PEOPLE LIKE US DO THINGS LIKE THIS VOL.

Will this be
on the test?
RETHINKING ONLINE EDUCATION
by Seth Godin, Page 6
Cover
b Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
The altMBA
wants to make
change happen.
We exist to help you see the world differently, help you make better decisions, and most
of all, help you change the world around you.

It’s a workshop, not a course, an intensive month-long experience that will expose you to
new people, new challenges and new ideas. We’ve been running the altMBA for over two
years and our alumni are already making a ruckus in more than 45 countries.

Instead of simply giving you access to information (no need, it’s everywhere) or setting
you up to memorize things you will forget or taking tests that don’t matter, the altMBA is
built around experience. You and your fellow students will engage in 13 projects, mostly
done in groups, that will transform the way you do your work.

We’re proud that this process isn’t for everyone. We’re looking for a few people who
are ready to leap, who care so much about their organization, their project and their
community that they will push themselves ever harder to make a difference.

One thing we teach is that everything we do has a reason, a “what’s it for” that enables us
to make smart strategic investments. And in our case, the “what” is simple: We work to
shine a light and open a door so you can step through and begin to make an even bigger
impact on your world.

I hope you’ll join us.

Seth
 The altMBA helps leaders
to effectively drive change
within their organizations.

2
An intensive, 4-week online workshop
that challenges you to level up and
make a significant impact.

The altMBA prepares you to navigate the

CONTACT
complex challenges of driving organizational altMBA Admissions
change. Following a competitive selection hello@altmba.com
process, the altMBA delivers a condensed learning
experience through teamwork, personalized
feedback, coaching, curated readings, and shipping
thirteen projects in four weeks.

DEADLINE
Visit altmba.com/apply for session details.

COMMITMENT
We’ve organized the altMBA so that busy people (like you)
can fit it into your schedule. But it does take commitment.
Group discussions meet three times a week. Students use
other hours for their solo work. We offer multiple time
zones to choose from, and you can pick the one that works
best with your schedule.
Created by Seth Godin, for you.
TUITION
$3,000. Ask your company about tuition reimbursement. OUR STUDENTS AND ALUMNI ARE FROM
FAST-GROWING ORGANIZATIONS LIKE THESE
PROGRAM DETAILS
Visit altmba.com for program details.

PROGRAM STATS
More than 97% of each class of the altMBA successfully
completes our 4-week intensive workshop. And every
single person reports that the workshop exceeded their
expectations, that it was the most intense and productive
online engagement that they’ve ever experienced.

COMBINING 25 YEARS OF INSIGHT

Seth Godin has created 13 hands-on projects designed to
work in a connected, digital workshop. Highly leveraged,
intensive, and applicable.

COACHING
With one coach for every 20 students, we’re able to pay
attention to our students and the work they create.

LEARN BY DOING
Our student portal features curated resources, videos,
articles, and books. Of course, it’s not about secret AFFILIATIONS FOR IDENTIFICATION ONLY
content—the altMBA is a workshop, and virtually all your
time is spent creating, critiquing and leveling up.
3
“After the altMBA, I had a keen new
perspective on how to overcome obstacles.”
―IAN SCOTT, DIRECTOR OF PRODUCT, SIMON SINEK, INC.

Preparing Leaders for

the Modern Economy
TESTED, PROVEN & EFFECTIVE “After the altMBA, I had a keen new perspective on how to
Smart Fortune 500 Learning & Development teams overcome obstacles. Now I perceive tension as an opportunity
choose the altMBA to fuel growth, promote from within, and am inspired to find new ways to challenge myself.”
and inspire leadership. The altMBA helps high performers ―Ian Scott, Director of Product, Simon Sinek, Inc.
at corporations and fast-growing startups level up.
Grow your leaders; promote from within
MAXIMIZING EMPLOYEE POTENTIAL
The top 5-7% of your employees are different. We give ALTMBA STUDENTS DEMONSTRATE INCREASED:
your A-players the tools they need to get to the next level. Motivation, Initiative, Engagement, Empathy, Efficiency,
Confidence, Communication Skills, Proactiveness, Critical
CORE COMPETENCIES: Thinking, & Productivity
• Interpersonal effectiveness—Secure buy-in
from multiple stakeholders inside and outside the “The altMBA taught me that I can fit even more into my day
organization. than I thought possible.” ―Denise Visse, Buyer, North
American stores, Nike
• Leadership and management skills—Take charge
and manage projects and coworkers. Lead multiple
AFTER THIS PROGRAM, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO:
projects, set priorities, adapt to changing conditions.
• Gain buy-in with cross-functional partners
• Strong work values—Grit, dependability, integrity,
• Confidently formulate a perspective
confidence, empathy, motivation, courage, and a
positive attitude. • Sell ideas and influence others
• Analyze and process information
WHO SHOULD ATTEND:
The program is for full-time employees who are cross- • Write and communicate effectively
functional leaders, specifically individual contributors, • Iterate quickly and ‘ship’ your work for maximized
managers, or rising managers in product, marketing, productivity
operations, and engineering. Participants have on average
of 6-8 years of professional experience. • Deliver and act on feedback
• Plan, organize, and prioritize work
• Navigate important conversations
REGISTRATION DETAILS:
www.altmba.com

Contact us to apply for corporate seats:

Sam Miller, sam@altmba.com

4
 45 Countries 53% Women

15 Fortune 100 Age 19-74

Companies

Army Rangers,
Red Cross leaders,
Rock group Audio
Manager/VP 40%
Engineer, Real Estate
Director 30%
CEO, Brand Manager,
Freelance/CEO 30%
Product Manager,
Fundraiser, Teacher...

ALUMNI Most Common Alumni

INDUSTRIES
Event Planning Marketing
and Student Job Titles
Accounting
Apparel Fashion Medicine
Arts Film Nonprofit 1. Marketing manager
Automotive Financial Services Oil & Gas
Food & Beverage Packaging
2. Director of marketing
Aviation & Aerospace
Biotechnology Franchise Pharmaceuticals 3. VP of Marketing
Brand Gaming Photography
Broadcast Media Government Physics 4. Product manager
Business Equipment Grocery Professional Services
Chemicals Healthcare Public Relations 5. Project manager
Childcare Hospitality Publishing
6. Operations manager
Coaching HR Real Estate
Construction Industrial Recycling 7. Head of operations
Consulting Automation Retail
Consumer Electronics Information Services Self-development 8. Software developer/
Consumer Goods Insurance Semiconductors engineering manager
Defense & Space International Trade Sports
Design IT Tech, enterprise 9. Designer/ senior designer
Ecommerce Law Tech, startups
Education Logistics & Supply Telecommunications 10. CEO/ founder
Electronic Mfg. Chain Translation
Management Travel & Tourism 11. Director of Client Services/
Energy
Entertainment Consulting Venture Capital Account Management
Manufacturing
5
“Will this be on the test?”

Rethinking
online education
BY SETH GODIN

The first generation of online learning came with a lot of hype but didn’t fully deliver on its promise.
What does the future hold?

