GSV’s weekly insights on the global growth economy. Join our community of entrepreneurs, investors, executives, educators, and students getting a window to the future by subscribing here:

Subscribe now

EIEIO…Fast Facts

Entrepreneurship: 12 months – The period of time it took for Cursor to reach $100 million in annual recurring revenue. (AIM Research)

Innovation: >2x – The factor by which Amazon outsold every other retailer in apparel in 2023. (Wells Fargo)

Education: 26% – The percentage of U.S. tenth graders who say they love school. 65% of parents of U.S. tenth graders say their child loves school. (Harper’s)

Impact: 6,765 – The number of commercial ships delivered to China in the last 10 years, compared to 37 to the United States. (Bruce Mehlman)

Opportunity: 40% – The percentage of Saudi Arabia’s GDP made up by a single company, Saudi Aramco. (Sherwood)

Subscribe now

Share

“I promise you, in 10 years' time, you will look back and you will realize how AI has now integrated into everything. And in fact, we need AI everywhere… and in every region, every industry, every country, every company needs AI. And this infrastructure, just like the Internet, just like electricity, needs factories… and these data centers, if you will, are improperly described. They are, in fact, AI factories. You apply energy to it, and it provides something incredible.”
— Jensen Huang, CEO, NVIDIA

“I should mention something amazing about (the new Duolingo curriculum in) chess that it really started with a team of two people, neither of whom knew how to program… and they basically made prototypes and did the whole curriculum of chess by using AI. Also, neither of them knew how to play chess.”
— Luis von Ahn, CEO, Duolingo

“Success in creating AI could be the biggest event in the history of civilization. But it could also be the last… unless we learn to avoid the risk.”
— Stephen Hawking

“Statistically speaking, the world doesn’t end that often.”
— Brian Rogers, CEO, T. Rowe Price

The AI Revolution is like a war we’ve never seen before.

Like past wars… it’s geographic. It’s technological. It’s philosophical. BUT, it’s also distributed. It’s changing at lightning speed. And friends and enemies are tough to distinguish—and often one and the same.

The undisputed superpower in the AI Revolution is NVIDIA, and it’s had its hands full in 2025. Trade wars. Intense competition. Deep Seek’s powerful LLM operating on a less advanced processor. “Liberation Day.” The banning of its H20 chip sales to China. Locusts, frogs, water turned to blood—the plagues have just kept coming.

Despite all of this, NVIDIA last week delivered some of the most remarkable financial results in the history of business.

For the quarter, overall revenues were up 69% to $44 billion. Data center revenues surged 73% to $39 billion. In kind, NVIDIA’s stock touched a $3.4 trillion market cap, briefly making it the most valuable company in the world.

More tailwinds: the so-called “hyperscalers”—Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta—are all upping the ante in their data center spending, now expected to reach $368 billion in 2025 and another $400 billion in 2026.

The compute needed for magical reasoning/inference AI is massive, and Agentic AI is starting to hit its stride. Hence, the demand for powerful chips will remain a megatrend, making NVIDIA shares, selling at 29x earnings, seem like a relative steal (compared to great companies we love but with huge valuations, such as Duolingo selling at 30x sales and Palantir at 100x sales).

Last week, before his stop at the Bitcoin Conference, J.D. Vance said we are in an “arms race” with China in AI. While I agree that AI is of major strategic importance to both China and the USA, I think our strategies differ.

In the United States, it’s all about large language models (LLMs) and compute. In China, as articulated by its Politburo in April, the focus is on applications of AI for business and everyday life. The analogy used by President Xi was that AI is more like electricity than a nuclear weapon.

The history of electricity goes back to the Greeks in 600 B.C., who observed static electricity when rubbing amber against fur. Benjamin Franklin’s famous kite experiment in 1752 demonstrated that lightning was a form of electricity and laid the foundation for understanding electrical discharge.

The applications of electricity technology have obviously changed the world over the past two centuries—from electromagnets to the telegraph, electric lighting, home appliances like refrigeration, the telephone, radio, TV, and beyond. Coca-Cola, with its $300 billion market cap, was enabled by electricity and the application of refrigeration.

As the Internet made it possible for Amazon, Facebook, and Google to exist, we are now looking for how innovative entrepreneurs will piggyback on the disruptive technology of AI and transform industries like education, healthcare, real estate, transportation, and defense.

AI is like air. It’s invisible. It’s ubiquitous. And you’re going to need it to live.

Market Performance

Market Commentary

May was the best month for the stock market since 2023 and the best May in 35 years. To wit, the S&P was up 6%, and NASDAQ increased nearly 10%.

For the week, the NASDAQ advanced 2%, the S&P 500 was up 1.9%, and the Dow increased 1.6%.

Obviously, the main catalyst behind the upward movement in the market was the tariff relief obsession. But contributing to the increased optimism was earnings that have come in strong—up 13% year-over-year—with 78% of companies beating analyst estimates. Moreover, the feared inflation that tariffs were supposed to materialize hasn’t, and in fact, the CPI was the lowest in four years.

One of the clichés that have influenced traders for years is that you “sell in May and go away” for the summer. My sense is that we’ve entered a time where growth stock outperformance is likely. Hence, while I continue to expect high volatility, that’s actually the friend of the long-term investor.

Accordingly, I’d be looking at creating a list of the highest-quality and fastest-growing companies and look for any meaningful dips to increase the position in the leaders.

Need to Know

WATCH: OpenAI’s $6BN Jony Ive Deal & YC Is Both Chanel and Walmart, and Has Officially Won! | 20VC

READ: Trends in Artificial Intelligence | Bond

READ: Conviction-Led Contrarianism |

LISTEN: Graham Weaver - Building Alpine | Invest Like The Best

GSV’s Four I’s of Investor Sentiment

GSV tracks four primary indicators of investor sentiment: inflows and outflows of mutual funds and ETFs, IPO activity, interest rates, and inflation.

#1: Inflows and Outflows for Mutual Funds & ETFs

#2: IPO Market

#3: Interest Rates

#4: Inflation

Charts of the Week

Maggie Moe’s GSV Weekly Rap

Chuckles of the Week

FEEDBACK: We love it when our readers engage with us. Send your thoughts, comments, and feedback to dashmediagsv@gmail.com – we read every email!

Connecting the Dots & EIEIO…

Old MacDonald had a farm, EIEIO. New MacDonald has a Startup…EIEIO: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Education, Impact and Opportunity. Accordingly, we focus on these key areas of the future.

One of the core goals of GSV is to connect the dots around EIEIO and provide perspective on where things are going and why. If you like this, please forward to your friends. Onward!

Make Your Dash Count!

-MM

Share

Subscribe now

Chart of the Week

The Big 10:

1. Silicon Valley’s New School | Chamath Palihapitiya

   Chamath is nothing if not a disrupter…and while I’m not sure his vision for his new school is revolutionary, it does make a lot of sense. La Scuola uses the time tested Montessori approach encouraging curiosity, focuses on the combination of STEM and humanities and making sure AI is integrated intelligently. We are all for more new models and more choices.

2. Tyler Cowen: There’s a Better Way to Fight Harvard | The Free Press

   Tyler’s conclusion of “it’s time to start building” I couldn’t agree with more. As much as many are not fans of the ideology and attitude of many of the elite institutions, the best way to create change is to compete. Moreover, “cutting off our nose to spite our face” hasn’t been a good approach for solving problems and we want the best and the brightest from around the World to come to school in the United States and start the next Google.

3. AI cheating surge pushes schools into chaos | Axios

   As a sign of the times, a student who was recently caught cheating using generative AI for a homework assignment had Chat GPT write their apology note. I’m actually quite tired of the cheating discussion….since the beginning of time, a certain percentage of students will look to cheat if they can. But honestly, it ultimately only hurts them. The future of learning is how to use the powerful AI tools as an assistant and accelerator to learn at the speed of light.

4. Can Trump Force Harvard to Improve | Wall Street Journal

   Former Nebraska Senator and University of Florida President Ben Sasse gives his take on the Harvard versus Trump grudge match. Three scenarios he lays out, many different outcomes possible. Like with many squabbles, blame can be shared but one thing for sure, we aren’t in Kansas anymore.

5. UAE University registers 300+ patents to date in 2025, promoting culture of innovation in UAE | Abu Dhabi Media Office

   The UAE is known as the “Capital of Capital” but its become so much more. With two thirds of the World’s population writhing a 6 hour flight, the UAE has also become the hub for the future. With its forward looking leadership, its emphasized education and the industries of tomorrow such AI, sustainability, health care and food security.

6. ☀️ Ep. 9 · Dr. Carole Basile: Dean, Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation at ASU | Edreform in 10

   In this episode of Edreform in 10, Basile reveals her radical vision: dismantling the "one teacher, one classroom" model that's failing both educators and students.

7. University students offload critical thinking, other hard work to AI | The Hechinger Report

   So in the history of humankind, people will always choose easier. The two independent studies came to the same conclusion that if allowed to, students will outsource their brain to AI. The study by Anthropic released at this year’s ASU GSV Summit talked about the risk of “metacognitive laziness” if students are left to their own devices. That’s the bad and not surprising news, the good news it opens the opportunity for progressive teachers to figure out how to use the powerful new tools to enhance learning.

8. Texas lawmakers strike deal on $8.5B school funding package | Community Impact

   Everything is bigger in Texas. This funding package, on top of the school choice initiative passed earlier moves the Lone Star State towards its goal of excellent education for all. Teachers salaries go up. Funding per student reaches nearly $18K. More security for safer schools. Giddy up!

9. Trump floats redirecting Harvard funding to US trade schools | News Nation

   While some might think it’s just trolling Harvard by threatening to swap the $3 billion it currently gets to trade schools…but it also reflects the reality that more and more students are looking at those schools as a more viable career pathway. It’s no longer “college for all” but for many the question is “college at all?”.

10. 🎙️ Ep. 48 · Dan Rosensweig, Executive Chairman of Chegg | Ed on the Edge | Dash Media

    Chegg Chairman Dan Rosensweig provides a masterclass on business, innovation and why universities need to “put students first”.

BONUS

Live from Milken: Hurdles and Hopes in Higher Education

Higher Ed guru Jeff Selingo provides provocative discussion with leaders from Stanford, Dartmouth, University of California San Diego, Yeshiva University and ETS. What’s the role of research and the ROI? How do we create a compelling ROI for students? Highly encourage to listen to the entire interview.

Share

Subscribe now

Last year’s inaugural Imagine AI LIVE conference was terrific, and I’m thrilled to return this year to deliver another keynote. Don’t miss it—hope to see you in Vegas!

🎟️ P.S. Use the promo code below to save $$$ on your tickets 👇

⏰ AI’s future won’t wait — will you keep up?

IMAGINE AI LIVE '25 isn’t just another event— it’s your ticket to leapfrog competitors still scrambling to understand AI's potential. Join industry pioneers at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas and get practical strategies to implement AI that drives immediate results.

Attend on May 28-30 at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas and you can:

• Accelerate your AI journey by years, not months

• Connect with cross-industry innovators who've already solved your challenges

• Transform theoretical AI knowledge into actionable implementation roadmaps

Secure Your Competitive Edge with code AIDOESNTWAIT15 and save 15% if you register by May 19.

REGISTER NOW >

Chart of the Week

Subscribe now

Share

The Big 10:

1. Why I Chose the University of Florida | Inside Higher Ed

   Christmas came early for Florida as ex-Michigan President Santa Ono hit the transfer portal from the relative North Pole of Ann Arbor for Tallahassee. While the University of Florida has received significant recognition as one of the best public universities on the planet, the University of Michigan is arguably already that. State leadership was one of the reasons given for the switch but I’d like to understand Santa’s NIL package.

   BONUS

2. Three of ‘Big Four’ see steep drop in postgrad enrollment | University World News

   The Big Four of the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Canada historically have been beneficiaries of International student demand. In the First Quarter of 2025, applications fell off a cliff with only the UK showing growth. Trump Administration rhetoric perceived as anti-foreigner could be part of it but it doesn’t explain Australia or Canada.

3. 🎙️ Ep. 45 · ASU President Dr. Michael Crow | Ed on the Edge | Dash Media

   In Michael Crow’s 23 years at ASU, he’s turned the institution upside down. What was the magic to create the “most innovative university” in the United States for ten years in a row? The New American University, Realm 5 education, leaning in on AI and Cam Skattebo are all part of secret sauce.

4. Indiana’s Big School Voucher Breakthrough | WSJ

   Indiana has been a leader in school choice going back to the Mitch Daniel’s day and not coincidently, the Hoosier state has shown impressive student achievement results. Indiana keeps pushing with its recent voucher initiative adding another arrow in the quiver to provide parents choices on how to best educate their children.

5. ☀️ Ep. 8 · Dr. Emily Oster: CEO of ParentData & Best-Selling Author | Edreform in 10

   Historically, the training manual for being a parent was comprised of wives-tales, imperfect personal experience mommy blogs. With data, Emily Oster is the leader in “Moneyballing Motherhood”. As my friend legendary Silicon Valley Coach Bill Campbell said, “when we have facts, will use facts, when we have opinions, we will use mine”.

6. Has America Given Up on Children’s Learning? | NYT

   Great education for all shouldn’t be a partisan issue. And unfortunately, it’s not….it’s not an issue for either party. Problems create opportunities…the bigger the problem, the bigger the opportunity. Young politicians understand how existential issue this is for society so help/hope is on the way.

7. How China Turns Stanford Students Into Spies | The Free Press

   Anybody who’s spent any time on “the Farm” knows that a huge part of the student population is Asian. Most people, including me, didn’t know that part of being a Chinese citizen is the obligation to help the Chinese government with “intelligence work”. The Confucius Society was kind of sketchy enough, but actually have an active spy agency in U.S. Schools is creepy.

8. Public Money, Private Choice: The Components and Critiques of Education Savings Accounts | Bellwether

   Bellwether does important research and this report on the state of play for ESA’s in the United States. Currently 22 million K-12 students or roughly 40% have access to some sort of choice program. These programs are in 18 almost all “Red States”. Controversy abounds but what seems indisputable that status quo isn’t working.

9. Stop Trying to Make Everyone Go to College | The New York Times

   I don’t agree with Randi Weingarten on much. And I don’t agree with everything she says in her editorial. But, she is smart and her points about reimagining what we need to do to create a new “North Star” about the objective of education is dead on.

