to start Ninja Van. After Marcella shut down, the remaining 3 joined. All 5 are still at Ninja Van today.

Read 11 tweets

John Tan | Founder Skills for Kids 🚢

@therealjohntan

24 Sep

Did not expect my thread on why the education system is broken to get 2.5k likes and 700 retweets.

But all’s not lost. There are really smart people out there trying to fix education.

10 orgs making me hopeful about the future of learning.

🪡

@synthesischool

@synthesischool uses simulations to teach kids to thrive in complexity. Came out of an experimental school at SpaceX.

CEO @chrismanfrank and Chief Evangelist @anafabrega11 are two of the most progressive thinkers in education.

@modernclassproj

@modernclassproj empowers educators to meet every student’s needs through a self-paced, mastery-based instructional model.

They offer Ts free online courses and virtual mentorship programs.

Co-founders @Kareemfarah23 and @barnett_tweets met as math teachers at a high school.

Read 13 tweets

John Tan | Founder Skills for Kids 🚢

@therealjohntan

23 Sep

If you don't think the education system is broken, read these 10 tweets

🪡

@anafabrega11

How did we conclude that the best way to prepare kids for the future is to cluster them into a setting where they are organized by age, into grades, and forced to learn the same things, at the same time and pace, 7 hours a day, 5 days a week, for 12 + years? @anafabrega11

@vladstan

This is sad, but most kids are preparing for jobs that will be irrelevant in the future. - @vladstan

Read 12 tweets

Share this page!

John Tan | Founder Skills for Kids 🚢

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

More from @therealjohntan

John Tan | Founder Skills for Kids 🚢

John Tan | Founder Skills for Kids 🚢

John Tan | Founder Skills for Kids 🚢

John Tan | Founder Skills for Kids 🚢

John Tan | Founder Skills for Kids 🚢

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Like this author's thread?