A few years ago, a computer science course online But it doesn’t have to be this way.
broke records and signed up 100,000 students. It was
a revelation. Students from all over the world, without The course was as well-designed as a real-world lecture
regard for their ability to pay, formal schooling or and the teacher was qualified and engaging, but it’s not
connections, were all able to take an advanced course a surprise that the dropout rate was so high: As soon as
from a world-class professor. education gets difficult (and useful education always gets
difficult) it’s social pressure, peer pressure and our own
At a time when tuition at an Ivy League school is more need to fit in and achieve that often keeps us going. The
than $40,000 a year ($5,000 a course), this online course typical online course provides precious little of any of
delivered more than three billion dollars worth of higher these elements.
learning aggregate value for free.

This is the sort of mammoth economic and access

transformation that the internet enables.
Your peers can’t see
The media was abuzz. Net theorists, teachers and
you, which makes it
organizations were excited because this was the
beginning of a mammoth shift in the way everyone difficult to see yourself.
would learn everything. Not only a college education, but
corporate training and everything in between.
It’s not surprising that traditional universities embraced
Not mentioned in most of the articles was the fact that online learning — it’s at the heart of their charter. And
nearly 99% of the students that enrolled dropped out countless organizations jumped in as well, because it
of the course. One thousand students graduated — an appears to be not only a public good, but also a cheap way
astonishing number, a huge contribution, but the tiniest to train your people, with zero marginal cost and plenty of
fraction of the number that began the course. upside for everyone.

In real life, a dropout rate of 99% endangers even a Centralized content, top-down control of the syllabus,
tenured professor’s career. the ability to approve every interaction — these are the
hallmarks of a process that fits most bureaucracies.
But, you might say, it’s the internet. We’ve come to
associate the internet as low-engagement, a drive-by Here’s the thing: Large universities have built their
experience. We take for granted that the internet offers us institutions around lectures, tests and accreditation. So
things that are slightly flaky, or easy. So we’re not surprised have many internal training functions.
when the drop out rate is so high. Easy in, easy out.

6
Lectures are at the heart of the last century of higher Traditional schooling is based on top-down power, fear
learning. A proven scholar orates in front of a class of and an elusive carrot. It uses brute force to move large
selected students. numbers of people down a straight line of education
toward a norm.
Tests are the way institutions enforce compliance. They’re
the stick. And the challenge for traditional educators is that when
they go online, they have very little power, the fear that
And accreditation is the carrot. Put up with the lectures comes from hard work causes dropouts and the carrot
and the tests and we’ll give you the certificate, the scarce feels very far away indeed.
piece of paper that is (supposed to be) worth far more
than the effort you went through to get certified. Last year, I set out to try to find a different way to teach
online. I decided that I wouldn’t create an analog of real-

In one question,
life learning online, but instead create a fundamentally
new way to cause change to happen.

then, an easy way to I’m sharing the results of that process here, because
I believe we’re entering a new generation of online

understand modern learning. This is how we built the altMBA.

education: “Will this

At its core: enrollment, not tests. Experiences not media
consumption. Peer to peer, not top down.

be on the test?” Enrollment is a simple concept: People are there because

they want to be, eager to move forward, on precisely the
same road that the course is. They are moving forward,
The student absorbs, the student regurgitates, the and the job of the course isn’t to cajole, it’s to transform.
student gets the prize of a degree (and a job).
Students are on this bus because they want to be.
Modern industrialized education is like a job because, in
large measure, it’s funded by the very same folks who Experiences are at the heart of change. We change when
offer jobs. It’s like a job because school was invented to we do something, when we interact with the world. Lectures
train us to be compliant in our jobs. And it’s like a job weren’t chosen as the default in traditional real-world courses
because compliance is easy to scale. because they maximize educational outcomes. They were
chosen as the default because they are the best way to
We’ve seen that when knowledge jobs meet the internet, efficiently control 45 unenrolled students.
they change. And now we’re seeing that online education
is having trouble acting like a job as well. It turns out that the best way to cause change is for
people to actually change someone or something else.
Online courses can’t offer too much in the way of credit We learn what we do, not what we’re told.
(because there’s too little scarcity) and online tests are
difficult to administer in high-stakes situations. Worst of all Peer-to-peer scales. We have learned this from Facebook
is the fact that few people in the age of a TED talk will eagerly and from eBay and from Etsy and from Kickstarter and
sit through a traditional lecture when there’s little at stake. from airbnb etc. But school hasn’t learned it yet, because
the existing bureaucracies in most industries (and yes,
This has led to an explosion of low-stakes, as-much-fun- education is an industry) are built on the control that
as-vocational online courses like the well-executed ones comes from going top down.
offered by Skillshare and Udemy. But because the stakes
are lower, the amount of transformative learning that I began by imagining the opposite of the current system:
goes on is lower. It’s possible for a semester at Harvard Create a course that was small, not large. Relatively
Business School to change a life — but less likely it will expensive, not free. Real time not asynchronous. Open
happen in a lecture course online. to some, not to all. Experiential, not lecture based. With
live coaches…

7
 Enrollment—in the
outcome and the
process—is the secret
of effective education.

THE ALTMBA, THE COURSE WE NOW RUN,

HAS SOME SURPRISING ELEMENTS:
• The backbone is a hand-built, peer-to-peer learning • A team of trained coaches engage with the students,
environment, not a series of lectures. In fact, there holding office hours in videoconferencing software,
are no lectures at all. cheering from the sidelines and holding people
accountable — not to a system, not to a test, but
• Cohort-based, with groups of five to twenty people
to themselves.
engaged constantly with each other (we use Slack
as a surprisingly powerful peer-to-peer setting for • And so we set expectations. Again and again, about
experiential learning). There is very little time spent how we do things around here.
engaging directly from top down.
• The group is always on the edge of
• There are no lectures, no proprietary videos, no something — success, a breakthrough, exhaustion…
secret lessons. Instead, there’s a deep syllabus of and then they regroup and do it all again.
materials (some required, some optional, most of
• Everyone makes promises, everyone shows up,
them free or low cost).
everyone connects.
• Almost all of the work happens through the 13
• The dropout rate is less than 2%. We graduate
assignments the students complete during the
over 98% of our matriculated students, an almost
month-long workshop.
symmetric reversal of the typical online course.
• All of the final work is in public. A lot like real life.
• Many of our students receive generous and direct
• Every student reviews and then comments on several feedback for the first time. And it sticks.
of the other students’ assignments.
• Every student takes the five or ten comments Online learning is no longer about the technology — off
received and turns them into a reflective script, the shelf tech is already good enough. It’s now about a
detailing actual change, actual growth. series of choices that teachers and education impresarios
• Everything iterates, again and again. can make (or shy away from).

• The students attending are from dozens of cities,

“Is this voluntary or involuntary?”
more than a handful of countries, time zones around
the world, but every admitted student shares the
same mindset of seeking true growth. Self-selection
plus curated admissions means that the support
network is strong. Enrollment—in the outcome and
the process—is the secret of effective education.

8
“Am I doing this as a proxy for something else, as a The new generation of educators can now build courses
payment to get the prize, or is the learning and the that take these volunteers at their word, pushing them to
experience the prize?” do the hard work to actually make change happen.

Transformational experiences almost always involve If you want people to become passionate, engaged in
voluntary enrollment. Crossfit or running a marathon, a field, transformed by an experience — you don’t test
a middle-aged man learning to play the cello, a teenager them, you don’t lecture them and you don’t force them.
giving a TEDx talk. These aren’t things we have to do, Instead, you create an environment where willing, caring
they are things we choose to do. individuals can find an experience that changes them.