10. Something Alarming is Happening to the Job Market | The Atlantic

    Stunning is the fact that this year’s graduating class from college and graduate programs faces the toughest job market in four decades. Also stunning is the fact that the pay gap between somebody with a college education and high school education stopped 15 years ago. The point being that this trend started before the emergence of AI…the challenges for universities to create an ROI for a student’s time and money are only going to get more pronounced.

BONUS BONUS

AI Will Change What It Is to Be Human. Are We Ready? | The Free Press

Stunning is the fact that this year’s graduating class from college and graduate programs faces the toughest job market in four decades. Also stunning is the fact that the pay gap between somebody with a college education and high school education stopped 15 years ago. The point being that this trend started before the emergence of AI…the challenges for universities to create an ROI for a student’s time and money are only going to get more pronounced.

While you’re here, please make sure to tune in to the Weekly Rap and follow Maggie Moe on TikTok.

Subscribe now

Share

GSV’s weekly insights on the global growth economy. Join our community of entrepreneurs, investors, executives, educators, and students getting a window to the future by subscribing here:

Subscribe now

EIEIO…Fast Facts

Entrepreneurship: ~10% – The percentage of Pre-Seed advisors who receive 1% or more equity. (Peter Walker)

Innovation: 24% – The estimated percentage of corporate press releases that were generated by AI last year. (Forbes)

Education: 129% – The percentage change since 2000 in the portion of U.S. kindergarten and preschool teachers who are men. (Harper’s)

Impact: 77 million - The number of Americans who held gym or fitness studio memberships in 2024, a record. (Fitt Insider)

Opportunity: 2.1 million - The number of U.S. manufacturing jobs that could go unfilled by 2030 due to a lack of skilled workers. (Manufacturing Institute + Deloitte)

Subscribe now

Share

“I think any self respecting educational institution ought to judge its policies by the best estimate of what their long-term consequences for students and for the society will be.” – Former Harvard President Derek Bok

“You get better or you get worse…you don’t stay the same.” – Lou Holtz

“To create a contagious movement, you often have to create many small movements first.” – Malcolm Gladwell

In Ernest Hemingway’s first novel, “The Sun Also Rises” one of the main characters Bill asked, “How do you go bankrupt?”

His friend Mike answered, “Slow. Then fast”.

Tipping points are moments when a critical threshold has been reached, where what could be seen as a small change or incident catalyzes changes in a system to undergo significant and often rapid transformation to radically new state. Inherent are the symptoms which lead to what seems like an overnight revolution had been in the works for years if not decades.

The Boston Tea Party and subsequent American Revolution was a result of years of unfair treatment by the British.

What seemed like shopping malls vanishing the minute Covid hit was really underway the minute Marc Andreessen helped commercialize the Internet through the Netscape browser. Mall-centric retailers such as JC Penny, Saks Fifth Avenue and Sears became dinosaurs faster than you can say Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Taxis were ripe for disruption after years of passengers living with dirty, unsafe, incompetent drivers, coupled with a system of bizarrely standing on a curb with your hand raised “fishing” for a driver to come by. Uber and Lyft instantaneously disrupted an industry that was begging for it.

Higher Education has had a remarkable run for centuries, where the leading academic institutions hundreds of years ago are still the leading academic institutions today. The premier brands of Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard and Yale were started in 1096, 1209, 1636 and 1701, respectively. Stanford would be considered an up and comer having launched 140 years ago.

Contrast that with the leading, most innovative and largest market cap companies in the World today, Apple, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Alphabet, and META, the oldest of which is Microsoft at 50 years old. META is barely 20.

I believe we are at that tipping point for higher education.

The symptoms are painful and obvious.

In 2011, 86% of college students thought their college education was worth it. By 2023, just 42% thought it was a good ROI.

And if you took on debt to get your degree…just 22% believed it was the right move.

Student debt has gone from $400 billion in 2005 to $1.8 trillion today. The mantra has gone from “College for all!” to “College at all?”

Part of this has been caused by the rapid changes in society. In 1980, the half life of knowledge or skills was 30 years. Today, it’s 5 years. If you have a technical degree, it’s 2.5 years.

As a real problem to anybody selling a high price degree, just over 50% of college graduates get jobs that require a degree. Another tough trend was that the number of employers that require a degree for a specified job dropped from 18% to 14% in a year.

Most everybody is aware of the insane cost of college which has increased at 3.5 times inflation the past 50 years.

That’s the headline. The rest of the story is that while the sticker price has continued to rise at levels that are unimaginable to the normal person, the net price to students has fallen 13% the past 5 years.

“Scholarships”—or in the non-academic world, “discounts”—are the norm. In 2024, the average freshman tuition was 54% of the listed price. The overall student body was provided an essential “50% off sale.”

Obviously, this wasn’t out of the goodness of the 4,000+ universities and colleges hearts…it’s because the market was demanding it.

A quiet fundamental has developed which is that the majority of college students are “non traditional”…meaning they aren’t in the 18-22 year old full time student category. Yet college and universities are set up for 18-22 year olds…classes during the day, semester system, dormitories, no parking, football team, marching band…all irrelevant to over 50% of the students. The University of Kentucky spent over $1 million dollars a day for a decade building facilities.

As another inconvenient truth, 30% of all college students in the United States are 100% online yet most online courses are essentially the same price as in person courses. While that’s worked historically due to online courses create access that otherwise wouldn’t exist, that’s an unsustainable dynamic. As Jeff Bezos said, “your margin is my opportunity.”

These issues would be problematic without any other issue present but that’s not the case. The Trump Administration has come on the scene and rightly or wrongly, fairly or unfairly, there is a new Sheriff in town.

Another wildcard for universities is the threatened excise tax on endowments that have $200K or more per student. Trump 1.0 had 1.4% tax on endowments with $500K or more per student. For example, Harvard with the largest college endowment paid $44 million of taxes in 2024. Clearly the targets for this are a pretty small but highly influential universe. More negotiating leverage in my view.

The research university was originally a German innovation in the early 1800s, combining teaching with research. United States universities borrowed the concept around the time of the Civil War with new institutions such as Cornell and John Hopkins University making research a core part of its model. The Morrill Act of 1862 established “Land Grant” Universities with part of their missions establishing research in agriculture and engineering foundational to their charter.

The Research University really came into its own during World War II with the Manhattan Project which created the Atomic Bomb that finished the War. Research Universities have been innovation machines and been at the forefront of discovering and inventing new technologies such as the Internet, radar, the Human Genome Project and Artificial Intelligence.

Under the Trump Administration, projected cuts for research from government agencies such as the NIH, NSF and DARPA would have a dramatic impact on funds received and obviously the research conducted. For example, the National Institute of Health spends $48.5 billion on research with 80% of that earmarked for university research…on the table right now is for that to decrease to $30 billion.

While studies such as the effect of alcohol on Zebra Finches vocalizations and how tokens impact pigeons behavior for gambling gain attention as evidence of the crazy things taxpayers are paying for at these out of control universities, our suspicion is the threat of the budget hammer is a weapon to get universities attention. For sure, every organization should reexamine how money is being spent and take out waste. More to the point, having leverage to accelerate the extermination of DEI policies, the woke virus and alarming antisemitism is the biggest target.

Thus, its my view that ultimately, the chainsaw research cuts that are feared will be significantly less and what comes out of this will actually result in a healthier system.

A less appreciated but significant risk facing the U.S. college and university economic model is attracting international students. Twenty years ago, there were 572,000 international students in U.S. college and universities. This represented about 2.5% of the student population and contributed approximately 3% of the revenue. Today, there is over 1.1 million international students which is 6% of student base but 12% of the revenue. At some public universities such as the University of Illinois, International students represent 30% of the overall revenue.

With all the other headwinds facing universities, any material decline of foreign students would be a huge problem. There are 277K Chinese students at U.S. universities with the Chinese Government recently telling students they should think twice about going to school in the United States. Traditional media and social media is full of warnings about hostility international students could face during the Trump Administration.

While I believe in actuality, the administration wants to bring the best and brightest from around the world, and then stay in the United States, the noise in the near term is most likely to result in many foreign students going elsewhere. International student demand for US postgraduate education (MA and PhD) is now down 44% since mid-January.

As Plato said, “Necessity is the Mother of invention” and what’s clear is the heretofore slow-changing university system is about to be disrupted. For some institutions, it will create enormous opportunities. For many others, it’s the beginning of the end.

You get better, or you get worse. You don’t stay the same.

Market Performance

Market Commentary

The market held its breath anxiously anticipating the meeting between U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng over trade issues. Word out of Geneva was the discussions were “productive”, which is likely to give stocks a lift Monday morning.

Last week, stocks treaded and took on some water, with the NASDAQ down .3%, the S&P 500 falling .5%, the Dow decreased .2% and the small cap Russell 2000 inched upwards .2%.

Leading growth names reported mainly solid results including Palantir which reported EPS growth of 62% alone with revenues increasing 39%. Other strong performers included Mercado Libre with 44% earnings growth and 37% revenue growth, more recent IPO Hims & Hers reported 111% revenue growth and Shopify had 27% revenue growth. Adtalem reported EPS soared 28% with the number of students reaching over 94K.

In the world of mobile services, DoorDash had solid results and also announced it acquired UK based Deliveroo for $3.9 billion and Seven Rooms for $1.9 billion. DoorDash reported 20% revenue growth and significant institutional buying. LYFT had 14% revenue growth but also an unexpected profit which resulted in shares gapping higher.

More evidence of investors/speculators embracing risk, Bitcoin blasted past $100K mark last week. Additionally, newer IPOs such as Rubrik, Bowhead Specialty, Loar Holdings and Mirex Group are acting well which is a good sign for fresh names from new issues.

While we’re not sure if we are out of the hyper volatile phase of the market we’ve been in for the past couple months, we are encouraged by the positive direction of change. Accordingly, for longer term investors, we’d look at weakness in leading growth names as a BUYING opportunity.

Need to Know

WATCH: At 82 years-old Domenic Stellato goes 16.02 (-1.0) to win the 80+ 100m at the Penn Relays | FloTrack

READ: Learning at the Speed of Light: A Conversation with Michael Moe | Educate AI

READ: Next | Jeff Selingo

LISTEN: David Senra · The Focused Few | Invest Like The Best

GSV’s Four I’s of Investor Sentiment

GSV tracks four primary indicators of investor sentiment: inflows and outflows of mutual funds and ETFs, IPO activity, interest rates, and inflation.

#1: Inflows and Outflows for Mutual Funds & ETFs

#2: IPO Market

#3: Interest Rates

#4: Inflation

Charts of the Week

Maggie Moe’s GSV Weekly Rap

Chuckles of the Week

FEEDBACK: We love it when our readers engage with us. Send your thoughts, comments, and feedback to dashmediagsv@gmail.com – we read every email!

Connecting the Dots & EIEIO…

Old MacDonald had a farm, EIEIO. New MacDonald has a Startup…EIEIO: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Education, Impact and Opportunity. Accordingly, we focus on these key areas of the future.

One of the core goals of GSV is to connect the dots around EIEIO and provide perspective on where things are going and why. If you like this, please forward to your friends. Onward!

Make Your Dash Count!

-MM

Share

Subscribe now

Subscribe now

Share

The Big 10:

1. A Fifth of American Adults Can’t Read. Here’s How to Teach Them. | The Free Press

   Stunning. The fact that 48 million US adults can’t read at a 3rd grade level makes the United States appear as a 3rd world country. If you can’t read, it’s next to impossible to learn. Depriving people of learning is depriving people of living.

2. Gen Z says AI has made their college degrees irrelevant | CIO Dive

   Satisfaction with the college degree has dropped like a stone over the past decade. In 2011, 86% of young people thought it was worth it, compared only 42% in 2023. If you have to take on debt? Only 22% said that was worthwhile in 2024. While AI might be the convenient scapegoat, this dissatisfaction was swelling long before ChatGPT hit the scene in November of 2022. There are lots of challenging inputs at play: soaring tuition prices, rising debt, and plummeting half-lives of skills…not to mention that many institutions have simply lost the plot of what higher education means. Add it up and it looks like an industry ripe for major disruption.

3. AI Could Help You Pivot to a New Career | The Future of Everything

   If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there, does it make a sound? If a job exists that matches up well with a persons’ skillset but they don’t know about it, is that a missed opportunity? Of course it is. AI allows you to create your personal Hero’s Journey by better understand what your strengths and interests are. AI helps you find your calling and identify purposeful work by matching you to what you’re good at.

4. Roberts might hold key Supreme Court vote over first publicly funded religious charter school | AP

   This week, as Roman Catholics fixed their eyes on the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican to learn of the newly selected Pope, other faiths and denominations are looking to Washington and the Roberts court for its ruling on whether religious charters are eligible to receive public funding. If you’re interested in this subject, First Liberty is the go-to organization on religious freedom…and we are not an authority, but our two cents is that the Constitution does not call for a separation between church and state, but that the state doesn’t force a religion on a people. Our four cents is that anything that grants greater access to quality education is a win for students, which we as a country desperately need.

5. ☀️EP. 7 · Paul Escala: Superintendent of Catholic Schools, Archdiocese of Los Angeles | Edreform in 10

   75% of US adults are in favor of school choice, which is another indicator that parents don’t have faith in public schools. But that’s not to say that parents don’t want faith in schools. Listen to ASU+GSV Fellow Paul Escala (Superintendent of Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles) break down the topic of religious charters.

6. 🏟️ 🎙️ S2 E4: Fanstake Just Raised $6 Million to Change College Sports Forever | Under the Number

   Earthquakes and aftershocks. NIL (“Now It’s Legal”) is a catalyst for entrepreneurs and alumni alike to be involved in what has changed the landscape of college sports. Whether you like it or not, this genie is not going back in the bottle. Fanstake facilitates crowdsourced, grass-roots fundraising for athlete recruitment…with the added twist of a money-back guarantee if the mission is not accomplished (i.e., the athlete in question doesn’t pick your school).

7. CEOs push AI and computer science as a grad requirement | Axios

   It’s become clear that for America and American business to compete in a global marketplace, we need to be the leader in computer science and AI. President Trump signed an EO last week, expanding AI education for America’s youth and workforce. Piling on this concept were the CEOs of America’s captains of industry who stated how computer science and AI need to be prioritized. The good news is students are already AI Natives who are pushing the AI innovation curve in almost unimaginable ways.

