From Non-profit To IPO: The Turnaround Of Grand Canyon University: Brent Richardson (Part 5)

SM: What have been some of the key points of your more recent strategy? BR: Last summer we ended up hiring the CEO, COO and CFO from the University of Phoenix, the Apollo Group, to help us run Grand Canyon because we did not have any public experience. We had decided to go public so

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From Non-profit To IPO: The Turnaround Of Grand Canyon University: Brent Richardson (Part 4)

SM: Has your move to online education met your expectations in terms of your business model? BR: The online educational side is a very profitable model because it is mostly variable costs. In that aspect, it differs from traditional education.

From Non-profit To IPO: The Turnaround Of Grand Canyon University: Brent Richardson (Part 3)

SM: What was the financial structure utilized? Did you raise money? BR: The first year my brother and I, along with two other investors, put in capital that we thought was enough to get the organization to where we thought it needed to be. In 2005, the Department of Education came in and required a

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From Non-profit To IPO: The Turnaround Of Grand Canyon University: Brent Richardson (Part 2)

SM: In 2001 you sold the company. Is that when you ran into Grand Canyon University? BR: We sold, and like most entrepreneurs I had started another company with my brother. That was Masters Online, in which we were using all the things we had learned about the Internet and online education. We were partnering

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From Non-profit To IPO: The Turnaround Of Grand Canyon University: Brent Richardson (Part 1)

Brent Richardson is the executive chairman of the board for Grand Canyon University. He joined GCU in 2003 as the CEO and led the transformation of a near-bankrupt university into an IPO success story. Prior to GCU, he was the founder of multiple companies and CEO of Masters Online. In his early career, he gained

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Teaching K-12 Math Online: Reasoning Mind CEO Alex Khachatryan (Part 7)

SM: How much philanthropy money have you raised so far for Reasoning Mind? AK: Overall, we are funded by 70 donors. We have generated huge support from both individuals and private foundations. In total we have raised just over $12 million, plus in-kind contributions such as Oracle giving us free database support.

Teaching K-12 Math Online: Reasoning Mind CEO Alex Khachatryan (Part 6)

SM: In moving out of state, have you had to adapt the curriculum at all? Is there any difference between curricula state to state? AK: Not much. There is some difference, but we covered it through offline lessons that we develop quickly. In our experience, 80%–90% is already there.

Teaching K-12 Math Online: Reasoning Mind CEO Alex Khachatryan (Part 5)

SM: In 2002 were you focusing only on math? AK: Yes, that alone was a daunting task. Our vision was to go beyond mathematics because the engine itself could deliver content in any subject.