When a course begins with that voluntary mindset The lecture doesn’t go away from our culture, and neither
and then uses that enrollment to generously pile on do tests. But neither can be at the center of the online
expectations, connections and promises, the rules learning environment, not any more.
are different.
It’s not easier to run a course this way, it’s actually far
Consider that public school is also known as compulsory more difficult. I’m not sure that matters. What matters is:
education. The posture of everyone involved is that this is Does the process work?
something you must do, not something that is sought out.
We’re standing at a crossroads, even bigger than the one
“Will this be on the test,” is a marker, an admission that that the pioneers of public education saw a hundred years
few people involved in the process are actually willing ago. Let’s not waste it.
participants. No test, no learning. No test, no credit. Few
seek out tests, tests are something we do to people, not
for them.
[This is the sequel to Stop Stealing Dreams,
On the other hand, in the abundance-based economy now reprinted on Medium.]
of online learning, enrollment is essential. It’s voluntary,
after all. Voluntary like the Boston Marathon, voluntary
like a course in public speaking.

Volunteers lean into their work, they gulp instead of sip.

Volunteers aren’t given tests, they take an opportunity.

Volunteers don’t want less, they want more.

9
10
A MANIFESTO

For Small Teams

Doing Important
Work
We are always under tight deadlines, because Make mistakes, own them, fix them, share the
time is our most valuable asset. learning.

If you make a promise, set a date. No date, no Cheap, reliable, public software might be boring,
promise. but it’s usually better. Because it’s cheap and
reliable.
If you set a date, meet it.
Yesterday’s hierarchy is not nearly as important
If you can’t make a date, tell us early and often. as today’s project structure.
Plan B well prepared is a better strategy than
hope. Lock in the things that must be locked in, leave
the implementation loose until you figure out
Clean up your own mess. how it can get done.

Clean up other people’s messes. Mostly, we do things that haven’t been done
before, so don’t be surprised when you’re
Overcommunicate. surprised.

Question premises and strategy. Care more.

Don’t question goodwill, effort or intent. If an outsider can do it faster and cheaper than
we can, don’t hesitate.
“I’ll know it when I see it,” is not a professional
thing to say. Describing and discussing in the Always be seeking outside resources. A better
abstract is what we do. rolodex is better, even if we don’t have rolodexes
any more.
Big projects are not nearly as important as scary
commitments. Talk to everyone as if they were your boss, your
customer, the founder, your employee. It’s all the
If what you’re working on right now doesn’t same.
matter to the mission, help someone else with
their work. It works because it’s personal.

11
 The altMBA Approach to
Organizational Effectiveness
At the upper echelons of organizations, hard skills become a
commodity. Access to information is no longer a challenge. Hard
skills are easy to train for and therefore fungible. The engineers
at Microsoft are as good at software development as the ones at
Citrix and Amazon. The brand marketers at General Mills are similar
to those at Unilever. Hard skills provide little differentiation.​

I used to avoid risk at every junction for fear

of failure. Now, I see risk as an opportunity.
―Elizabeth Phipps, Manager, Artist Marketing, Sony Music

EVERY TEAM IS CAPABLE OF DOING MORE THE STRUGGLE ENABLES TRANSFORMATION

The altMBA believes that an organization’s competitive Educational programs often give participants too much
edge comes from the motivation and the attitude flexibility to opt out. True learning is often accompanied
employees bring to the workplace. We believe that by struggle and conflict. It is in this process of struggling
every single person on the team has the ability to be a that leaders learn to challenge assumptions, recognize
linchpin. Rising leaders can be taught to notice shifts in their own behavior, and see perspectives they take for
the market, to speak up and learn from tighter feedback granted. The altMBA supplements in-house training by
loops, to communicate in a way that secures buy-in. applying the right amount of pressure to keep rising
leaders on the hook.​
WHEN ONE PERSON DOESN’T CONTRIBUTE,
THE ENTIRE SYSTEM LOSES IMPACT EMPLOYERS BENEFIT WHEN THEIR PEOPLE
Every time an A-player has to cajole a B-or-C player CARE ENOUGH TO SPEAK UP
into doing their job, you are unnecessarily taxing your A point of view is worth more than regurgitation,
top talent. We give your A-players the tools to level up and learning how to think is more important than
as change agents, so they stay engaged and inspire being told what to think. At the altMBA, we teach
the teams around them to shift the culture in a frameworks, not tactics. We have taken on the challenge
positive direction. of optimizing for stronger soft skills, critical thinking,
and long-term behavioral change. The best employees
THE STATUS QUO IS NO REASON TO SETTLE don’t await instructions—they use good judgment and
Every day, there is an opportunity to do better. take initiative. We take top employees and empower
Teams can ship faster, and do so with more care them to level up.
and connection. We believe that the onus is on each
employee to raise their hand and ask what more they
can do for the company.​

12
“Perhaps your challenge
isn’t finding a better
project or a better boss.
Perhaps you need to get
in touch with what it
means to feel passionate.
People with passion look
for ways to make things
happen.”
―SETH GODIN, LINCHPIN: ARE YOU INDISPENSABLE?

13
SPOTLIGHT

The altMBA changed

ALUMNI

my view on what can be

accomplished in a day.

Jessica Lauria
SENIOR DIRECTOR OF BRAND COMMUNICATIONS, CHOBANI

Company: Chobani
Title: Senior Director of Brand Communications
Current city: New York, NY
Industry: Consumer goods
Function: Marketing and Communications

After the altMBA, I don’t think I can ever make up an Because of the altMBA, I have more focus and intention
excuse again. in my life—I am trying to think about life in a more goal-
oriented way. No more vague statements that randomly
The altMBA taught me that you really can do anything get thrown out into the world.
you put your mind to, regardless of your parameters.
The altMBA surrounded me with support I never
altMBA grads are going to run the world one day. imagined possible.

The best part of the altMBA was getting recognition for The altMBA changed my my view on what can be
the time and effort you put in. accomplished in a day.

The altMBA inspired me to keep pushing—don’t stop at The altMBA community is shockingly talented.
your first idea. You can, and will, make it better.

14
 The altMBA community
SPOTLIGHT

is full of the most inspiring

group of people I have ever
ALUMNI

worked with. There wasn’t

one individual I crossed
paths with, who I didn’t
learn something from.
Elizabeth Phipps
MANAGER, ARTIST MARKETING, SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

Company: Sony Music Entertainment

Title: Manager, Artist Marketing
Current city: Toronto, Canada
Industry: Music
Function: Marketing

After the altMBA, I found myself in withdrawal. I used to avoid risk at every junction for fear of failure and
Withdrawal from the intensity of brain power, emotion embarrassment. Because of the altMBA I have realized
and stamina that I leaned on over the previous five weeks. that my relationship with risk has a lot to do with the story
After the altMBA came to a close, after the last project I tell that surrounds it. And the realization that I have the
had been posted and we had said our farewells, I found capacity and the responsibility to change how this story is
myself pining for this unbridled energy in all of its forms. told. Now, I see risk as an opportunity.