8. School districts say losing E-rate would have ‘catastrophic’ impact | K-12 Dive

   E-rate (a.k.a. The Schools and Libraries Universal Services and Support Fund) is a cornerstone for schools having affordable Internet and broadband access. Somewhat remarkably, 93% of schools have Internet access—how in the world can we have schools in the United States of America in 2025 without Internet access? In 1996 when E-rate was established, 65% of schools had Internet availability, but that was 30 years ago and the Internet was pretty new. As with a lot of comms during the early days of Trump 2.0, people fear for the worst, but the reality is nobody wants schools to be less connected.

9. College Uncovered: The Student Trade Wars | The Hechinger Report

   With an impending “demographic cliff” and decreasing government funding for US universities, international students are more important than ever. Last year, over 1.1 million international students were in US colleges and universities. The Trump Administration’s perceived hostility to foreigners, tariff talks, and trade wars have international students thinking twice about going to school here. The Chinese government has told its 277K students in U.S. universities to think three times.

10. 🎙️ Ep. 44 · Live Data CEO Scott Hamilton | Ed on the Edge | Dash Media

    Going back to the times of Plato, the few that had the privilege of knowledge were not in favor of expanding that access through the written word. Over 1,700 years later, when the Gutenberg printing press came about, the aristocrats who benefitted from their knowledge arbitrage through their exclusive, bespoke access to books and information, weren’t in favor of the invention. Today, the knowledge arbitrage that has benefitted few at the expense of many, is about to be disrupted off the face of the earth through AI. Introducing the concept of “The Data Grid”…enjoy my conversation with Live Data CEO Scott Hamilton.

    Subscribe now

Share

Subscribe now

Share

The Big 10:

1. Qatar and China Are Pouring Billions Into Elite American Universities | The Free Press

   Varsity Blues was bad. As former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said, those people were born on third and thought they could steal home. We’re sure the $29 billion that came from foreign sources to universities from 2021-2024 was just to give a nod of the hat to the great academic work that was being done. Or, perhaps, not-so-subtle bribes to buy influence, access, and credibility.

2. ☀️EP. 5 · Diana Diaz-Harrison: Founder & CEO, Arizona Autism Charter Schools | Edreform in 10

   I had the opportunity to interview Diana Diaz-Harrison in conjunction with Secretary McMahon’s visit to her Arizona Autism Charter School. Faced with having an autistic son and poor options with which to educate him, she did what any great entrepreneur would do and started her own school. Today, Arizona Autism Charter Schools serves over 800 students. Good news for other families with children with special kids, Diana is joining the Trump administration as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Special Education, a position that puts her in charge of guiding policy for the >7 million US students with special needs.

3. Learning at the Speed of Light: A Conversation with Michael Moe | Educate AI

   Yours truly discussing how people will have the opportunity to learn at the speed of light. I covered how AI enables this as well as the challenges it provides. To learn more, you’ve got to read the article!

4. Joe Lonsdale on AI in Education | Modern Wisdom by

   Chris Williamson hosted my friend and one of the world’s great thinkers, Joe Lonsdale, on his uber-popular podcast this week (check out Joe’s episode of Ed on the Edge here). Joe is truly a renaissance man—a world class entrepreneur, technologist, strategist, policy architect—and yes, even chess champion. Listen to the UATX cofounder’s thoughts on education…spoiler alert: he points to personalized learning, including includes specialized areas of study, how they’re studied, and the settings in which students study them. Not surprisingly, Alpha School is highlighted as a case study of disruption.

5. UAE’s new AI Academy to shape tech leaders | Dubai Eye

   The UAE has been way out in front when it comes to investing in AI. Look no further than G42, with its 25,000 employees focused on developing and deploying AI technologies across the nation’s economy. Our friend Sheikh Nahyan oversaw the launching of its AI academy for executives, government officials, and other leaders. The initiative is meant to position the UAE as a global hub for AI innovation and excellence.

6. How TIME and Statista Determined the World’s Top EdTech Companies of 2025 | TIME

   One of these things must be true: there are too few great education technology companies, or TIME didn’t do their homework.

   BYJU’s: bankrupt.

   2U: bankrupt.

   Pluralsight: bankrupt

   There are several other companies on the list whose rankings are hard to fathom. We see the value of lists, but unfortunately this one fell short. Check out the GSV 150 here.

7. ADVANCING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE EDUCATION FOR AMERICAN YOUTH | The White House

   Just under the wire of the first 100 days, President Trump put out an executive order, titled “Advancing artificial intelligence education for American youth.” While students are already AI Natives compared to their AI-Immigrant teachers and parents, prioritizing AI expertise strikes us as good policy.

8. Duolingo is going to be AI-first | Luis Von Ahn

   Luis is not messing around. Going forward at Duolingo, all processes that can be done by AI will be done by AI – from small tasks to full-blown roles. There are plenty of naysayers responding to this memo, claiming that they will be deleting their accounts in protest. Practically speaking, I guess these people will abandon all modern technology products that they’ve come to depend on and love...all serious companies will be taking this approach to AI in short order. This reminds us a bit of the people who said they were leaving America after the 2016 election…the only one I can think of who followed through with their threat is Rosie O’Donnell.

9. The Birth of the Data Grid | Dash Media /

   Knowledge arbitrage is dying. Just as the power grid removed friction from energy consumption, the data grid will streamline the utilization of data. When everyone ends up with the same tool kit with all the world’s perfect information universally available, the question becomes how to use it. The “knowledge explorers” of the future will be the ones who capture the bounty of this new world.

10. "Machines Will Not Take Our Sovereignty" · 🎙️ Ep. 43 · Minerva Founder & CEO Ben Nelson | Ed on the Edge

    Ben has been out front in envisioning how people will learn more effectively in the future through a global lens. As a seasoned and successful technology executive and pioneer, he understands both the power and the limitations of technology. Fortunately, we can take a collective breath—Ben isn’t in the camp that believes we’ll all end up working for machines.

    BONUS: TheLinkU and Morgan Stanley Global Sports & Entertainment Launch Custom Financial Education Program for College Athletes | Yahoo! Finance + ASU launches SPORTx, a new initiative to unite sports and entrepreneurship | ASU News

    We’ve been ahead of this trend for a while…(see here, here, here, and here)

    but the drum beat is getting louder, and the message is crystal clear. College sports & cash have collided, and while what will come out of it is TBD, we know it certainly will be unrecognizable from the past.

    Subscribe now

    Share

GSV’s weekly insights on the global growth economy. Join our community of entrepreneurs, investors, executives, educators, and students getting a window to the future by subscribing here:

Subscribe now

EIEIO…Fast Facts

Entrepreneurship: $78.9 billion – Global late-stage venture dollar volume in Q1 2025, up from $27.8 billion in Q1 2024. (Crunchbase News)

Innovation: $50 billion – The amount that major Swiss pharmaceutical player Roche is investing in the U.S. over the next five years, creating more than 12,000 new jobs in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Massachusetts and California. (Linkedin News)

Education: $60 billion – The amount in federal funding American universities spent in 2023, >30x what they spent in 1952, accounting for inflation. (New York Times)

Impact: 60% – The percentage of general admission ticket buyers at Coachella who used Buy-Now-Pay-Later to finance their tickets. (Unusual Whales)

Opportunity: 0 – The number of Chipotle (“Mexican Grill”) locations in Mexico. The company announced it plans to expand into the country in 2026. (Sherwood)

Subscribe now

Share

“Necessity is the mother of invention.” – Plato

“The big joke in the college world is NIL stands for ‘Now It’s Legal.’” – Chris Petersen

“You may hate gravity but gravity doesn’t care.” – Clayton Christensen

On Thursday night, 13.6 million people watched the NFL Draft from Green Bay, Wisconsin…not the Super Bowl, the draft.

For comparison purposes, that’s more than double the number of people who watch 60 minutes and 4x the number who tune in to Fox News—the top watched cable channel.

While the twice-transferred QB Cam Ward was the top pick to the Tennessee Titans (along with a $50 million, four-year contract), the story of the night was the snubbing of Shedeur Sanders, who wouldn’t be selected until the fifth round by Cleveland.

Conspiracy theories aside, what’s instructive to us isn’t whether the chip on Prime Time Jr.’s shoulder will translate into a Hall of Fame career, but how upside down college football has become and the implications for higher education.

As the 144th player selected, and the sixth quarterback, Sanders’ NFL contract will be about $4.5 million over four years (just over $1 million a year) which includes a $450K signing bonus. This is actually a huge pay cut from the $6.5 million he made last year as the Colorado Buffaloes starting quarterback. His Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals with Nike, Gatorade and Beats by Dre, and of course the Colorado booster “collective” (5430 Alliance) were the source of his outsized collegiate income.

The combination of NIL and the transfer portal has completely changed the game for college football. In Division 1 Football this year, of the 11,000 scholarship players, 3,200 are in the transfer portal.

The most famous player in the transfer portal right now is former Tennessee Quarterback Nico Iamaleava who was “holding out” to get his collective deal upped from $2 million per year to $4 million, and he also wanted to change the offense the Volunteers ran to make it more about him. Tennessee Head Coach Josh Heupel told him to pound sand. Go Vols!

The concept of the student athlete has been blown up, with the victim really being the player. Of the 80,000 college football players, .2% will get an opportunity to play professional football. Thus, losing credits with each transfer, taking all online classes with sole goal of staying eligible, not developing a relationship with the broader university community (students, faculty, alumni, and businesses) is a huge missed opportunity for the vast, vast majority of the college players.

Sadly enough, the college football players who don’t make the NFL might actually be the lucky ones. To wit, the average NFL career is 3.5 years with 78% of former professional players going bankrupt or becoming financially distressed within two years of retirement.

Sports, and football in particular, have become a marketing strategy for many large schools (analogous to Emirates sponsoring Manchester United), which historically had negative cost associated with it. Scholarships cost X, coaches salaries cost Y, and other expenses were Z, BUT the direct revenue from tickets sales and TV was several times greater. Not to mention the multiplier of alumni donations and increased applications accompanying a winning TEAM.

For example, the direct revenue for an average Big 10 athletic department was $177 million and for the SEC, $122 million. Texas A&M’s revenue alone was $280 million and Ohio State was $251 million (Prediction: the BIG 10 and the SEC merge to form a “Super Conference” that will be private equity-backed). As evidence of how dominant those two conferences are, 58% of this years draft came from the SEC and Big 10.

In the good old days, the surplus money could be directed back to the school to fund other academic programs and facilities, in the New World it’s going to look increasingly like a revenue share.

This shift alone in college sports would be difficult enough for many universities navigate but it’s just one of the mega forces impacting the traditional college structure.

Peyton Manning, a former winner of the Campbell Trophy (a.k.a. “the Academic Heisman”), famously hollered out “Omaha! Omaha!” at the line of scrimmage when he wanted to audible to another play based what he saw going on in the field. Sometimes it was to avoid a disaster, sometimes it was to take advantage of what the other team doing.

In higher education today, both peril and potential exist for the future of sports and the student athlete.

Next week, we’ll write about the major forces at work disrupting the traditional university model.

Market Performance

Market Commentary

A relief rally lifted stocks significantly higher last week as Tariff War fears and Fed firing fears subsided. NASDAQ roared 6.7% for the week, followed by the S&P 500 rising 4.6% and the Dow advancing 2.5%.

Since the April 9th bottom, the S&P is up 10%, but is still 10% down from its high on February 19th. Between April 20th and May 2nd, 60% of the S&P will have reported earnings. So far, 75% of companies have beat analyst estimates which is about normal.

As the S&P 500 and Nasdaq faced the pressures of a bear market, with major Magnificent Seven stocks like Nvidia, Alphabet, and Tesla experiencing sell-offs, Wall Street redirected investments toward more traditional sectors.

However, last week marked a return to the tech-focused Nasdaq, as growth stocks began to recover. The upcoming earnings reports from tech giants Meta, Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon.com are expected to provide a clearer signal on whether it's time to confidently re-enter the Big Tech arena.

While we are long term BULLISH on growth stocks, we do expect continued volatility which we view as an opportunity investors with longer time horizons to own high quality companies that go on “SALE”.

Need to Know

WATCH: 🎙️ Ep. 42 · OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar | Ed on the Edge | Dash Media

READ: AI Horseless Carriages | Pete Koomen

LISTEN: OpenAI’s $3BN Acquisition of Windsurf: The Breakdown | Are Endowments F*****? | 20VC

GSV’s Four I’s of Investor Sentiment

GSV tracks four primary indicators of investor sentiment: inflows and outflows of mutual funds and ETFs, IPO activity, interest rates, and inflation.

#1: Inflows and Outflows for Mutual Funds & ETFs

#2: IPO Market

#3: Interest Rates

#4: Inflation

Charts of the Week

Maggie Moe’s GSV Weekly Rap

Chuckles of the Week

FEEDBACK: We love it when our readers engage with us. Send your thoughts, comments, and feedback to dashmediagsv@gmail.com – we read every email!

Connecting the Dots & EIEIO…

Old MacDonald had a farm, EIEIO. New MacDonald has a Startup…EIEIO: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Education, Impact and Opportunity. Accordingly, we focus on these key areas of the future.

One of the core goals of GSV is to connect the dots around EIEIO and provide perspective on where things are going and why. If you like this, please forward to your friends. Onward!

Make Your Dash Count!

-MM

Share

Subscribe now

Subscribe now

Share

The Big 10:

1. A South Carolina college faces closure after nearly two centuries — unless it scrounges up $6 million by April deadline | New York Post

   Demographics, psychographics, and ethnographics all have contributed to an acceleration of college closures. With 50 colleges shutting their doors in 2024, that’s about double the average level of the past couple decades. The concept of the “reverse college fair” where other universities come onto the campus of the terminal institution might become increasingly common.

2. Exclusive 🦉 “Education Super App” — Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn announces next product on TBOY | The Best One Yet Podcast

   We’ve always been simpatico with Luis Von Ahn’s vision for learning. We love businesses that are addictive and don’t cause cancer which clearly Duolingo has achieved with 40 million daily active users. Making learning fun is the only way people will do it every day. Next up for Duolingo….chess!

3. College grads say they are confident about jobs but cautious about economy | Higher Ed Dive

   Despite the inescapable hysteria that the World’s going to Hell in a hand basket, 87% of upcoming college graduates are confident about getting a job. Troubling, more than half of these graduates will likely get a job that doesn’t require their expensive degree. With the half life of skills shrinking from 30 years in 1980 to 5 years today, college graduation is just an intermediate step on a lifelong learning journey.

4. Can Elite Higher Education Reform Itself? | AEI

   The issues that exist with Elite Higher Education have been brewing for many years with the Trump Administration a catalyst to force a conversation. Patient heal thyself would be wonderful albeit not realistic but burning down 400 year old institutions isn’t the answer either. You get better or you get worse, but you don’t stay the same.

