Boomi CEO on Making Sense of Data; EdTech in the New Normal with Encantos and Guild Education
Chris McNabb of Boomi, Rachel Carlson of Guild Education, Steven Wolfe Pereira of Encantos
I’m experiencing it in my own career, and it’s a persistent theme in my conversations with leaders: Success in a digital economy tends to go to those who gather the best data and learn from it quickly. That was a theme across several of my conversations this week.
Is Robinhood Worth Buying Here? On the Other Hand
Is the run-up in Robinhood justified? Or has the maker of meme stocks become a meme itself? I argue both sides in the latest edition of On the Other Hand, on CNBC's Squawk Box:
Boomi CEO Chris McNabb’s Early Lesson: Learn from the Smartest
Long before Chris McNabb was CEO of Boomi, the business unit Dell is selling to private equity for $4 billion, McNabb was a high school kid getting into technology. In this moment in a Fortt Knox conversation this week, he shared how as a teen he grasped the importance of learning from the smartest people:
Check out the full conversation here:
You may have noticed, I spend good amount of time thinking about education technology. Some of that’s because I’m obsessed with learning new things; as a journalist and content creator, I’m always exploring new tools for communication and expression, which means I’m always figuring out how to use them.
I also believe learning and adaptation will be increasingly vital skills in a digital economy. Those skills can open up opportunities or close them off. For example, in the pandemic we’ve seen that kids with technology resources and support actually fared better than normal in school, while others fell behind.
Since it’s August and most of the country goes back to school this month, I decided to check in with some innovators.
CEO Rachel Carlson on Guild’s Big Week: Walmart and Target Move to Free Employee Tuition
Guild Education helps companies provide education as a benefit, just as they might provide healthcare plans or 401(k)s. Over the past few days, Walmart and Target both announced an enhanced partnership with Guild where they would offer employees tuition-free access to higher education. I caught up with Guild Education cofounder and CEO Rachel Carlson on CNBC’s The Exchange to talk about why these mega-retailers are doing this now, and why it’s important:
Rachel Carlson was an early guest on Fortt Knox. In this brief excerpt from the 1:1 interview, she explains her personal connection to Guild’s mission:
CEO Steven Wolfe Pereira on the Encantos Mission: Education Tech Tools and Lessons for All
I also spoke with Encantos cofounder and CEO Steven Wolfe Pereira on The Exchange about the importance of reaching diverse populations with high-quality content. Encantos is a technology-driven platform that seeks to better engage children in the learning process though stories and play:
Steven Wolfe Pereira was a recent guest on Fortt Knox. Here’s that full 1:1 interview:
Coursera CEO Jeff Maggioncalda on Earnings and A Surge in Consumer Demand
This week online learning platform Coursera also reported earnings. I spoke with CEO Jeff Maggioncalda on TechCheck about demand from consumers, and the growth in demand from colleges who are adopting Coursera to offer digital degrees:
And here’s my Fortt Knox 1:1 with Jeff from about a year ago:
Syndio CEO Maria Colacurcio on the Motherhood Penalty in the Workplace
A little throwback here: As I was thinking this week about the challenges of adaptation and reinvention, I remembered this moment in my conversation with Syndio CEO Maria Colacurcio. Syndio software helps companies identify and close discrepancies in how different groups of employees are paid. Here, Colacurcio told me about the difficulty she had reentering the workforce after taking time to raise young children:
Here’s the full Fortt Knox 1:1 with Maria Colacurcio:
Check out The Black Experience in America: The Course, an online educational resource I researched, designed and built. A free PDF download is available to bring the material to kids, and the online interactive experience is made for adults.