And so I asked myself, even though the formal education The best part of the altMBA was... how do you name
had ended, what was stopping me from living my life with just one? The obvious answer is the people. I have never
a bit more (or a lot more) altMBA character from here worked with a more inspiring group. The less obvious
on out? The answer was: Nothing and no one. And this answer however is the pace. Even after several days of
is what I strive for every day. Even if it’s only a glimpse, it leaning on the rhetorical question “I can do anything for 5
has the power to shed light on potential. weeks, right?”, I still didn’t fully comprehend the intensity
of the altMBA sprint. I describe it as having the power and
The altMBA taught me that achieving perfection is not momentum of a race horse’s gallop. And you learn to love
a real thing. Nor is it something that we should aspire this pace. To thrive on it in fact. It’s what pushes you out
to. I learned that where the good stuff really flows is in of bed in the morning and keeps your stamina intact until
the space that fills out when you allow yourself to make your last project has shipped.
mistakes, to thrash, and to struggle.
15
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Bounce LinkedIn Spherical Pearson plc Neuhaus Ideas Arnold & Porter Uncommon Schools The Milspo Project
Brolik Meditech SpotterRF Pluralsight Spring Domino Aspire Pharmacy A Glimmer of Hope The Mosaic Project
Citrix MissionU Sungevity Possibilate The Old Globe Banana Republic Action and Theory Thrive Agriculture
Coplex MobiKwik TalkTools Some_Things The Red Cross Bounce Exchange Boomer Web School University of Iowa
Dieste Mondelez Walgreens Surge Homes 141Properties Brook & Whittle Buffelshoek Trust Unleash Myself Co.
Dovico MychefIt YouCaring Trado Verso Adagio Music. DoSomething.org Burton Snowboards Amazon Web Services
Evojam Netscout 72andSunny White House Better Future Emergent Events Charity Navigator Archangel Aerospace
GitHub New Kind Burstworks Woods Bagot Beyer & Söhne Estevez Markets Cherwell Software Awake Entertainment
Google Outbrain Catchafire Xcel Energy Casa de Ideia Grit Consulting Enaxis Consulting Deloitte Consulting
Honali Qualcomm DuckDuckGo Aviate Group Charity:Water Hawaiian Telcom Golden Consulting Destination Justice
Jumblz Sendence Flow Foods Bayview Glen Copy Dojo Ltd Hootsuite Media Johnson & Johnson European Commission
Khorus West Elm Futuretech Bells Design Eric Anderton laurentmemmi.fr Lighten UP Global Global Citizen Year
Kwiziq Winspire Info Media Benefit Link Gemini Media. Sterne Agee CRT MLive Media Group Green Zebra Grocery
Oracle 3Doodler INSYS icom BRANDfluence Hunter Vision Sturgeon County Penguin Group USA Holcroft Healthcare
POCPAN AppNexus Lil Helper Brown-Forman LafargeHolcim The Go! Program Phorel Consulting Lululemon athletica
SoulCo Calabrio Salesforce Codec London Moonfrog Labs The Karis Group 27th Letter Media Mediavest Australia
STOPtv Calexico Scotiabank Detroit Labs Plaster Group The Mother Love Ahead of the Wave Real Life-Real Time
Telkom ConquerX Siemens AG Flashtalking Radley Yeldar The Produce Mom Al Huda Institute The Financial Times
Vitara Consilio Sole Focus FLG Lacrosse Replenish PDX Two Poles Apart Benchic Chocolate Zwift International
XPLANE Ficosota Teco, S.A. Gradus Group Self Employed Affinity Global Combahee Creative Arc’teryx Equipment
Acumen Localist Wavestream King of Pops TetraMap Intl Converticulture Hack Reactor Core Build-Your-Business

16
CLP Power Hong Kong Korin Japanese Trading Espace Expression Gallery Hudson County Community College
Concierge Home Care OPTION Model and Media Export Development Canada Ministerio de Educación, España
Faust International Rehrig Pacific Company Northwind Pharmaceuticals Peloton Coaching and Consulting
Gershburg Law, P.C. Sony Music Masterworks Swift Worldwide Resources Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin
Jain & Company CPAs Studio of KUNG PIK LIU UL Information & Insights University of Colorado, Boulder
Playback Experience Blue Ridge Fly Fishing Zinc Educational Services La Mera Mera / Tec de Monterrey
Sell My Comic Books Cadence Design Systems Aloha Dental & Trybz Media Licensed Clinical Social Worker
SPACE on Ryder Farm flex-pos GmbH & Co. KG Helen Sanderson Associates Transformation Consulting Group
Stilleto Spy School Prospect Sierra School HotSpot Merchant Solutions Australian Broadcast Corporation
TekSavvy Solutions. Public Speaking 4 Kids Optum (UnitedHealth Group) Bright Horizons Family Solutions
The Cerulean Group. Sanofi pharmaceuticals WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff Portland Underground Grad School
The Slocum Firm, PC TetraMap International Barrie D’Rozario DiLorenzo Engineers Without Borders Canada
Underground Network The Conversion Company Biotics Research Northwest Practicing Perfection Institute
Andra Weber Creative The Reserves Network,. ExtensionEngine / Spriteli Serenity Therapeutic Reflexology
Arabesque Production University of Tasmania Hubis Technical Associates Weiniger Group and RE/MAX Premier
Embroidery Unlimited WeWork–University Park Michael Green Architecture Louisiana Department of Education
Fidelity Investments Windsor Wholesale Bait New York Meditation Center International Management Education
Jacobs Entertainment Apricot Video Marketing SABMiller Procurement GmbH National Outdoor Leadership School
Jeff Johnston Writes GSK Consumer Healthcare The Business of Performing San Francisco Emergency Management
Magic City Analytics Kashoo Cloud Accounting The Lanier Property Group. Southern California Edison Company
Promethean Community numberoneson Management Alive and Healthy Institute The Sound of Music Australian Tour
The Qualifirst Group The Montessori Notebook Catholic Health Initiatives Medical Device Management Services
AMAG Pharmaceuticals United States Air Force Grantek Systems Integration Renaissance Association Management
Bounce International Central Bank of the UAE Les Cahiers de l’imaginaire Total Environment Building Systems
Crown Equipment Corp Food Fund International Open to Grow and Emancipate TUBA (Division of Dovico software)
Floream Asia Pacific Herschel Supply Company Thomas Witt Consulting GmbH Orbis Investment Management Limited
Grupo Trigo / Gokoni J R Sales and Solutions Albury Sayle Primary School SALT by American Student Assistance
Osborn International La Molienda Middle East Colin Beavan/ No Impact Man ANINIA Grinberg Method Practitioner
PLOT Managed Futures Northwestern University Premier Leadership Coaching Aqua Online/ Wunderman South Africa
Qualifirst Foods Ltd The Cleveland Playhouse RP Barnes Associates (RPBA) Renaissance Association Management,
Spark the Difference Adaptive Learning Center Timeless Changes Foundation Transformation Consulting Group P/L
Tekkindo Centra Daya Développements Brookline TNS Global -- North America Arthur M. Blank Family of Businesses
The Campbell Academy Edgen Murray Corporation Income Research & Management CohenTaylor Executive Search Services
The Reserves Network Einstein Marketing Group Mibstar Technologies Limited California University of Pennsylvania
Allenby Concept House European Metal Recyclers Anglicare Central Queensland Privilegio Investimentos Imobiliarios
Baker & Hostetler LLP New York Elegant Fabrics Council on Foreign Relations Ronit Kfir Interior Planning & Design
Cricket Genie Limited Price Waterhouse Coopers Kellogg School of Management Squared Online / Floream Asia Pacific
Cultural Change Group Solnet Solutions Limited Parelli Natural Horsemanship Miss Lisa’s Music, formerly SoundSteps
Cypress Semiconductor Sony Music Entertainment Premier Leadership Coaching, Web2Print Experts. / WhatTheyThink.com
Fischer Connectors SA Total Customized Fitness Shhivika Chauhan Photography Home Care and Hospice Association of NJ
Gale-Cengage Learning UNIQA Insurance Group AG Capitol Christian Music Group Taut Body and Artcaffe Restaurant Group
Heine Brothers Coffee Blue Dinosaur Paleo Bars Digital Transformation Office University of California, San Francisco
Hyundai Motor America Cadence Consulting Group Nelson Capital at Wells Fargo Diego Springs Academy–Learn4Life Network
Incitec Pivot Limited Elite Enterprises Global Princeton Leadership Services Replenish PDX and Holistic Nutrition Lab
Lexmark International London Meditation Centre ShineOn Educational Solutions International Solidarity for Human Rights
Malya Scented Candles Long Term Stock Exchange #Not1MoreDeportation campaign University of Denver Sturm College of Law
Myers and Stauffer LC Re/Max Alliance Downtown Accomplice Content Supply Co. Revo Physiotherapy and Sports Performance
Opportunity E-Cycling Rocky Mountain Institute Bank of America Merrill Lynch Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Stomping Ground Photo State Street Corporation Beehive Sport and Social Club Sweet Spot Marketing and Brockton agencies
Three W International The Little Middle School Hemminger Law Group Westshore Jazz Maastricht, Maastricht Guitar Society
University of Alberta University of Washington McPherson’s Consumer Products Discovery Communications, US Hispanic Group
Western Manufacturing Walgreens Boots Alliance Innovations for Poverty Action International Network of Children’s Ministry
Bromley By Bow Centre Advanced Solar Industries Sapphire Compliance Management Sky International A.G. (subsidiary of BSkyB)
Clinical Psychologist Carrot Eye Surgery Clinic University of British Columbia Council on International Educational Exchange
Crown Equipment Corp. Duke Integrative Medicine Business Marketing Association Royal LePage Commercial Real Estate Brokerage
Gama Point Consulting Thatcher Technology Group Department of Veterans Affairs The Australian Football League–www.afl.com.au
Guided Guitar Lessons China Light & Power (CLP) innovateandgrowconsulting gmbh The Shenbaum Group (dba Jennifer Buys Houses)
Honey Bunny’s Kitchen Dominion Technology Group American Translator Association Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate - Go Realty
Inspire Digital Media
Koshertopia marketing
National Public Radio
Nielsen IT Consulting
Summit Point Services
We’re proud of our alumni and
Trapdoor Technologies
Alfa Wassermann S.p.A. the organizations where they lead
17
 The altMBA taught
me that almost every
good idea can be made
better by asking a better
question.
—KACI LAMBE,
[FORMER] SENIOR WEB DESIGNER, WHOLE FOODS MARKET