5. Meeting the moment: A response to Robert Pondiscio’s essay on AFT’s "American Educator" | Thomas B. Fordham Institute

   Randi Weingarten is a fighter with a prominent voice in the education ecosystem. Whether I agree or disagree with what she says, for us to improve our education system, we need 360 degrees of perspective. For 49 years, the AFT’s motto has been “Education for Democracy and Democracy in Education” which is a great place to start.

6. Trump Admin to Harvard: Where Is Your Antisemitism Report? | The Free Press

   Despite it being over 1.5 years after it was created, the Harvard Anti-Semitism task force has only produced a preliminary report on what it’s doing to address anti-semitism on campus. President of Harvard Alan Garber has said Harvard won’t comply with the Trump Administrations demands, the Trump Administration has responded by withholding $2.2 billion of funds and starting process of revoking Harvard’s tax exempt status. My Spidey Sense tells me that as powerful as Harvard is, change is a coming.

7. Assessing the Role of Intelligent Tutors in K-12 Education | Stanford HAI

   The real point of this article is the study Stanford did with Carnegie Learning and the War Child Alliance to correlate short term inputs with long term student outcomes. Key is the study found that with as little as two hours of student interaction, researchers could determine learning trajectory. So, versus the traditional get the data after the fact when it’s too late to do anything about it, there is the opportunity to intervene when it can make a difference.

8. Socialists Seek Control of New York Schools | WSJ

   It’s hard to believe anyone wants to emulate the performance of Chicago Public Schools, but that’s the warning from the WSJ’s editorial to leaders in NYC. To remind readers, less than one third of students in Chicago are proficient in reading and there are 32 schools where there isn’t ONE proficient student. One symptom of the dis-functionality is that 40% of the “students” in Chicago Public Schools are absent…pretty tough to learn if you aren’t even in class.

9. Ohio’s School Choice Success Story | WSJ

   School Choice is on a roll benefiting from public support and compelling student achievement data. Texas opening up choice for 1 million students is the biggest win yet, and while the entrenched status quo says “give us more time and more money” the American Public has said, “250 years is long enough, we need change NOW.”

10. 🎙️ Ep. 42 · OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar | Ed on the Edge | Dash Media

    Sarah Friar has had a remarkable career as an influential Wall Street research analyst, a public company CEO at NextDoor and now the CFO of arguably the largest education company in the World—OpenAI. Please enjoy the interview I did with her at the 16th Annual ASU GSV Summit earlier this month.

    Subscribe now

    Share

    
    

Subscribe now

The Big 10:

1. The NAEP Test ‘Absolutely’ Needs to Stay, Linda McMahon Says. The Education Department? Not So Much | The 74

   Secretary of Education Linda McMahon spoke to a full house at the ASU+GSV Summit in San Diego last week calming some nerves of people who have feared the worst. The reality is that there aren’t many people in America who don’t believe quality education for all isn’t a priority. But the reality is that parents see studies showing this generation will be less educated than themselves. Businesses can’t employ students coming out of our schools—not even 50% of the graduates are proficient in math or reading. Politicians see that school choice is favored by 75% of adults. Against that, you have the entrenched status quo saying, “Give us more time and more money.” The good news is the American public has said, “250 years is long enough, we need change today.”

2. ☀️EP. 3 · U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon | Edreform in 10

Excellent interview between CEO of the Center for Education Reform and Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. Straight talking and to the point, Secretary McMahon hits on a bunch of the myths that have been attributed to her and the administration. Whether for keeping the DOE or abolishing it, the one thing for sure is we need something far better and different than status quo.

3. 3 takeaways on higher education innovation from the ASU+GSV Summit | Higher Ed Dive

   OK…I’m as tired of the phrase “a crisis is a terrible thing to waste” as you are…but that does sum up the situation and the opportunity. In the past 12 years, graduates thinking college was a good investment has fallen from over 90% to 43%. For students who graduate with debt, the satisfaction drops to 22%. Moreover, just 52% of recent college graduates are in a job that requires a degree. Time to reimagine the future.

4. Democratic state AGs sue to restore COVID-related programs for K-12 students | Reuters

   They want their money. AG’s in Democrat-led states sued the Trump Administration for the $1.1 billion of funds associated with the long term effects of Covid in K-12 schools. On one hand, it seems unfair when states had been committed the funding (through March of 2026) to have that taken away. On the other hand, considering the vast amounts of money spent on things that didn’t help kids—or weren’t even spent on kids—it might be reasonable to scrutinize more closely before allocating another billion. To use another overused cliche, the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over and expect a different result.

5. The Feds Want to Cement Change at Columbia With a Consent Decree. How Would That Work? | The Chronicle of Higher Education

   The writing was on the wall, but too many people who should have read it never did. It’s never fun to be made an example of, and being in the heart of the media capital of the world only puts a bigger spotlight on it. Columbia is a great school, so hopefully, it will learn from this tough stretch it’s going through and come out better for it.

6. Dallas-Based UpSmith Launches AI Tool for Skilled Trades | Dallas Innovates

   Winners find a way to win and the founder of Upsmith Wyatt Smith is somebody I’d bet on to do anything. You don’t naturally think of AI being an integral part of the plumbing or HVAC industry because it hasn’t been…but it will be…as AI is going to be involved in everything. Upsmith has developed Jenny AI to help skill organizations compete and drive revenue.

7. OpenAI and Anthropic are fighting over college students with free AI | The Verge

   Not a shock, but most intense battleground for the AI Revolution is on college campuses. Arguably, OpenAI is already the largest education company in the world but its position is under attack on many fronts including by Anthropic’s Claude. College students are already AI Natives while there professors are AI Immigrants—and that’s where part of the fun begins.

8. Looking for career growth? These 50 employers offer upskilling, AI literacy, and more—and they’re all hiring | Fast Company

   The ability to obtain, train and retrain employees has always been important, but now it’s the lifeblood of every business. Fast Company’s list for what companies do the best job of investing in their employees has the familiar names of Alphabet, Amazon and Well Fargo on top. Interesting to note, the top 50 companies on the list have 129,000 open jobs right now.

9. In Elementary School, Many Teachers Have a Shaky Grasp of Math. Can Preparation Programs Change That? | EdSurge

   It’s tough to teach math if you aren’t proficient in it yourself. Compounding that issue, only 1 in 8 teachers have enough time to adequately prepare to teach math content for their students. It used to be if you couldn’t read, it was pretty hard to learn anything…in today’s world, if you don’t have solid math skills, you are going to get left behind.

10. Texas looks set to pass America’s biggest school-voucher scheme | The Economist

    I used to love the Economist. If there was one newspaper or magazine I would read that would be it. Smart, balanced and forward looking, it was the best. This article about school choice in Texas mislabels the legislation (it’s about giving school choice for the 6 million kids in K-12 in the Lone Star State), misrepresents the success of charters, and doesn’t reflect either how poorly traditional public schools have done for children nor how an overwhelming majority of the public supports school choice.

    Subscribe now

    Share

Subscribe now

EIEIO…Fast Facts

Entrepreneurship: 42% – The percentage of all business owners who have never attended college. (Flippa)

Innovation: 55% – The percentage of Germans who would support the government introducing a universal basic income, compared to just 29% of Danes. (YouGov)

Education: 93% – The percentage of college students who are satisfied with virtual learning. (BestColleges)

Impact: 8.9 million – The number of multiple jobholders in the US. At 5.4% of all employed workers it’s the highest level since April 2009. (Sherwood)

Opportunity: $116,633 – What Americans need to earn per year to afford the median priced home for sale, 81.8% more than the $64,160 they need to afford the typical apartment for rent. (Daily Chartbook)

Subscribe now

Share

🎥 Watch my keynote here:

Market Performance

Market Commentary

Tarrific or Tarrible, the markets had their best week since November 2023 and Wednesday, was the second best day ever with NASDAQ rising a whopping 12%.
For the week, NASDAQ advanced 7.3%, the S & P 500 was up 5.7% and the Dow increased 5.0%. For the year, NASDAQ is down 13.3% the S&P 500 is off 8.8%.

Additionally, the 10-year treasury yield rose 50 basis points last week to 4.49% its biggest one week gain since November 2001. The 10-year note’s jump reflected the extreme anxiousness in the markets, opposite of the fact CPI came in at -.1% for March.

Of course, the 90-day pause on tariffs destined for every country on earth save China was the catalyst for the huge upward move in stocks. The bond market spoke and the White House listened.

Moreover, Gold prices surged 6% to over $3200 an ounce and many gold related stocks reached all time highs. The dollar, historically a safe haven in moments of chaos took it on the chin as investors questioned the stability of Washington.

Warning bells went off last week by JP Morgan’s CEO Jamie Dimon and Blackrock’s CEO Larry Fink that we are teetering on the brink of a recession. It’s now the beginning of earnings season which will be instructive on the actual health of the economy.

Clearly, we have gone through a significant correction with uncertainty and volatility at cautionary levels. While we haven’t appreciated the style of how things have happened under the new administration, we do believe the overall substance will pay large dividends down the road.

Eliminating wasteful administrative cost in government, having fair relationships with our trading partners and making sure our citizens are safe and secure shouldn’t be controversial. We hope that as we move forward, communication and collaboration improves so we can be truly the United States of America.

Accordingly, long term investors can look at the significant “sale” that’s taken place in many leading companies as opportunity to buy “swimsuits in January.” Investors with a shorter term horizon should prepare for a bumpy road while we are going through some road repair.

Need to Know

WATCH: ☀️ EP. 3· U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon | Edreform in 10

READ: The Third Workforce: From Analog Labor to Agentic Labor | Digital Native

LISTEN: The Great Tariff Debate with David Sacks, Larry Summers, and Ezra Klein | All In

GSV’s Four I’s of Investor Sentiment

GSV tracks four primary indicators of investor sentiment: inflows and outflows of mutual funds and ETFs, IPO activity, interest rates, and inflation.

#1: Inflows and Outflows for Mutual Funds & ETFs

#2: IPO Market

#3: Interest Rates

#4: Inflation

Chart of the Week

Maggie Moe’s GSV Weekly Rap

Chuckles of the Week

FEEDBACK: We love it when our readers engage with us. Send your thoughts, comments, and feedback to dashmediagsv@gmail.com – we read every email!

Connecting the Dots & EIEIO…

Old MacDonald had a farm, EIEIO. New MacDonald has a Startup…EIEIO: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Education, Impact and Opportunity. Accordingly, we focus on these key areas of the future.

One of the core goals of GSV is to connect the dots around EIEIO and provide perspective on where things are going and why. If you like this, please forward to your friends. Onward!

Make Your Dash Count!

-MM

Share

Subscribe now

Subscribe now

EIEIO…Fast Facts

Entrepreneurship: Nearly 1 in 3 – The portion of U.S. workers who are considering quitting their full-time jobs to pursue a side hustle. (Forbes)

Innovation: 68,656 – The number of records from the National Archives’ JFK Assassination Records Collection reviewed by Hebbia's Matrix product to pull evidence for and against conspiracy theories. (Hebbia)

Education: $200,000 - The annual family income below which Harvard will now provide free tuition to students. (AP)

Impact: $1.2 billion – The upfront payment Chicago received in 2008 for leasing its parking meters to private UAE-based investors, a deal that forfeits ~$150 million/year in parking revenue until 2083. Chicago currently faces a nearly $1 billion budget deficit. (The TRiiBE)

Opportunity: 56% – The percentage of U.S. engineers with Ph.D.s who were born abroad (Harper’s)

Subscribe now

Share

”I feel the need. The need for speed.” — Maverick from Top Gun

“Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot and anybody driving faster is a maniac?” — George Carlin

“Nothing travels faster than the speed of light with the possible exception of bad news, which obeys its own special laws.” – Douglas Adams

Last Tuesday, America celebrated as stranded NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore safely splashed into the Florida Gulf following a nearly ten month extended stay in space. Unlike the S.S. Minnow whose “3 hour tour” turned into six seasons of Gilligan’s escapades along with his castaways due to a storm, Boeing’s Starliner problems were due to mechanical (man made) issues.

Humans have dreamed of going to space for centuries and it’s been part of mythology and literature such as Daedalus and Icarus. StarTrek and Star Wars inspired generations “To boldly go where no man has gone before”.

It wasn’t until rocket technology was able to develop powerful enough engines that could overcome Earth’s gravity that space travel became more than a figment of fantasizers’ imagination.

In other words, scientists needed to figure out a way to make rockets go faster.

The Starliner traveled at top speed of 17,500 mph. Comparatively, the fastest manned plane ever was the North American X-15 which was able to travel at Mach 6.7 or 4,520 mph. (In Top Gun Maverick, Tom Cruise got his plane up Mach 10.2 or about 7,680 mph which I chose to believe happened but experts say that would surely kill a person).

The need for speed has been true in almost every endeavor where throughout human history—nobody has ever demanded slower.

The fastest thing in the universe is the speed of light which is 671 million miles per hour. That’s nearly one million times faster than the speed of sound.

It takes light approximately 12 minutes to go from Earth to Mars. Today, the fastest a rocket can make it to Mars is 7 months. Elon is hoping with more advanced nuclear rocket propulsion, SpaceX can reduce it to as little as 80 days.

Cheetahs reach 75 mph when chasing dinner. Falcons can dive at over 200 mph when they spots their prey.

Elephants are 10-20x stronger than humans. An unarmed human stands virtually no chance of surviving a confrontation with a tiger.

We are amazed how smart chimpanzees and dolphins are but it’s estimated their IQ is around 25…about 1/4 the smarts of an average human.

Humans have become masters of the universe (as we know it) not because they are stronger, faster or more athletic than anything else, but because humans are smarter.

It’s an overused comparison but it’s still worth noting that the cell phone in your pocket is more powerful than the computers that first landed astronauts on the Moon 56 years ago. In fact, with the “brains” of the computer doubling every couple years, computing power is 1 trillion times greater today than it was in 1966 when Gordon Moore first made his prediction.

If Moore’s Law just continues for the next 10 years, computing power will increase 40X by 2035 (As an aside, it seems pretty crazy that 100% of the brains of the computer are manufactured 80 miles off the Chinese coast).

As we’ve noted in the past, we’re already at the point where technology is replacing the technologist. Artificial intelligence is going to disrupt every aspect of business as we know it.

A pessimist would say, “We are done, we are about to be conquered by the new king of the jungle: AI. Unemployment is going to skyrocket like it did in the Great Depression with at least 25% of the workforce wiped out. Thank God for Universal Basic Income because otherwise, we will all be starving with AI being our new masters.”

That’s one scenario.

My view is we are entering the most exciting time of human history with innovation and entrepreneurship accelerating at an unimaginable pace.

The AI Revolution is going to create a “time dividend” that individuals, enterprises and governments can use to advance humankind to new heights. “Multiplication by Division” will take Adam Smith’s concept of division of labor, aligned with “Man and Machine” partnering to create hyper-productivity.

Key to my optimistic vision is that we utilize AI to learn faster, cheaper and better…both changing the trajectory of acquiring knowledge and increase the access to it. To the cynics who say my optimistic view isn’t realistic, I say neither was putting people in space.

Moreover, the human spirit seeks purpose which comes from education and meaning through work. People rise to the occasion and opportunity.

Superman was faster than a speeding bullet, stronger than a locomotive, and could leap tall buildings in a single bound. We are about to enter the era of super humans which will be driven by learning at the speed of light, piggybacking off the magic of artificial intelligence, and realizing one’s God given potential.

Market Performance

Market Commentary

After four weeks of negative performance, stocks moved higher as the Fed left rates unchanged.

For the week, the Dow advanced 1.2%, the S&P 500 was up .5% and NASDAQ inched .2% higher. YTD, NASDAQ is down nearly 8%. Gold, the refuge in times of turmoil, rose above $3,000 for the first time in history.

It’s interesting but not surprising, the anchor on the market was the propellant over the past couple years…A.K.A…large cap tech…A.A.K.A…the “Magnificent 7”. Since January 1st, NVIDIA is off 12%, Google is down 13%, Microsoft has declined 7%, Amazon is down 10%, Apple is off 13%, and TESLA has collapsed—down nearly 40%. Only META is up for the year but just barely having increased its share price 2%. That’s a lot of market cap weighing down the market cap-weighted NASDAQ and S&P 500.

The battle front in the AI Revolution is focused on the AI Assistant with the major armies being built by OpenAI’s ChatGPT, xAI’s Grok, DeepSeek, Anthropic’s Claude, Google’s Gemini, Perplexity, and META’s Llama. Palantir (which is up 20% in 2025 after advancing 340% last year) Snowflake (which is flat YTD) and Databricks are helping companies with using their proprietary data and to build their own AI models.

While TESLA has suffered from consumers’ and countries’ protests of Elon’s DOGE activities, Chinese leading electronic car maker BYD hit new highs last week announcing that its cars can now be fully charged in 5 minutes. Another Chinese technology company XIAOMI (best known for making smartphones) now earns nearly 10% of its revenues from electric cars.

Private equity continues to find its way into sports with the San Francisco Giants selling 10% of the franchise to Sixth Street and the Boston Celtics being sold to group led by Bill Chisholm of Symphony Technologies but also included Sixth Street. The private equity + college sports tidal wave is coming.

In its biggest acquisition ever, Google announced it’s purchase of cyber security Wiz for $32 billion. Notably, two of Wiz’s big customers include Google Cloud rivals Azure and AWS. We are also closely following the expected IPO of NVIDIA-backed CoreWeave which rents NVIDIA GPU-equipped servers. Showing some investor hesitation, expected proceeds have gone from $4 billion to $2.5 billion.

We have been on BULL run for over 2.5 years, so the recent softness in the market is natural and healthy. Long term growth investors should view declines in leading companies as an opportunity to be able to BUY quality on “SALE”. How long we’ll be in a dead to down market is anybody’s guess. Signals we will look for include an emergence of new market leaders along with an IPO market that is robust with strong aftermarket performance.

Need to Know

WATCH: Inside the AI lab revolutionizing smell | ft. Alex Wiltschko

READ: The Implications of the Wiz/Google Deal | Tomasz Tunguz

LISTEN: E82: Fundraising in Bear Markets: How Nichole Wischoff Closed $50M | Turpentine VC

GSV’s Four I’s of Investor Sentiment

GSV tracks four primary indicators of investor sentiment: inflows and outflows of mutual funds and ETFs, IPO activity, interest rates, and inflation.

#1: Inflows and Outflows for Mutual Funds & ETFs

#2: IPO Market

#3: Interest Rates

#4: Inflation

Chart of the Week

Maggie Moe’s GSV Weekly Rap

Chuckles of the Week

FEEDBACK: We love it when our readers engage with us. Send your thoughts, comments, and feedback to dashmediagsv@gmail.com – we read every email!

Connecting the Dots & EIEIO…

Old MacDonald had a farm, EIEIO. New MacDonald has a Startup…EIEIO: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Education, Impact and Opportunity. Accordingly, we focus on these key areas of the future.

One of the core goals of GSV is to connect the dots around EIEIO and provide perspective on where things are going and why. If you like this, please forward to your friends. Onward!

Make Your Dash Count!

-MM

Share

Subscribe now

The future of learning isn’t coming—it’s already here. Education as we know it is over—replaced by seamless, omnipresent learning at light speed. At ASU+GSV 2025, we’ll explore how this transformation creates a time dividend, bending what’s possible for individuals and society. Register now and explore Learning at the Speed of Light.

Subscribe now

Chart of the Week

The Big 10:

1. Breaking: Historic Eve for Education in America | Forza…For Education

   Whether we should have a Department of Education or abolish it, there is one thing for sure, status quo wasn’t working. Moreover, while I was in the camp of keeping—but radically changing—the department, despite all of talk of Armageddon, it seems unlikely that the funding for key programs will be unchanged. It’s been over 40 years since a Nation at Risk was written and we are in worse shape today, despite spending zillions.

2. Western Governors University Joins Open edX as a Mission-Aligned Organization | Campus Technology

   We are fans of WGU and are interested in how they continue to push its mission of providing high quality, low-cost education at scale. The newly christened “Mission Aligned Organization” is slight twist on institutional partnerships where 1 + 1 =11. Axim Collaborative is the learning platform formerly known as EdX and Open edX is the marketplace name.

3. The Upstart 'Classic Learning Test' Gets a Testy Welcome From the SAT | RealClear Investigations

   Funny how duopolies don’t like others to get in the game...would that be a “triopoly”? The Classic Learning Test has some mojo, increasing the number of tests administrated last year 7x to 182,000. That’s still less than 10% of the College Board’s SAT exam, but it’s clearly tapping into something. Our view is that competition makes everybody better, with the price and quality benefitting the customer.

4. How Alabama students went from last place to rising stars in math | NPR

   Alabama is a leading light in education innovation. I’m going to say that again, Alabama is leading light in education innovation. In another example of the impressive progress that’s being made in the Cotton State, elementary students in DeKalb have gone from worst to first through invisible learning…using physical objects such as toy bears and tiles to learn math. Roll Tide!

5. Why Parents of ‘Twice-Exceptional’ Children Choose Homeschool Over Public School | The 74 Million

   It used to be that the tiny number of students who were home schooled came from hyper-religious families. Today, over 5% of K-12 population (3 million students) is home schooled. The #1 reason for choosing home school is the concern about the traditional public school “environment”. Moreover, bucking the stereotypes, 50% of the students are non-white and families are split between Republicans and Democrats.

6. More Than Half of College Students Struggle to Access Basic Needs | Whiteboard Advisors

   Turns out Maslow was right…tough to do much else if you are worried about food, shelter and water. Amazingly, and alarmingly, in the United States of America, 41% of college students are food deprived. 48% lack adequate shelter. Also impacting students is the mental health epidemic that is devastating our education system.

7. March Madness ads sold out “earlier than it has historically.” Did NIL influencer deals play a part? | Tubefilter

   You know you’ve got a great product when supply induces demand. Sports is the top category for advertisers with this year’s Super Bowl getting $8 million for each 30 second spot. Rather than saturate the market with too much inventory amplified by the frenzy of NIL, it has in fact stimulated even more interest.

8. SXSW EDU 2025 Brought More Steak Than Sizzle | Edtech Insiders

   We’ve always enjoyed SXSW for mix of folks and the fun of Austin. We will miss Ron Reed who retired last year and remember fondly the collaboration we had between SWSX and the ASU+GSV Summit. Hosted in the great state of Texas, it’s fitting this year’s event was about the steak.

9. The Fake False Dilemmas of Early Parenting | The Dispatch

   “Moneyballing Motherhood” is a new theme of ours which hits on using data to help parents make parenting decisions versus simply relying on wives tales or what your parents did. Professor and podcaster Emily Oster is the leading voice on this trend. Come see her speak at the ASU GSV Summit April 5th-9th in San Diego!

10. 🎙️ Ep 40 · Shai Reshef: President, University of the People | Ed on the Edge | Dash Media

    Shai is the founder of a university that provides free college to over 150,000 students and a recipient of the “Nobel Prize” for education.

    Subscribe now

    Share

United States Secretary of Education Linda McMahon will speak at the 2025 ASU+GSV Summit. Click here to register.

GSV’s weekly insights on the global growth economy. Join our community of entrepreneurs, investors, executives, educators, and students getting a window to the future by subscribing here:

Subscribe now

EIEIO…Fast Facts

Entrepreneurship: €10 million - The size of the new Harry Stebbings-led “Project Europe” fund, which will offer $200k checks to 18-25 year old entrepreneurs in Europe. (FT)

Innovation: –33% – The percentage drop in current software developer job listings compared to 2020 levels, marking the lowest point in five years. This follows a pandemic-driven surge that peaked in August 2022 at +93% above 2020 levels. (Visual Capitalist)

Education: 71% – The percentage of parents who think their children love school, compared to 41% of students who report they love school. (FutureEd)

Impact: ~60% – The percentage of all alcohol that is sold and consumed by the top 10% heaviest drinkers in the United States. (Newsweek)

Opportunity: >600 – The number of free online courses offered by Harvard. (Top Universities)

Subscribe now

Share

I spent last week in Thailand, so no EIEIO, but here's something from my last Asian adventure - my keynote from India last month. The topic: Where do BIG companies come from?

Market Performance

Market Commentary

The markets extended their losing streak to four consecutive weeks, with the Dow falling 3.1%, S&P 500 losing 2.3%, and Nasdaq dropping 2.4%. This pullback comes amid significant developments in both traditional and emerging sectors. The AI landscape saw major moves with Microsoft's MAI model development, ServiceNow's proposed $3B Moveworks acquisition, and CoreWeave's strategic partnership with OpenAI. Meanwhile, the crypto sector received a boost from Binance's $2B investment from Abu Dhabi's MGX fund.

On the macro front, inflation data showed signs of moderation, with February CPI rising 0.2% monthly (2.8% YoY) and Core CPI holding at 3.1% YoY. Notable market events included gold breaking $3,000 for the first time, Klarna's U.S. IPO filing, and Goldman Sachs revising their S&P 500 year-end target to 6,200. The upcoming Fed meeting next week is expected to maintain current rates, though market participants remain cautious given ongoing concerns about trade policy, government spending, and growth prospects. The technology sector continues to drive significant deal activity, highlighted by Intel's new CEO appointment and Databricks' strategic partnership with Palantir, suggesting continued innovation despite broader market uncertainty.

Need to Know

WATCH: #1: Sequoia’s Doug Leone: Trauma, Hardship, Purpose, and Silicon Valley’s Top Firm | Divot

READ: This Analysis Cost 27 Cents | Tomasz Tunguz

LISTEN: #89: America’s Crypto Reserve, Nvidia’s $600M Hit & Digg’s Comeback | More or Less

GSV’s Four I’s of Investor Sentiment

GSV tracks four primary indicators of investor sentiment: inflows and outflows of mutual funds and ETFs, IPO activity, interest rates, and inflation.

#1: Inflows and Outflows for Mutual Funds & ETFs

#2: IPO Market

#3: Interest Rates

#4: Inflation

Chart of the Week

Maggie Moe’s GSV Weekly Rap

Chuckle of the Week

FEEDBACK: We love it when our readers engage with us. Send your thoughts, comments, and feedback to dashmediagsv@gmail.com – we read every email!

Connecting the Dots & EIEIO…

Old MacDonald had a farm, EIEIO. New MacDonald has a Startup…EIEIO: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Education, Impact and Opportunity. Accordingly, we focus on these key areas of the future.

One of the core goals of GSV is to connect the dots around EIEIO and provide perspective on where things are going and why. If you like this, please forward to your friends. Onward!

Make Your Dash Count!

-MM

Share

Subscribe now

The future of learning isn’t coming—it’s already here. Education as we know it is over—replaced by seamless, omnipresent learning at light speed. At ASU+GSV 2025, we’ll explore how this transformation creates a time dividend, bending what’s possible for individuals and society. Register now and explore Learning at the Speed of Light.

Chart of the Week

The Big 10:

1. China’s six-year-olds are already being offered AI classes in school in a bid to train the next generation of DeepSeek founders | Fortune

   The AI Revolution is in full swing with China requiring elementary school students at least 8 hours of AI training a year. Given what we had seen and experienced with our own eyes, it struck us as wrong that that USA was light years ahead in the AI race…DeepSeek was a shot across the bow and what China and other governments are doing to get their citizens ready to compete is truly game on.

2. Texas Poised to Pass Universal School Choice | The Daily Economy

   It was bizarre that Texas—being Texas—had not been out front on school choice. More bizarre, the largest obstacle was House Republicans…despite 80% of the Lone Star State Republicans supporting choice. The good news is, with 10% of K-12 students in the country, the $1 billion of funds set aside for 100,000 students gets Texas in the game. The bad news is, it’s only 100,000 students out of 5 million and at $10k per student, it’s far below the $17k per head that “normal” students receive. More bad (but not surprising) news, most of the opponents of the Choice legislation send their own kids to private schools.

3. I Used to Teach Students. Now I Catch ChatGPT Cheats | The Walrus

   Two schools of thought…#1) Winners never cheat and cheaters never win. # 2) If you aren’t cheating, you aren’t trying hard enough. Funny enough, I kind of subscribe to the combination of the two seemingly incongruent maxims. The obsession with how generative AI helps students “cheat” is boring. A certain number of students since the beginning of time have looked for ways to beat the system. If in that process, a student doesn’t learn anything, the person they are hurting most is themselves. AI enables a way to enhance and accelerate learning so a redefinition is required…the goal of learning is to acquire knowledge that can be applied to fulfill ones purpose in life. Cheaper, faster and better is a winning formula allowing us to learn at the speed of light.