“I applied to the altMBA with three

expectations: to learn how to ship my
best work, to learn how better provide
and accept feedback, and to discover
catalysts that would help me influence
change. I’m grateful that the altMBA
helped me achieve those things. It was
time and energy well spent. It opened
my eyes.”

—CAMILA NARANJO, DIRECTOR ISV CO-SELL LEAD,

MICROSOFT

“I embraced and understood abstract

ideas like problem framing, constraints,
and sunk costs more than I’d ever been
able to from a textbook or lecture.”

—ANGELA PHAM, MANAGER, THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

INSTITUTE, PWC

“What I learned in the altMBA

contributed to my leadership. It
contributed to my understanding of
business and entrepreneurialism. I’m
able to more strategically and specifically
lead my team after having been through
the altMBA experience.”

—LAUREN EVANS, STORE MANAGER,

LULULEMON ATHLETICA

18
“After altMBA, not only do I
accept meaningful feedback,
but I go looking for it. My
approach to having others
critique my work has
completely changed and
I do not say that lightly.”
—James Murphy, Marketing Manager, Live Nation

19
 Camila Naranjo
DIRECTOR, ISV CO-SELL AMERICAS LEAD, MICROSOFT

It’s a growth mindset

based approach where
you get better at every
deliverable.

What’s the thing you liked most about being

part of the altMBA?
“Like-mindedness.” I was delighted to be around people
who shared a strong passion for helping others and
strong determination for being their very best self.

Tell us what you do and what your work What’s something you approached
typically entails. differently recently because of what you
Across the Americas, I work with our enterprise and learned during the altMBA?
midmarket sales teams to help solve customer problems, Everything in my personal and professional life. In the
optimize their operations and maximize their business past, when meeting a different opinion, one that I didn’t
potential using the power of the cloud. How? by leveraging necessarily share, I usually opted to persuade.
infrastructure and vertical software solutions that work
on Microsoft’s cloud platform: Azure. Today I ask: What is she/he seeing that I’m not?

20
 Any other comments or recommendations
about the altMBA?
The altMBA presents a very different educational concept.
Rather than to lecture, it provides a space to learn.

Students are guided by coaches, not teachers, who strive

at making you uncomfortable by providing just enough
direction.

Their intent is that you can figure your way through the
process and have an open path for self-discovery in a safe
and generous environment. To me, this was extraordinary to
have!

The program is demanding and the rhythm is very active.

Since there are no teachers, no certificate, no grades,
think this program may be best suited for someone who
demonstrates solid initiative and commitment to self-
learning and development.

Someone who has a strong interest in developing how to

provide and receive feedback would also benefit strongly.

I expected traditional marketing and sales concepts to be

How has the altMBA helped you level up? presented and developed through the course. The program
I now operate in quick, rich cycles to optimize learning does nothing of that sort.
and strong deliverables.
You will be asked to prepare a post on a given set of
By shipping thoughtfully yet quickly, I am able to gather questions. The project will involve business and marketing
broader worldviews and richer feedback very early in concepts such as creating marketing campaign or a sales
the process. pitch but, it will do it from an innovative perspective.

The outcome is a cohesive and inclusive approach to a Rather than ask me how to improve my pitch, it will ask me
strong deliverable. By the time it’s completed, everyone to explain why I would purchase from my competitor.
involved has weighed in.
In the process, not only did I discover how I could sell
The altMBA helped me realize that learning happens in better by looking at the process from a different angle but,
cycles. I was constantly motivated to deliver my best work I learned about world views and empathy which are crucial
and further develop the concepts of “perfect enough” and concepts in the business world today.
“no right or wrong answers.”
I LOVED it. I’m a big fan. In marketing terms: I’m an advocate.
I was encouraged to help others deliver their best work
and share what I thought they could have done differently In case you are interested: Seth doesn’t chime in
using questions rather than statements. much. No grandiose opening or closing, no continuous
encouragement, no validation.
It’s a growth mindset based approach where you get
better at every deliverable. I was asked to reflect and The interesting takeaway is that the content and rhythm are
humbly share what I could have done differently. so strongly marked by his creativity and influence, that such
expectation becomes irrelevant a few days into the course.
In the process, not only did I discover how I could sell
better by looking at the process from a different angle Why? Because you will figure out there’s a tremendous
but, I learned about world views and empathy which are amount to be learned from the least expected players in the
crucial concepts in the business world today. course…

21
ALUMNI
INDUSTRIES
Art Media
Fitness Construction
Consulting Finance
ENTREPRENEURS ARE EMPOWERED BY THE ALTMBA
Design Food
Grocery Healthcare
The altMBA is a springboard for new ventures and new ideas. Over half of
Ecommerce Law students are freelancers, entrepreneurs, and business owners who are
Technology Marketing making an impact.
Medicine Photography
Education Retail

I signed up for the altMBA chiefly because I’ve been reading Seth for years and instinctively
knew that this would be an amazing opportunity. I’d just set up an new business and felt
sure I’d learn the missing pieces that I’d need to be successful. The reality turned out to be so
much more than that. I instantly had chance to bring all the learning into my business. I got
incredible constructive, supportive and honest feedback from fellow students and my coaches.
Above all... I made friends. I found my tribe. And I’m part of a group of people intent on making
a positive impact on this world. The best is yet to come.

—GRANIA MURRAY, FOUNDER, THE RETREAT

FOUNDERS SMB/ BUSINESS OWNERS If you’re thinking of a career

Keely Tillotson Yasser Khan
Co-Founder and CEO Surgeon, Business owner
change, join the ruckusmakers
Wild Friends Foods Carrot Eye Surgery Clinic who’ve done it before:
Adam Braun Cory Boehs Jesus Roalandini, freelance filmmaker,
Founder President former senior art director, digital imaging at
Pencils of Promise Kool Foam Kate Spade

Mark Skaggs Chris Durban Ryon Lane, freelance producer, former

Director Co-Founder and Translator lawyer, working on 3-year project with
Moonfrog Labs Trado Verso Translation Salesforce
Creator of Farmville
[Former] SVP at Zynga Tom Vein Rachel Landers, freelance designer, founder
Audio Engineer & creative director, formerly senior UX
Mike Mays Freelance for the Smashing Pumpkins designer at Whole Foods Market
Co-Founder and president and Blink-182
Heine Bros Coffee Josh Warman, now at a stealth startup,
Adam Lemmon formerly a Project Executive at IBM
Dan Leader Owner and Founder
Founder and CEO Badass Backpacks Karen Diaz, founder at Igniting Lightmakers,
Bread Alone formerly a Client Executive–Education and
Michael Mequio Government at IBM
David Vendley Ophthalmologist
Co-Founder Whidbey Eye Center Eric Moeller, managing director at Copy Dojo,
Calexico restaurants formerly Director, Global Service Portfolio
Robin Estevez Management at SAP
Luke Miner Owner of grocery chain
Co-Founder Vice President at Estevez Markets Foodtown Nikole Batista, owner and creative director
YouCaring.com at Cloth/Curios, formerly Brand Design
Manager IMBU/AirDye Solutions

22
My creative confidence is
growing immensely. This
process confirmed for
me that I could map out
taking on a big project,
stick to the plan, and have
a completed product when
I’m done with altMBA.
Community feedback, peer
support, shared beliefs in
personal potential, and the
right to pursue happiness
make the altMBA a perfect
place to prepare to leap.
—RYON LANE, PARTNER/PRODUCER, WHITE RABBIT

What a great way to start the new year! The altMBA was
the challenge, structure, and community I needed to learn
how to successfully create meaningful change. Through
the learning, assignments, discussions, and reflections, I
realized I am capable of so much more. I am convinced that
the altMBA has re-wired my brain.
—BRADLEY SPITZER, FREELANCE PRODUCER AND PHOTOGRAPHER

I feel insightful, integrated, & energized to challenge the

status quo.
—PAM ROSAL, NATIONAL OUTDOOR LEADERSHIP, RIVER PROGRAM MANAGER

23
 Tom Vein
AUDIO ENGINEER, THE SMASHING PUMPKINS

I didn’t know
if this was for me...
I was in a seemingly
unrelated industry...

How has the altMBA helped you level up? Tell us what you do and what your work
The altMBA has changed the fundamental way I typically entails.
understand and interact with others. It has taught me to I’m an audio engineer, more specifically I’m a monitor
live with a deeper sense of empathy and compassion, to engineer. A monitor engineer helps the musicians at
look at life from a new point of view. a concert hear what they want to hear. I am the point
person off stage that the artist communicates to.
The altMBA has helped me understand that every person
has a unique underlying story that leads and guides I help musicians feel more comfortable performing on
the way they live. That even though someone may have stage. In these stressful and vulnerable environments, I
the opposite opinion doesn’t mean they are wrong or pay close attention to the artist and make sure they are
misinformed in their thinking or reasoning. But that their taken care of so they can do their job properly.
story is correct, and if you can begin to understand that
story you can start to make change happen. Though a solid knowledge of audio fundamentals is
necessary, the more complicated requirements are
the capacity to interpret the subtleties of the musician
on stage and the ability to immediately solve problems
in very stressful situations, all while remaining calm
and collected.

24
“I’ve been reading Seth’s blog
and books for years but didn’t
know how I could actionably
apply a lot of this information
into my life.”

What’s the #1 thing you liked about being Any other comments or recommendations
part of the altMBA? about the altMBA?
The number one thing I liked about being in the altMBA I didn’t know if this was for me, I didn’t actually think it
is the format of the course. From the very first meeting was, but I applied anyways. I’ve been reading Seth’s blog
over video chat, I instantly knew this was the future of and books for years but didn’t know how I could action-
education. The way the subject matter is assembled, ably apply a lot of this information into my life. I was in
and how the interactions took place, you realize that this a seemly unrelated industry at the time of application
platform was something unique and groundbreaking. and took a chance, made a leap and it changed my life.
This course thoroughly and thoughtfully combined and
You are given real-world, actionable projects in an distilled the essence of Seth’s teaching on leadership and
environment of like-minded people. Peers that wouldn’t change-making into one-of-a-kind groundbreaking exer-
put up anything but first rate work. You were instantly cise that penetrates deep and leaves a lasting impression.
called out and probed for not going deep enough, not
trying hard enough and not being honest enough with
yourself. It made it challenging in a way that I had never
experienced before.

What’s something you approached

differently recently because of what you I took a chance,
learned during the altMBA?
Since the altMBA I’ve approached criticism as a welcomed made the leap
gift, an opportunity to learn more about myself. It’s easy
to feel like comments and criticism are a personal attack,
but now I seek them out. Change in yourself doesn’t
and it changed
happen when you can only interpret from your own
comfortable perspective. When you welcome criticism
my life.
and allow yourself to be uncomfortable and fully process
it without getting defensive, you get to see a side of
yourself you may usually be blinded to. You may just find
an answer you’ve been seeking out.

25
26
“Every element has a purpose.
If you don’t know what it is,
how will you achieve it?”
WHAT ENGINEERS KNOW
Everything has a function. Every element of the bridge or the spaceship
is there for a reason, even if the reason is decorative.

When NASA engineers put together the payload for an Apollo rocket,
there was real clarity about trade offs.

Everything weighs something, everything takes up space. Nothing goes

on a lunar module unless there’s a really good reason.

And the same thing is true of the way you will spend your next hour, the
question you will choose to ask or not ask, the people you will seek out
on your journey: What is it for?