4. AI chatbots can cushion the high school counselor shortage — but are they bad for students? | Cal Matters

   25% of high schools in America don’t have an academic counselor. Even in California where the numbers are better, there is still just one counselor for every 464 students. A personal AI mentor can provide a part of a solution to that crushing problem, but the article warns of the shortfalls of having just a mentor in your pocket. As become the mantra in our new drinking game, it’s not “Man vs. Machine, it’s Man and Machine”.

5. The Reading Wars Go to Court | Education Next

   Who could argue with the concept of “Balanced Literacy” save the fact that only 1/3 of 4th grade students in America are proficient in reading. The power of the podcast is evident by Emily Hanford’s “Sold a Story” exposing the obvious truth that one can’t learn to love to read if they can’t read. Here comes the judge and not a moment too soon.

6. How COVID Shaped a Resilient Generation of Kids | Scientific American

   We are all well aware of the many damaging effects of Covid on students. Falling math and reading scores, even more pronounced amongst the most disadvantaged communities. Nearly 50% of students at least one academic year behind grade level versus 36% before the pandemic. Chronic absenteeism and of course an epidemic of social and emotional issues. A small silver lining is studies have shown a resilience that was gained amongst many of the students.

7. 8 out of 10 college students and administrators welcome AI agents | ZD Net

   Welcome to the future…perhaps most surprising is that 20% of students are fighting gravity. The issue isn’t how to outlaw AI agents—that’s not going to happen—but how they can used to have students and administrators be more effective. It’s not about outsourcing ones brain to a bot, but how to accomplish objectives more efficiently to be more productive.

8. Local vocational schools are getting twice as many applicants as they have room for | Telegram

   The beat goes on. The market is speaking and vocational schools are on the rise and traditional college is under attack. The ROI for learning a trade and earning a good wage is compelling for many that historically may have gone to a four-year university. We predict that this accelerating trend will force many high education institutions to rethink their model.

9. Prison labor, an invisible workforce of the U.S. economy | CBS News

   With nearly 2 million people incarcerated in America, there is a huge need to make prisons into “prep schools”. More than just making license plates, the $11 billion prison economy is made up of a variety of goods and services that prisoners are often paid for in “points”. The opportunity to turn skills developed in prison to marketable and legal in the outside world is critical.

10. 🎙️ Ep 39 · Ronnie Screwvala | Ed on the Edge | Dash Media

    Check out this fireside chat between one of India’s top entrepreneurs, philanthropists and Upgrad Chairman Ronnie Screwvala and yours truly at our All Eyes on India event.

Share

Subscribe now

GSV’s weekly insights on the global growth economy. Join our community of entrepreneurs, investors, executives, educators, and students getting a window to the future by subscribing here:

Subscribe now

EIEIO…Fast Facts

Entrepreneurship: >75% – The percentage of vested equity was not exercised before it expired in 2024. (Carta)

Innovation: $1.4 trillion – The total payment volume generated by businesses on Stripe in 2024, the equivalent of 1.3% of global GDP (Patrick Collison)

Education: ~25% – The percentage of undergraduate students who self-censor a few times a week in conversations with their peers and their professors, as well as during classroom discussions. (FIRE)

Impact: >$5 billion – The value of federal grants at Columbia University that are under review by the Trump administration’s Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism. (Higher Ed Dive)

Opportunity: Up to $2 trillion – The amount of value that quantum technology may generate for businesses focused on finance, chemicals, life sciences and mobility by 2035. (McKinsey)

Subscribe now

Share

This “Best of” post was first published in March 2024.

“I don’t set trends. I just find out what they are and exploit them.” – Dick Clark

“I think women are afraid to say they don’t want to have kids because they’re going to get shunned. But I think that’s changing too now. I have more girlfriends who don’t have kids than those that do. And, honestly? We don’t need any more kids. We have plenty of people on the planet.” – Cameron Diaz

“Weather forecast tonight? Dark.” – George Carlin

Many of the great investors are also great demographers. Why? Because there are few clearer clues about what lies ahead.

Society at large, and academia in particular, is up in arms about using artificial intelligence to “cheat”…effectively getting the answer to something without having to do the hard work. Understanding demographics is kind of the same thing, but even better…it tells you the answer to the future.

This week, we’re taking a deep dive into the demographics of Asia, Africa, Southeast Asia, and the US. Each region faces headwinds and tailwinds. Some of these are like a breeze providing wind at our sails, while others are a gale in our face.

In some ways, demographics are the hand you're dealt, but the fate of a country is also the result of a combination of factors…some economic, some political, some cultural, and some psychological.

East Asia…A Cautionary Tale

Asia is shrinking, and it’s self-inflicted.

In Japan, two people die for every one that is born. There were more adult diapers sold in Japan last year than baby diapers.

China is now reporting a >70% drop in the birth rate since 2017. As demographer Peter Zeihan recently pointed out, that’s a faster decline than what was suffered by the Jews in Europe during the Holocaust.

Combine this with China’s rapidly aging population - one that in 2035 will have more people over 60 than the United States has people – and you have yourself a sticky wicket.

This demographic death is amplified by the fact that on the way up (see chart above), there was a credit-fueled construction boom. The incentive was to build, not be population planners.

Let’s just say the demand has not met the supply. China now has enough vacant residences for up to 3 billion people. Entire property developments are abandoned, creating ghost towns that look more like the country’s left-behind stadiums from the 2008 Olympics than the communities they were intended to be.

South Korea just broke its own record for the world’s lowest birth rate - with a minuscule 0.72 births per woman. As a reminder, the magic number to maintain a population (the replacement rate) is 2.1. In the nation’s capital, Seoul, the birth rate is 0.55.

When it comes to birth rate, there is a common theme that is true across the world. When a country industrializes, its birth rate declines. In a rural, agrarian society, kids are economic assets rather than liabilities. As free labor on the farm, parents want as many of them as they can possibly handle. More open spaces and less population density are conducive to households full of children.

Contrast that with industrialization and urbanization. When adults work in factories and live in cramped dwellings, children are no longer cheap “employees”, but they are certainly expenses. The average apartment in Hong Kong is 484 square feet. Its birth rate is 0.77.

The other factor here is that as cities such as Hong Kong became massive, it became harder and harder to raise children. As one Hong Kong resident said, “I didn’t want kids, not that I don’t like them, but I just feel like they would be miserable…or at least not so happy growing up in Hong Kong.”

The factors are both economic and psychological. The cost of raising a first child in China has soared to $76,629, 7x the country’s per capita GDP and over 15x per capita disposable income and far more than in the U.S. or Japan, according to Reuters.

And particularly after China’s handling of Covid, it makes sense why people may be hesitant to bring a child into the world…PTSD from multi-year lockdown and instances of the government welding peoples’ doors shut are still fresh. The sound of screaming voices out of the high rises in Shanghai wasn’t an aphrodisiac.

Meanwhile, as China develops and the population becomes more urban (and childless), there’s more disposable income to spend on a new type of companion…pets.

We’ve had a “Pets are People” theme for a decade with high-end pet products becoming a massive market. As Semafor recently reported, “China’s pet industry is booming as young people – nicknamed ‘the last generation’ over their reluctance to procreate – find cheaper, furrier companions.” One pet-owner told the South China Morning Post the responsibilities involved in raising a child were simply too daunting.

As the visual below illustrates, the “industrialization = birth rate decline” rule holds true everywhere. These charts start in 1950, and the industrialization that occurred in the decades post-World War II spurred declines across the world.

Charts that are relatively flat are in countries where industrialization began in the 19th century and happened much more gradually (US, UK, France, etc.) or has yet to really occur (DRC).

Africa…The Fountain Of Youth

While China, Japan, and Korea are becoming a facet of the past, Africa is the Fountain of Youth.

41% of Africa’s population is under the age of 15, and 8 of the 10 fastest growing countries on Earth are in Africa. The top 10 cities in terms of population will look very different in 2100, with 5 of the top 10 and all of the top 3 in Africa.

Most of this growth is driven by Africa’s fertility rate of 4.1 births per woman, which is dramatically higher than its peers in Asia and Europe. The countries that are home to 2100’s 3 largest cities (Nigeria, DRC, and Tanzania) have fertility rates of 5.3, 6.2, and 4.8 respectively.

Africa will have 1.1 billion middle class people by 2060, up from 350 million in 2010. This population growth not only creates massive opportunities for Africa’s own development, but also its neighbors.

Abu Dhabi/Dubai are not just the “Capital of Capital”, but it has also emerged as the “Center of the world” due to the fact that it's an 8 hour flight from 5 billion people…and those people are from India, Africa, and MENA, with a huge portion moving into the Middle Class.

Another unexpected winner from Africa’s move to the middle class is China. The One Belt, One Road initiative was just as much about reasserting China’s global dominance in physical infrastructure as it was placing bets on how China could be a central link in Africa’s growth.

Two million Africans were working in China as of 2017, and China has a positive perception among African countries. China has bought its way to being beloved in Africa and is placing more chips on its bet.

In addition to geopolitics, one other Megatrend that could be wind at Africa’s back is the democratization of advancements in longevity. While Africa is leading the world in terms of fertility rates, Africa’s life expectancy (64) is still 12% below the global average (73)...but up 10 years per person over the past 25 years.

Global advancements in longevity and resource provision will help power Africa’s Middle Class to participate in the global knowledge economy. Companies such as Zipline have pioneered partnerships with local governments and NGOs to deliver supplies by drone.

While Zipline delivers physical goods to improve Africa’s physical infrastructure, there’s an even more massive opportunity to empower Africa’s digital infrastructure and knowledge economy grows as 800M+ people enter the global Middle Class. In 2022, only 36% of Africa's population had broadband internet access.

Another company to watch is Jambo, whose mission is to onboard the next billion African people to the Web with a “Web3 WeChat”. Web3 may sound disconnected from Africa’s other development goals, but given that our digital and physical lives are increasingly connected, building the infrastructure to connect Africa to the world is a massive opportunity.

Jambo’s go-to-market is two-fold: first, it’s building a “Super App” called JamboApp to educate, bank, and entertain the continent. Second, it launched a $99 Android phone called the JamboPhone that is tailored for emerging markets and has been bought in 100+ countries. The combination of the smartphone, the Internet, and the app store was the killer app for China and India’s development, and Jambo is trying to run a similar playbook in Africa.

Southeast Asia…A Window To The Future

India and Southeast Asia are a marriage of China’s population strength and Africa’s rapid growth. India recently surpassed China as the world’s largest country by population, and is on track to double down on its lead over the coming decades.

In many ways, India is 25 years behind China in its development as it shifts from a rural to a knowledge economy and unlocks the value of its 1.4 billion people. 10% more of India’s population is working in agriculture than China’s…10% might not sound like a lot, but that’s 140 million people (larger than the United Kingdom and France combined).

“Act 1” of India’s transition to the Knowledge Economy was its offshore services business, which stood at $250B in 2022. But as Daniel Gross points out, the “ChatGPT Magic” could be an existential risk to this business model, so India will need to find a compelling “Act 2” to drive its economic growth and place in the global marketplace.

Regardless, India’s physical and digital infrastructure has made tremendous progress over the past decade, but it's Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), not India’s roads and airports, which are ready to be exported to the world. PM Modi is betting the farm (literally) that India can make the transition to power its own growth and empower the Global Knowledge Economy.

For more on India’s massive opportunities, check out our recent piece EIEIO…Amrit Kaal and my opening keynote at the ASU+GSV & Emeritus Summit.

Just across the Bay of Bengal, Southeast Asia has a similar combination of demographic tailwinds, a shift to manufacturing growth due to the “China Plus One” strategy, and a culture that prioritizes education above all else.

Just like China and India, Southeast Asia leads in terms of prioritizing education as the highest priority for every child and family. As a % of Household Budget, Asian families spend over 7X more on Education than American families.

Singapore has emerged as the Hub of the region, with top-down investment from the government combined with the bottom-up pull of entrepreneurs and capital into the region. It’s not a coincidence that Jack Ma’s wife, Zhang Lei of Hillhouse, and Neil Shen of Hongshan are all spending more time in Singapore than Shanghai these days (h/t Ivy Yang).

Two excellent research reports that lay out Southeast Asia’s prospects are Baillie Gifford’s report on South-east Asia’s rising export stars and Asia Partners’ annual Southeast Asia Internet Report…a nod to Mary Meeker’s old Internet reports.

While Singapore is the hub of the Far East, it’s neighbors are rapidly investing their resources in both the physical and knowledge economy.

Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand are increasingly challenging China's long-standing dominance as the world's manufacturing hub. The combination of rising labor costs in China, geopolitical tensions, and a tougher business environment are causing companies to diversify their manufacturing bases to neighboring countries that offer cheaper labor and business-friendly policies.

Vietnam appears to be leading the pack, with its exports rising nearly 8x over the past 15 years, aided by relatively low wages and an impressive education system. Indonesia is also emerging by leveraging its natural resources and implementing policies to move up the value chain by processing raw materials domestically rather than just exporting them. Thailand's strengths in manufacturing electronic components and a growing consumer market are also highlighted.

US…A New Look

The US faces both headwinds and tailwinds. The aging Baby Boomer Generation will put significant strain on entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare over the coming decades. The US faces a debt crisis like no other in the decades to come.

However, immigration done right could help offset some of these headwinds. The US faces a massive backlog of legal immigration cases, with many of them total all-stars in their fields looking to make their mark in America. Unlike countries in Asia, the US has a long history given that it was founded as a country of immigrants.

The US will become a majority-minority country sometime between 2041 and 2046, depending on both immigration and fertility rates. Texas turned majority-minority in 2023…40% of Texans are Hispanic and 39% are White.

As our friend Michael Milken said in his podcast with Ted Seides, the best way to assess the future of any nation is to visit schools and study young people. And what’s exciting about this is that a majority-minority America is younger and hungrier than ever.

The average Hispanic American is age 11, and 27% of all K-12 students in the United States are Hispanic. A lot of this growth is happening in the Sunbelt region, which is seeing tremendous inflows of both human and investment capital as people look for better (and cheaper) places to raise their families.

From 2000-2020, the proportion of Latinos in the US with a bachelor's degree or higher doubled, from 10% to 20%.

The combination of immigration, geographic isolation, and more wide-open space (“elbow room”) than many countries is a winning combo for US growth. Additionally, the US has had a more gradual transition to industrialization over a longer time period (rural farms ➡️ small towns ➡️ suburbs ➡️ cities)...unlike countries like Japan where rural land in Tokyo is now selling for pennies on the dollar because you have to live in the city to have economic opportunity.