THE RESET
Every time we spend (spend time, spend money, spend trust, spend
attention) we do it in the hope of getting something in return.

Sometimes, all we seek is the satisfaction of having done something

well. Or amusing ourselves. Or contributing in some way.

Along the way, we’ve gotten so good at spending that we do it out of

instinct. We spend our time and our money and our trust on things
because we always have.

But the world changes, faster every day. What we seek is

transformation. The external and internal pressures on us keep
changing as well.

There’s a simple way to reset.

We can ask, “what’s it for?”

In an organization that understands what it’s for, the thing we want

is the change we seek. Everything we do has that in mind.

That announcement before the flight, where they teach people how
to put on their seatbelts… what’s it for?

Resumes, job interviews… what are they for?

Working in the office instead of remotely… what’s it for?

Spending 30 extra hours looking for typos… what’s it for?

That’s the essence of design thinking and a fundamental part of the

altMBA: Exploring what it means to build with the end in mind, to be
clear with ourselves and others about what it’s for.
27
By STEPHANIE HABIF The altMBA — one of the most successful
online learning experience to date — has a
Behavioral Scientist doing ux research+ behavior design strategy 96% completion rate. It’s an online leadership
for consumer engagement. Lecturer @stanforddschool; and management workshop founded in 2015
Affiliate of Stanford Persuasive Tech Lab. by Seth Godin. The program uses digital tools
like Slack, WordPress and Zoom to engage

How to
more than 100 students at a time in an intense
four-week course. In 2016, students from
27 countries and 85 industries worldwide
participated.

Design
In a domain that suffers, let’s say,
opportunistic engagement statistics, what is
the altMBA doing to defy such odds?

As a behavior designer and teacher, I’m

an Online
constantly curious about initiatives that
impact students and push the edge in
education. For the past few years I’ve been
teaching several courses at the d.school at

Course
Stanford, including the popular course “The
Consumer Mind and Behavior Design” with
bestselling author Nir Eyal. We bring into our
classroom the latest and greatest ways to
design for consumer engagement.

with a 96%
So I reached out to Wes Kao at the altMBA,
and asked for all her secrets. It wasn’t just
the completion rate that impressed me, but
the rigor of the program: altMBA students

Completion
voluntarily opt-in to the ~3–5 hours of work
per day everyday on top of their full-time jobs
during the four week program.

Wes and I discussed the program evolution,

Rate
how the altMBA leverages technology
to bring people closer, and how she uses
design-thinking to maximize online student
engagement.

SH: You accept around 100–130 students per

session and employ a total of 15 coaches. How
did you determine this number/ratio?

WK: At the heart of every learning

Online education is a $100+ billion dollar industry and growing.
engagement is the ratio that the organization
Easier access to education makes the world better, and, according chooses. From Socrates tutoring one or two
people to a MOOC with 100,000, choosing this
to MIT researchers, people who finish online courses end up with
number determines so much else — and so it
the same learning gains as those who physically attend class. was one of the first decisions we made.

Trouble is, to reap the benefits, students have to finish the course. We begin everything we do (and teach) at the
Too bad studies show the average completion rate of online altMBA with the question, “what is it for?” Our
answer for the workshop itself is: To change
courses is 4%. people. To fundamentally alter the way that
they see, the way they make decisions, the way
they engage and enroll others in their journey.

So where is the other 96%? We spent months looking at different

combinations on the x-y axes spectrum and
what the trade-offs and gains would be. Some
questions we considered:
I found it at the altMBA.
10 people or 10,000 people per session?
In person or online?
Synchronous or asynchronous?
High touch or low touch?

28
Free or expensive? Along the way, we explored not only how to Experimenting, which sometimes feels like
Content consumption or production? teach a concept, but how to engage students getting punched in the face repeatedly.
Dreamers or doers? more deeply, how to encourage honest and
Seth-centric or separate entity? rigorous peer feedback and how to create a SH: Who do you consider competitors to
Easy or difficult to complete? platform that was both safe and in public. We altMBA?
10 people or 10,000 people per session? didn’t get any of this right at first, but having a
posture of rapid evolution helped us turn the WK: Inertia, fear of the unknown, fear of
One of the guiding principles that came out of workshop into what it is now. change, fear/dislike of hard work. It would
this questioning was this: Scale isn’t the point. have been significantly easier to build a
Change is the point. And once we discarded SH: Was there a formal job description for workshop like the altMBA if we had direct
scale, we added coaches into the mix (because your role when you left SF for NYC to work competitors. Easier to build and easier to
you can’t have 10,000 coaches in a 100,000 with Seth? If so, would you be willing to find the right students. But our instinct is to
person course). share the altMBA Director job description to pioneer, not to grow market share.
highlight what you regularly do?
From there, finding the platonic ideal of 10
coaches, 10 students per coach seemed a WK: I joined the team as Special Projects Lead
natural place to settle. in the fall of 2014. There wasn’t a formal job
description.
SH: How do you touch people in an effective In summary,
way by replicating the experience of working Half of my time was helping to launch and lead takeaway design guidelines
with Seth without really having him there? the go-to-market roll out for various projects,
including launching Seth’s Udemy course, the for making or sponsoring
WK: Seth is a non-scalable asset. Students Your Turn Challenge, Ruckusmaker Workshop, an online learning
are learning his material, for sure. But when design prototyping days, Seth on Instagram,
you go to college, it’s not just what you are etc. experience include:
learning — it’s physically being in lecture hall
and being in dorms and being with other The other half was ideating with Seth and 1: Clarify a specific purpose in the form of an
students. building a case for what projects he should answer to the question “What is it for?”
do next. This included identifying market
We wanted to tap into mechanisms to enable opportunities, seeing where we had leverage, 2: Steer clear of already existing online
people to be more accountable. We kept and analyzing how different business models learning programs during the ideation/design
asking ourselves: Is there a way to use online and distribution channels could work. This phases of your program build.
tools in a way in which students won’t give up eventually led to the start of the altMBA.
so easily? 3: Identify what elements of in-person learning
I’m fortunate to work with an amazing team are critical to incorporate for engagement. For
For instance, like a traditional university and community. Again, there’s not a formal instance, altMBA students must be able to see
experience, we decided to enable students: job description, but I can share some of how I and hear each other when they interact. They
spend my time: must sync to interact at the same mandatory
a) to see each other during learning sessions, times every week. And students have constant
so we use Zoom; Making sure our team is highly-leveraged, support from their peers and coaches.
fulfilled, productive.
b) to learn on a synchronous schedule, so we 4: Design an application process that reveals
have students meet in real-time Tues/Thurs/ Planning our short and long term growth what you need to know about the kind of
Sunday; strategy. people you want. For example, traditional
education places a lot of emphasis on criteria
c) to receive coaching support, so we use Slack Prioritizing where we invest our attention, and less on spirit of eagerness. The altMBA
for coach/student interactions. which includes identifying what we could and looks for how ready the applicant is to work
should be doing, then working with folks on hard and commit, as well as track record.
Synchronous times for students getting the team to get things done.
together is critical, and students are required 5: Stick to the integrity of your design. The
to attend. People push back in the beginning, Deciding what problems we should be solving. market will constantly push you towards
but then they do very well. Is it actually a problem? What’s the impact? To cheaper, easier, less difficult to accomplish.
whom? Is it worth solving? Then, finally, how It does not always pay to customize an
SH: How do you know whether or not should we solve it? experience.
something is working?
Finding ways to reach people who would be
WK: People want to succeed, so finding that glad to know we exist and be glad that they did
sweet spot around how much structure the workshop, using approaches that we’d be
to build in versus how open to leave it is proud of down the line.
something we are constantly observing.
Working with organization who realize
We rarely ask people for feedback in the that soft skills are the difference between
traditional way, after the fact, with structured A-players and everyone else, and helping
surveys. Instead, we observe behavior and them pick which employees should take the
watch how people interact to see if they are program.
acting the way we designed for or not.

29
Six
Common 2. What is the time commitment?

Questions
The altMBA is designed to be a part-time program that
fits into the work schedules of busy professionals. Our
students put 20 to 30 hours a week into the workshop, all
while maintaining commitments at high-profile day jobs.

About the
This comes out to about 3-4 hours per day on average,
including weekends. It’s intense, but as our alumni say:
“You can do anything for a month.”

We put students into class times based on your time zone.

altMBA
You can choose from Pacific, Central, Eastern, or London.
Group meeting days are Tuesdays and Thursdays 6-9pm,
and Sundays 10am–6pm as a time block, though you may
not use up the entire time.

3. I work full time and have a family.

1. What kind of people do well in the
Will I have time to do the altMBA?
altMBA? What will my classmates be like? The altMBA was designed for full-time working
Your classmates will be from 85+ industries, hundreds
professionals. Over 90% of our students work at fast-paced
of cities, and and dozens of functions. With only 100-140
companies or are busy freelancers, and many have families.
spots per session, we spend a lot of time curating the right
mix of leaders. Because the program is so much about Most of the workshop is project based. This means that
learning from one another and group work, the program there’s solo time (doing the research, digging in deep)
is built to expose you to as many new perspectives and as well as group time. We have found that dedicated
personalities as possible. students find the time to do both, no matter what else is
going on around them.
What we hear the most:
Here are what some of our alumni are saying:

Everyone is far more “That entire month was probably the busiest I’ve
ever been professionally, on top of doing the altMBA.
generous and engaged I would say ironically, the busier I got, the more
productive I actually was.” —Ian Scott, Director of

than I expected… Product at Start With Why/ Simon Sinek, Inc, formerly
product manager at Kickstarter

“The altMBA changed my view on what can be

People discover two things at the same time—everyone is
accomplished in a day.” —Jessica Lauria, Senior Director
smarter than they expected, and yet, everyone is open and
of Brand Communications, Chobani
appreciative for the contributions that each student makes.
“The altMBA is a herculean task. It is exhausting. But it’s
Just about everyone who is admitted tells us that they
worth every iota of time and effort you invest. If I could do
were surprised we chose them, and then adds that they
the altMBA again a year from now, I would.”
are glad they took the leap. Go ahead and apply… you
—Max Kramer, Product Manager, Trello
might surprise yourself.

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4. The workshop is project-based.
Can you share what the projects are like?
There are three projects per week, all created so they
can be completed within a few hours on days where
you have class. The projects are meant to mimic the
types of work you might need to do in real life at your
workplace.
6. What happens after the altMBA?
There’s a mix of individual vs group work. Some projects
Do people keep in touch?
are solo, others are entirely group-based, others you split
For most workshops, the answer is nothing. That’s fair.
up the work and come back together.
When an event ends, it’s the participant’s choice to keep
in touch with others.
Almost all of the content you consume (about 25% of your
time) is material that you can find in other places. The
But for the altMBA, we’ve been blown away by how closely
altMBA isn’t about secret recipes—instead, we focus on
alumni continue to support each other. After the month
the extraordinary power of experience.
ends, we make it easy to stay in touch.
There are different multimedia formats, including blog
On your last day, we will invite you to an alumni platform,
posts, written analyses, filming a two minute video of
where 1500+ alumni are waiting to meet you. It may feel
yourself talking into the webcam, or presentations.
a little overwhelming when you first join—there’s a ton of
And for the type of thinking involved, the projects
chatter in the main channels and plenty of topic-specific
include analysis, critical thinking, creativity, ideation,
channels ranging from book recommendations to project
brainstorming, and practicing how to implement
collaboration.
frameworks until they become second nature.
We have an alumni-only Facebook group, alumni portal,
LinkedIn group, newsletter, directory, and informal
5. Is the altMBA for people who know what meetups in the real world.
they want to do, or for people
Time after time, we hear from alumni that the best part
who are figuring out their path?
of the altMBA is the people that become connected to
Both. The common thread is that leaders arrive in the
one another. We hear about alumni becoming friends,
altMBA with a fire in the belly and an eagerness to do more.
going to a fellow alumni’s wedding, hiring each other,
We have corporate students who are happy in their doing mastermind groups together, grabbing coffee when
current roles, but have side projects or are curious they’re flying through another alumni’s city.
to learn better ways to lead initiatives within their
We open the doors. The connecting is up to you.
organizations.

Examples of the ways we make it easy to stay in touch:

We have students in transition: startup operators figuring
out the path forward, people venturing out to start their
• Alumni-only Facebook and LinkedIn groups
own business, freelancers who see a trajectory and want
to get to the next level. • Alumni Slack room with 750+ alumni and tons of
interest-based channels
Change can be unpredictable so it helps to come with an
• Monthly alumni-only newsletter
open mind. We’ve had plenty of alumni say they came
in with a specific tactical idea of what they thought they • Quarterly in-person meetups in over 18 different
wanted. Through the process of the four weeks, they cities including Detroit, London, Boulder, San
came to realize that they actually wanted something Francisco, London, Miami, DC, Boston, NYC,
completely different. Philadelphia, Raleigh….
• Alumni Directory to tap into expertise and offer
The act of doing the projects and getting peer feedback can
your own to support fellow alumni
provide clarity. It can give you a better understanding of
where you have leverage, what your constraints and assets • Casual happy hours that are self-organized by
are, how to be resourceful, and how to move past roadblocks. alumni ad hoc

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 It wasn’t what I expected
In August of 2017, we invited the 1,400 alumni of the altMBA to gather together in
New York for the first time. We planned an informal two-day get together, a chance
to for people who had never met in person to finally connect in the real world.

Since the altMBA is in more than 650 cities and 49 countries, I didn’t expect much in
terms of a turnout. We were prepared for twenty or thirty people to pay their own
way to join us for the weekend.

Instead, more than 180 people attended. Five came all the way from Australia.

But that wasn’t the surprising part.

No, the part that surprised me was how quickly people connected. It didn’t feel like
a first-time get together. Instead, we were having a family reunion of sorts.

That beautiful day in August we discovered that when you grow together, you stay
together. That giving people a chance to level up, to see what’s possible, to confront
their fears and leap… creates its own form of magic.

The altMBA is for people in a hurry. We help you see what’s possible, to encounter
others that want to make a difference, and most of all, to learn to make an even
bigger impact.

We’re on a mission to change the way leaders like you level up. If you’re ready for us,
we’re ready for you. I hope you’ll join us.

Seth Godin
Founder

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Want to know more? Visit altmba.com or drop us a line (hello@altmba.com). We’d love to year from you.
 Go Make a Ruckus

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