Additionally, the US’s sizable workforce will be able to work longer than ever before thanks to the intersecting megatrends of Autonomous Everything, Longevity, and Mission Corporations. Who wouldn’t want to work as long as they could if they’re healthy, happy, and working at a place whose mission is tied to the impact they want to make in the world? Take all this together, we live in a Global Silicon Valley, but we’re just as BULLISH on the United States as ever before.

Market Performance

Market Commentary

Chaos.

That’s the criticism of Washington from traders in the market. Trade wars, egg wars, AID wars, and creating a “crypto reserve”…has America been hijacked by a crazy man

Stocks now have fallen below the November 5th election level and NASDAQ has gone into correction territory. For the up and down week, stocks finished negative with the Dow falling 2.4%, the S&P 500 dropping 3.1%, and NASDAQ was off 3.5%.

Proposed 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico were a big part of disruption. Now those have been pushed a month until April. That didn’t stop the GOAT of Wall Street Warren Buffett from calling tariffs an “act of war”.

Our view is the pause that’s happened with stocks—especially high multiple technology leaders—is healthy, normal and required. Moreover, while “everybody” knows tariffs are bad for the economy, without the threat of a hammer (which President Trump has put out there), a systemically unfair system will continue at the expense of the United States.

Getting a handle on our $36 trillion dollar debt, balancing a budget and creating a fairer trading field all benefit the United States in the long run. We look at the correction we are going through as an opportunity to buy leading growth companies that will power the future on sale. We like to BUY swimsuits in January.

Need to Know

WATCH: Watching NASCAR at Cosm

READ: Where Are The 2021 Unicorns Today? 60% Are Stuck In Limbo, Per Carta | SaaStr

LISTEN: Shaun Maguire, Nic Carter, Jeremy Giffon, Trump Stands His Ground, 20K/Month GPT | Technology Brothers

GSV’s Four I’s of Investor Sentiment

GSV tracks four primary indicators of investor sentiment: inflows and outflows of mutual funds and ETFs, IPO activity, interest rates, and inflation.

#1: Inflows and Outflows for Mutual Funds & ETFs

#2: IPO Market

#3: Interest Rates

#4: Inflation

Charts of the Week

Maggie Moe’s GSV Weekly Rap

Chuckles of the Week

FEEDBACK: We love it when our readers engage with us. Send your thoughts, comments, and feedback to dashmediagsv@gmail.com – we read every email!

Connecting the Dots & EIEIO…

Old MacDonald had a farm, EIEIO. New MacDonald has a Startup…EIEIO: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Education, Impact and Opportunity. Accordingly, we focus on these key areas of the future.

One of the core goals of GSV is to connect the dots around EIEIO and provide perspective on where things are going and why. If you like this, please forward to your friends. Onward!

Make Your Dash Count!

-MM

Share

Subscribe now

The future of learning isn’t coming—it’s already here. Education as we know it is over—replaced by seamless, omnipresent learning at light speed. At ASU+GSV 2025, we’ll explore how this transformation creates a time dividend, bending what’s possible for individuals and society. Register now and explore Learning at the Speed of Light.

Subscribe now

Chart of the Week

The Big 10:

1. How Gaming at Pace Powers Lifelong Learning | Pace University

   Invisible Learning is a core part of the future of how people get the knowledge, skills and capabilities to thrive in the future. ESports isn’t just playing games to learn math, history or science, it helps teach teamwork and social skills, all at risk in the typically isolated and individualized digital world. Colleges have esports teams and leagues but see this as an important lean-in opportunity.

2. Why Some Schools Are Rethinking ‘College for All’ | NYT

   “College for All” had been one of the few bipartisan issues that everybody agreed upon…and perhaps unsurprisingly, it turns out the everybody was wrong. All people shouldn’t go to college and in fact, at least 40% of the students who do go, don’t finish but are still typically burdened with mountains of debt. Leading charter organization KIPP, which has 125K students, 95% of whom are of color, has flipped from its original key objective of getting all of its students to college to figure out the best way to have a productive life.

3. American Education's Need for a New Founding | Civitas Institute

   You are what you eat. If you’re being fed a steady diet of anti-American sentiment—being told you’re a bad person because your great-grandfather did something objectionable by today’s standards—it’s no surprise what the result will be. The Phoenix Declaration doesn’t aim to remake society; instead, its goal is to prepare individuals to take their rightful place within it.

4. No More ‘Trust us, we’re the administrators!’ |

   We are for a pretty unencumbered version of free speech, and nowhere is free speech more important than our college campuses. This article is effectively a defense of the College Free Speech Ranking, a.k.a. FIRE, which was criticized by TIME magazine for its methodology and wording of the questions. Open debate is a good way to come to an enlightenment so the more it’s discussed, the better.

5. Study: Workers will trade 25% of pay for remote, hybrid jobs | TechTarget

   Super interesting that a recent survey revealed that hybrid workers would take a 25% pay cut to not have to go to an office….however, to date, employers haven’t differentiated between hybrid and in office work. What’s become clear is that many workers would prefer to stay home and Zoom instead of carpool, and the future of work is a blended workforce. Huge opportunity for companies that are helping people make their home their operating platform for life.

6. Presidents Weigh In on the Public Confidence Crisis | Inside Higher Ed

   The “Diploma Divide” has become a growing concern amongst higher education leaders. Of primary interest is the outsized influence universities can play in society and the type of leaders they are developing. It’s actually encouraging to see the data suggest that presidents are not just burying their heads in the sand and saying that the public is wrong and they know best.

7. A Rapid Succession of Child Care Closures Calls for Close Scrutiny | The 74million

   There is always a delicate dance between growth and delivering on the education promise and it appears that Guidepost Montessori missed the mark. Childcare is of vast importance and we think it represents an enormous business opportunity. Guidepost with 130 centers and having raised $70 million from investors unfortunately will represent one step backward.

8. Student test score descriptions get a makeover: Advanced, Proficient, Developing, Minimal | Los Angeles Times

   With just 25% of LA students scoring at proficient or better, coming up with some new labels was probably predictable for a failing system. Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic wasn’t too productive, and coming up with new terminology so as not to discourage the students who are likely already discouraged seems like a misuse of time and attention.

9. What Happens if Trump Issues an E.O. to Dismantle the Department of Education? | Whiteboard Advisors

   Our favorite perspective on inside Washington comes from our friends at Whiteboard Advisors and this quick analysis is a good example of why. The term “E.O.” has now become common vernacular with often an unprintable adjective in front of. Taking the emotion and uncertainty out of the equation, our hopeful likely changes would be a shifting of who does what, a savings on administrative costs but little, if any, impact on the recipients.

10. 🎙️ Ep 38 · John Katzman, CEO of Noodle | Ed on the Edge | Dash Media

    Certainly one of the top entrepreneurs and visionaries in the ed tech space shares his current views. The interview took place just before his very successful summit with higher education leaders in Washington D.C.

Share

Subscribe now

GSV’s weekly insights on the global growth economy. Join our community of entrepreneurs, investors, executives, educators, and students getting a window to the future by subscribing here:

Subscribe now

EIEIO…Fast Facts

Entrepreneurship: $9 billion – The valuation at which former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati’s start up, Thinking Machines Lab, aims to raise $1 billion. Murati departed OpenAI in September. (Crunchbase News)

Innovation: 59% – The percentage of people aged 18-64 in the United States who report having used linear TV in the past 12 months. (Statista)

Education: #1 – K-12 schools have become the single most-targeted industry for ransomware attacks, with recovery costs averaging over $3.7 million. (The 74 Million)

Impact: 15.3% – The percentage of members of Gen Z who have maxed-out credit cards, compared to 4.8% of Baby Boomers. (Federal Reserve Bank of New York)

Opportunity: ~$1.6 trillion – The total amount Americans owed in student loans as of June 2024 – 42% more than what they owed a decade earlier. (Pew Research Center)

Subscribe now

Share

“A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything.” – Malcolm X

“Thus, man will like on their backs, talking about the fall of man, but never make an effort to get up.” – Henry David Thoreau

“Boys will be boys, so will a lot middle aged men.” – Kin Hubbard

Kick boxing champion and social media bad boy Andrew Tate arrived in Ft. Lauderdale Thursday in a private jet to jeers and some cheers.

The Tampa Bay Young Republicans extended an invitation to Tate and his brother Tristan under the pretext of being “free speech absolutist.”

Florida old Republican Governor Ron Desantis said the Tate’s are “not welcome” in the Sunshine State.

I’ve been paying attention to Andrew Tate for several years as I found it remarkable that anybody who has said the reprehensible things he proudly takes credit for, let alone the very serious allegations of human trafficking and rape, had the type of following he had especially with young men. To wit, he has 10 million followers on X.

When things don’t compute, I want to understand why.

How can Luigi Mangione who on video (allegedly) savagely murdered United Health Care CEO Brian Thompson become a folk hero with fans sending him so many photos and letters he had to tell them to stop?

How could it be that 50% of college students supported Hamas—not the Palestinian people—Hamas(!) in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict?

With Andrew Tate, what in the World is going on with young men that they could see him as a role model? It’s clearly a symptom of something much bigger.

The fact of the matter is that young men are in crisis. It shows up in mental health, employment data and societal roles. Young men are falling behind and it’s starting to be extreme.

Today, for every male graduate from college, there are two female graduates. That’s a flip flop from fifty years ago. In that college graduates make double in lifetime income to high school graduates, the future impact is profound.

7 out of 10 high school Valedictorians are female.

33% of men under the age of 35 live at home with their parents.

One in seven Generation Z men report they have “no friends”.

Over 75% of the drug overdoses and suicides are men.

Men are 14X more likely to be incarcerated. 98% of mass shooters are men.

The adult male participation rate in the labor force is 68% down from 80% in 1970.
You might say “so what?”

Well, the U.S. Economy is about $30 trillion with 156 million people working…or about $200K per worker. Thus, every 1% of additional labor equates to approximately $500 billion in GDP, so just having the male labor force participation being up to 1970 levels would add an additional $6 trillion to our economy…(Canada’s GDP is $2.1 trillion)

With two daughters I’m very proud of, and having highlighted the investment theme of “POW…Power of Women” for decades, nobody is happier for the advancement of women than I am. Obviously, I’m not arguing for a regression to the mean or to lift men up by bringing women down.

What I am stridently saying is we need to get men back in the game, starting in school and evolving into work. Having positive role models for young men to be looking up to from all facets of society is a key place to start.

Gentleman, start your engines!

Market Performance

Market Commentary

Stocks were mixed last week with the momentum clearly being negative. The Dow moved up 1% while the S&P 500 was off 1% and NASDAQ decreased 3.5%

As was predictable, what was the driver of stock performance, the so-called Magnificent 7 has been the anchor with the M7 down 10% from peak levels. On the other side of the barbell, the small cap Russell 2000 has been lagging and is off 10% from its high. As another proxy for investors appetite for risk, Bitcoin was off 25% from its high earlier this year, but today surged 10% on news its coins will be included in the strategic reserve.

NVIDIA, the most magnificent of the 7, reported revenue growth of 78% for the Fourth Quarter up to $39.3 billion. For perspective, NVDIA’s entire revenue in 2023 was $27 billion. Nonetheless, NVIDIA stock fell nearly 10% last week both due to guidance that projected “only” 65% revenue growth in 2025 and a still sky high valuation of 28X price to sales.

Other interesting “tech” news last week was Amazon paying $1 billion for the rights to the James Bond franchise. Also, Apple said they were going to spend $500 billion (with a “b”!) on new facilities in the United States and hiring another 20,000 people.

In IPO news, it’s rumored that General Catalyst is looking to go public, which would make it the first VC firm ever to do so. Also, the scooter company Lime is mentioned as getting ready to do IPO which would be a remarkable comeback following near death during Covid.

While the market has cooled noticeably from what we have grown accustomed to over the past couple years, we view that as natural and healthy. We continue to be very BULLISH on the intermediate and long term outlook for growth stocks and would look at dips in the highest quality names as buying opportunities.

Need to Know

WATCH: Now at $2B Valuation: Mercor CEO On How They Started | Turpentine VC

READ: Marrying Up and Marrying Down | No Mercy / No Malice

READ: What Happened to My Traffic? | Tomasz Tunguz

LISTEN: #380 Four Hundred Pages of Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger In Their own words | Founders

GSV’s Four I’s of Investor Sentiment

GSV tracks four primary indicators of investor sentiment: inflows and outflows of mutual funds and ETFs, IPO activity, interest rates, and inflation.

#1: Inflows and Outflows for Mutual Funds & ETFs

#2: IPO Market

#3: Interest Rates

#4: Inflation

Chart of the Week

Maggie Moe’s GSV Weekly Rap

Chuckles of the Week

FEEDBACK: We love it when our readers engage with us. Send your thoughts, comments, and feedback to dashmediagsv@gmail.com – we read every email!

Connecting the Dots & EIEIO…

Old MacDonald had a farm, EIEIO. New MacDonald has a Startup…EIEIO: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Education, Impact and Opportunity. Accordingly, we focus on these key areas of the future.

One of the core goals of GSV is to connect the dots around EIEIO and provide perspective on where things are going and why. If you like this, please forward to your friends. Onward!

Make Your Dash Count!

-MM

Share

Subscribe now

The world isn’t just learning faster—it’s learning everywhere, all at once. At the 2025 ASU+GSV Summit, explore how Learning at the Speed of Light is transforming education from a defined process into an omnipresent force. Register now to join us at the leading edge of learning innovation.

Chart of the Week

The Big 10:

1. Trump suspends the head of 'The Nation's Report Card' | NPR

   On one hand, suspending the Commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics smacks of “shooting the messenger” following the January report showing students below pre-pandemic levels in math and reading. On the other hand, with scores below where they were 30 years ago for the poorest students, status quo doesn’t work anymore. That’s the message.

2. Universities Are Worth Saving | Quillette

   According to a Pew Research study, nearly 50% of people now agree with the statement that “Colleges have a negative effect on the way things are going in the country,” compared to just 26% in 2012. Frustration with some of the views promoted at universities (and some of the views that are shut down) is a big part of the public’s growing disenchantment. “Throwing the baby out with the bath water” isn’t the way to reinvigorate the benefits of universities, but supporting an environment of true free speech, diversity and open mindedness is.

3. EXCLUSIVE: Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers Shouted Down During Stanford's 'Democracy and Disagreement' Class | Stanford Review

   You can’t make this stuff up. In what was supposed to be a classic debate by two smart people with opposing views in a class ironically called “Democracy and Disagreement” former Harvard President and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers was heckled to point of delaying his speech 20 minutes. While I don’t always agree with Secretary Summers, I always want to hear what one of the smartest people on the planet has to say…I would think students on the Farm would, too.

4. These Teens Can Do Incredible Math in Their Heads But Fail in a Classroom | KQED

   The school of the streets often is a more effective teacher. The mental math needed to survive in the real world is more meaningful than theory. Learning by doing is the most effective way of learning anything, so thinking about incorporating the lessons of the streets of India might provide some valuable insights on teaching students math.

5. Latest NCAA Settlement Means Colleges Can Use NIL Funds for Recruiting | JD Supra

   It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas for many college athletes, especially in the big money sports of football and basketball. In the good old days, a coach’s recruiting pitch would highlight the quality of education the student athlete would receive, the opportunities after graduation with businesses in the community, etc. Now it’s all about the money package, and if the coach looks at a player the wrong way in practice, it’s off to the transfer portal to chase the next deal.

6. University Network Summit

   Held next week (March 5 - 7th) at Georgetown in DC, the second annual event hosted by Noodle and Huron Consulting is focused on the future of higher education. Last year was about the post-OPM world…this years will piggyback on that and explore what a network model could look like amongst universities. Led by our friend and relentless provocateur John Katzman, it’s sure to be an impactful event.

7. Google's AI previews erode the internet, US edtech company says in lawsuit | Reuters

   Chegg filed a $1 billion suit last week charging that Google’s AI search engine eroded demand for original content and undermines publishers’ ability to compete. Chegg shares are off 98% since the introduction of ChatGPT and the company said last week it’s exploring a sale or going private.

8. U.S. Chamber, College Board Partner to Equip Students with Career Skills | U.S. Chamber of Commerce

   Good for the Chamber of Commerce to lean in to the reality of a future workforce that’s going to require different skills. Learning and earning can’t be siloed but instead must be more like peanut butter and jelly. The first two programs—“Business Principles” and “Cybersecurity”—are a start, but a lot more to do ahead.

9. It’s About Time | Forza…For Education

   It only makes sense that in Washington, where charter schools that were designed to be more flexible, would be micromanaged to the point of losing the plot. Good news is that there was more positive data on charter schools found in the recent “Nation’s Report Card” where charters outperformed in almost every metric. Also positive is the loosening of some restrictions by the current administration to unleash innovation and increase access.

10. "AI Means The End Of The College Lecture" 🎙️ Ep 37 · Sanjeev Sanyal: Economic Advisor to Indian Prime Minister Modi 🇮🇳 | Ed on the Edge

    Economic Advisor to Prime Minister Modi, historian and now creator of an Amazon Prime series, Sanjeev Sanyal is one fascinating person. According to Sanjeev, the future of college lectures is free and the focus of universities is to “create new knowledge”.

Share

Subscribe now

Subscribe now

EIEIO…Fast Facts

Entrepreneurship: 95% – The claimed accuracy rate of Crunchbase's AI system in predicting startup fundraising events through backtesting. (VentureBeat)

Innovation: 4% – The percentage of SaaS companies that reach $1 million in revenue. .04% make it to $10 million. (VentureBeat)

Education: 90% – The percentage of schools that reported having “major difficulties” transporting students in 2024. (Harper’s)

Impact: 7.1 million – The number of kids and adolescents in the U.S. received an ADHD diagnosis in 2022, one million more than in 2016. (NPR)

Opportunity: 20 years – The amount of time it will take Boston to build “West Station” on the MBTA Commuter Rail Framingham/Worcester Line. It took six years to build the Transcontinental Railroad from Omaha to Sacramento. (Crémieux)

Subscribe now

Share

“Some men see things as they are and say why. I see things that never were and say why not.” – George Bernard Shaw

”How come you never see a headline like ‘psychic wins lottery’?” – Jay Leno

“Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few people engage in it.” – Henry Ford

It was Thanksgiving evening after another amazing dinner at the Smith family home. The highlight of the meal was always Granny Smith’s ham which as one of the traditions, always had the end cut off.

After a few post dinner libations, one of the grandkids home from college started to ask why it was that the end of the ham was always cut off. Nobody around the table knew, or even had a thesis.

So finally, they got Granny Smith out of the kitchen and asked her, what was the secret behind cutting off the end of the ham?

She said, “When I first got married to your Grandpa, we couldn’t fit the full ham in the oven so we cut the end off.”

Traditions often start with a purpose that made sense at the time. Same with societal conventions and programs.

When I was a kid, I used to drive my family crazy because I always asked, “How come?”

How come I have to go to bed? How come I have to eat my broccoli? How come I can’t go to your office? How come I can’t play with the older kids? How come I have to go to school?

When Horace Mann, the newly appointed Secretary of Education for Massachusetts, introduced universal K-12 education in 1837, 80% of the population was engaged in farming. Not a coincidence, the school year was created around the agrarian calendar and the school model resembled a factory which had revolutionized manufacturing.

Over the past nearly 200 years, not only has farming become less than 2% of workers but the economy has shifted to a service and knowledge economy. Moreover, the “modern” school system was created before we had telephones, automobiles, planes, computers, software, the Internet, the Cloud, and AI…just to name a few of the transformative changes that impacted basically everything.

The number of college students globally has gone from a grand total of 500,000 in 1900 to 250 million today, reflecting the traditional ROI that students have received from a higher education degree. With college cost soaring and the future of work being upended by AI and shifts in the economy, society has shifted from saying “College for all!” to “College at all?”

In other words, how come I have to go to college?

It’s not a function that people can be ignorant and thrive in life but it’s the definition of being educated that is changing.

It used to be that being educated meant that you had a certain amount of formal education, the more the better, which also directly correlated with income. Moreover, the brand equity of ones degree also made a material difference in opportunities that a person was able to get access to. The admissions director at Harvard was the de facto hiring director at Google.

We are now at a time and place where the historic definition and conventions around education need to be reexamined to meet the reality of tomorrow.

Being educated isn’t about the artifact provided upon completion of a program—a.k.a. “a degree”—but the knowledge, skills, capabilities, and/or know-how a person has that can be applied against an opportunity. Some of that “currency” may be gained from formal school programs, but a lot of one’s “knowledge currencies” in their bank account will come from a variety of other places. And AI is going to be a major enabler.

Human capabilities have been growing at a linear rate for centuries and technology is on an exponential curve. Artificial intelligence is going to help human intelligence be accelerated and knowledge, skills and capabilities will grow in ways that, heretofore, were unimaginable.

We truly are going to be learning at the speed of light.

Market Performance

Market Commentary

A slower economic outlook and inflation fears put the brakes on the market last week.
While the S&P hit all time highs on Wednesday, it ended Friday, being off 1.7% for the week, with NASDAQ and the Dow both falling 2.5%.

The so called “Magnificent 7” have lagged this year, not unexpectedly do to their overall extended valuations, but high growth, high multiple stocks were hit last week as well. Palantir was down 15%, Cava fell 18%, and Reddit slid 15% after being off 12% the week before.

Berkshire Hathaway, led by 94 year old Warren Buffett, reported operating income up a stunning 71% to $14.3 billion. Berkshire Hathaway also reported it had $374 billion of cash at its disposal.

In an interesting twist, China’s President Xi Jinping held a meeting with leading tech entrepreneurs in Beijing including formerly exiled Jack Ma and the DeepSeek crew. China stocks are acting very positively and additionally, the MSCI index is up 5% YTD.

This week NVIDIA, Snowflake, and Salesforce will report earnings. DOGE will continue to make news with findings of misused taxpayer money which we believe is positive for the fundamentals of the overall economy.

We remain BULLISH for the intermediate term outlook for growth stocks but also are also believe it’s healthy to see a bit of a pause in the highest flyers. Our thesis for a broadening of participation in stocks moving upward coupled with anticipated robust IPO Market keeps us optimistic for opportunities.

Need to Know

WATCH: ACQ2: Building Web Apps with Just English and AI (with Vercel CEO Guillermo Rauch) | Acquired

READ: 0-$5M: How to Nail Founder-Led Sales | First Round Review

LISTEN: Microsoft Unveils First Quantum Computing Chip | Bloomberg Technology

GSV’s Four I’s of Investor Sentiment

GSV tracks four primary indicators of investor sentiment: inflows and outflows of mutual funds and ETFs, IPO activity, interest rates, and inflation.

#1: Inflows and Outflows for Mutual Funds & ETFs

#2: IPO Market

#3: Interest Rates

#4: Inflation

Chart of the Week

Maggie Moe’s GSV Weekly Rap

Chuckles of the Week

FEEDBACK: We love it when our readers engage with us. Send your thoughts, comments, and feedback to dashmediagsv@gmail.com – we read every email!

Connecting the Dots & EIEIO…

Old MacDonald had a farm, EIEIO. New MacDonald has a Startup…EIEIO: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Education, Impact and Opportunity. Accordingly, we focus on these key areas of the future.

One of the core goals of GSV is to connect the dots around EIEIO and provide perspective on where things are going and why. If you like this, please forward to your friends. Onward!

Make Your Dash Count!

-MM

Share

Subscribe now

The 2025 ASU+GSV Summit will explore the new spectrum of potential created at the intersection of artificial intelligence and human ingenuity. Join the most important AI leaders working and learning at the speed of light this April in San Diego!

Chart of the Week

The Big 10:

1. Wharton tops 2025 FT MBA ranking despite strong European competition | FT

   We typically take school rankings with a grain of salt (unless the GSV MBA is ranked highly)…and the FT’s Annual Global MBA ranking is no exception. Interestingly, following Wharton and Columbia in the top two spots (not surprising) were Iese from Spain, Insead from France and Bocconi from Italy. Notably, MBA applications were up 13% globally. Harvard did not crack the top 10 while having the highest salary for graduates at $256K.

2. 6 Characteristics of an Education that Students Want | Getting Smart

   What better way to understand what students are looking for than to actually ask them? Given the current K-12 system was designed in the 19th Century…before automobiles, telephones, computers, the Internet and AI…some fresh perspective is overdue. Some of the inputs given include the need to be future-focused, personalized, exploratory, creative—all with an emphasis on putting the joy back into learning.

3. Three States Are Transforming Their Labor Markets With English Language Learning | Forbes

   The Internet has accelerated the reality that English is the global business language. Workers around the World have seen a huge wage increase in wages by learning the language. In the United States of America, 1 in 10 working adults do not speak English. It makes sense that providing English language training through AI can be game changer within our own shores, too.

4. Why Upskilling, Not Technology, Is The Key To Unlocking AI Success | CIO Applications

   There are three kinds of people…ones that make things happen; ones that watch things happen; and the ones that say “what happened?” It’s clear as day that employees who embrace the inevitable presence of AI in the future of work are going to be the ones who thrive. It’s not Man vs. Machine…it’s Man and Machine.

5. In Indiana, a Fight Over Splitting Money Between Districts and Charter Schools | The 74 Million

   For some reason, it’s controversial that the tax money associated with a student follows them to where they go to school. In Indianapolis, where 60% of the students now go to a charter school, a student in the public school receives $18K in funding where the charter school student receives $10K. What should be controversial is where the $8K difference goes and what should matter is how students are learning – no matter what school they are attending.

6. Could Play Boost Students’ Math Performance? | EdSurge

   You can’t learn if you aren’t engaged. Playing games that teach you something is what we call “Invisible Learning” and it’s effectively putting chocolate on broccoli. There are some people who think that learning shouldn’t be fun, but with 65% of fourth graders in the USA not being proficient in math, I think there needs to be a fresh approach.

7. Tenure on the Chopping Block | Free The Inquiry

   There is no question there has been a major "vibe shift" in the mood of America. Seeing controversial views, such as the supporting of Hamas, celebrated on our college campuses has many of us saying we need a "control, alt and delete." Legislation in places like Texas and Kansas to restrict or eliminate tenure reflects the current political climate. However, the purpose of tenure is the protection of faculty to be able to do controversial research and explore potentially unpopular views. As distasteful as I personally find some of what is promoted, it's important that the concept of tenure isn't torched but perhaps modified.

8. Transit nightmare: Thousands of Baltimore kids can’t get to school on time | The Baltimore Banner

   Baltimore public schools have long been a case study of what's wrong with education. Chronic absenteeism is a huge problem at many large urban schools across America, but having students miss school simply because getting there is a gigantic hassle is inexcusable. There are lots of things that need to change within the classroom, but we can start by making it easier to get there and ensuring schools are safe and clean.

9. Rethinking the School Calendar | Thomas B. Fordham Institute

   For as long as I can remember, education reformers have been questioning why we keep using a school calendar that was created in conjunction with our agrarian economy (the typical answer is “because that’s the way we always have done it”). Now, with well-documented significant learning loss as a result of Covid school closures, a new reason has been put forth to rethink the traditional school calendar. One thing for sure, doing things the way we’ve always done them is insanity given the poor academic performance we have as a country.

10. 🎙️ Ep 36 · Dr. Justin Lonon: Chancellor, Dallas College | Ed on the Edge | Dash Media

    Dallas College is not just the largest college you’ve never heard of (with 130,000 students), but it’s also one of the most innovative and forward looking. Listen to Justin elaborate on how he is looking to put the “community” back into “community college”.

This Week’s People Moves

Powered in partnership with Live Data Technologies.

Who else is changing jobs? Get the latest data for the companies that matter most to you for free.

• Chloë Dubois: Crunchyroll ➡️ Duolingo, Head of Store & Consumer Products

• Spencer Rinkus: Opendoor ➡️ Duolingo, Staff Product Writer

• Anmol Tiwari: Netflix ➡️ Duolingo, Director of Product Management

• Keerthana (Kee) Hanumanthagowda: Wonderschool ➡️ Handshake, Engineering Manager

• Hemanth Yalamanchili: Anthropocene Institute ➡️ Handshake, Software Engineer

• Ollie Raskovsky: Shopify ➡️ Udemy, Trust & Safety

• Simon Wong: Udemy ➡️ Udacity, Regional Vice President, APAC

• Dr. Yvette Kone Nishikawa: BrainPOP ➡️ MagicSchool AI, Regional Vice President of Sales

• Lachlan Ross: EduGrowth ➡️ upGrad GSP, Global Marketing Manager

• Hannah Fowler: Litera ➡️ Nerdio, Senior Enterprise Sales Development Representative

Share

Subscribe now