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This Week in Startups

Magic School uses AI to help kids learn, not cheat | E2196

This Week in Startups

Jason Calacanis

Technology

4.41.3K Ratings

🗓️ 22 October 2025

⏱️ 58 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Are AI tools in the classroom just time-savers, or can they have genuine educational value?In a must-watch TWiST 500 interview, Alex chats with Magic School founder (and former principal) Adeel Khan about how AI tools can make teachers more effective, and keep students inspired, without just doing all the work for them. He talks about turning an AI chatbot into a true assistant teacher, that keeps the lessons balanced yet challenging, and particularly empowers classroom novices and non-professionals.THEN… is 6 years too long for employees to wait to vest? Is this just another founder trying to reinvent EVERYTHING, just because they can’t resist? Ramp CEO Eric Glyman joins Jason and Alex to answer pressing founder questions from viewersPLUS there’s a new entrant in our Gamma Pitch Deck competition, and it’s so compelling, Jason can’t wait to invest! Kris Canete of On the Fly Energy tells us about America’s fragile power grid and his elegant solution: flywheel energy storage!Timestamps:0:00 - Welcome to TWiST!02:59 - Former principal Adeel Khan of TWiST 500's Magic School AI tells us why “teachers are magic”09:41 - Goldbelly ships America’s most delicious, iconic foods nationwide! Get 20% off your first order by going to Goldbelly.com and using the promo code TWiST at checkout.10:50 - How AI tools can particularly help out classroom novices and non-pros who are just getting started20:57 - Check out the online payroll and benefits experts with software built specifically for small business and startups. Try Gusto today and get three months FREE at Gusto.com/twist.26:58 - How Magic School stays ahead of shifting standards across different states and regions32:57 - Zite is the fastest way to build *business software* with AI. Build apps, forms, websites and portals that connect to the tools you already use. Go to *zite.com/twist* to get started.33:30 - Why the best feedback Adeel ever got came from a teenager36:30 - Making AI a true assistant teacher, that keeps lessons balanced yet challenging38:38 - Is a 6-year vesting schedule too aggressive? Eric Glyman responds.41:00 - When even ambitious founders should sometimes just accept a standard deal.57:33 - What IS flywheel energy storage?01:00:00 - Why Jason loves the Fly Energy Gamma pitch and wants to invest right now.01:34:13 - Gamma Outro*Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: [https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com](https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com/)Check out the TWIST500: [https://www.twist500.com](https://twist500.com)Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp*Follow Lon:X: https://x.com/lons*Follow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: [⁠  / alexwilhelm  ](  / alexwilhelm  )*Follow Jason:X:   / jason  LinkedIn: [  / jasoncalacanis  ](  / jasoncalacanis  )Great TWIST interviews: [Will Guidara,](   • Lessons in Unreasonable Hospitality with W...  ) [Eoghan McCabe](   • Great Builders & Success First with Interc...  ), [Steve Huffman](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast..., [Brian Chesky](https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast..., [Bob Moesta,](   • Decoding Customer Insights, Trust, and the...  ) [Aaron Levie](https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast..., [Sophia Amoruso](https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast..., [Reid Hoffman](https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast..., [Frank Slootman](https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast..., [Billy McFarland](https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast...)*Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis*Follow TWiST:Twitter:   / twistartups  YouTube:    / thisweekin  Instagram: [  / thisweekinstartups  ](  / thisweekinstartups  )TikTok:   / thisweekinstartups  Substack: [https://twistartups.substack.com](

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hey everybody, welcome back to Twist. This is Alex, and I know you're probably just coming back from

0:05.3

the OpenAI browser stream. Don't worry. We're going to get to that tomorrow. But today on the

0:11.2

speaking startups, we are talking to founders. First up, Adele Khan, he's the founder and CEO at a startup

0:17.8

called Magic School that wants to bring AI into the classroom responsibly.

0:23.2

Think about things like helping teachers with their lesson plans, creating more individualized

0:27.5

setups for children that might need it, and on the student side, AI literacy, and perhaps even

0:32.8

getting early feedback on papers.

0:35.0

It's a really cool idea.

0:36.1

It's growing like a weed.

0:37.2

And of course, yes, we do talk

0:38.5

about privacy a little bit and the risks of increasingly digital classrooms and what that might

0:43.0

do to our children's brains. But based on all the data I can see, AI is coming to school and

0:47.9

magic school wants to do it well. Then after that, we're going to take a founder question.

0:52.8

This is a chat back from when we had Eric Gleiman on the show, the CEO over Ed Ramp. You may have heard of it. And we thought it was a really fun one. Someone wrote in asking about how long it should be for an employee to vest their shares. Four years, six years. Should it be different than what a CEO sees in their own pay package? Well, we dig into that and more.

1:11.7

And then to wrap up today, perhaps our favorite ever on-screen pitch as part of our gamma

1:16.3

pitch event, this is a company that I didn't see coming, that I hadn't even thought of as an

1:21.0

idea, but I absolutely love. And I got to learn quite a lot about material science during the

1:26.3

conversation. So sit back, enjoy.

1:28.5

We have a three-part show for you today, and each part is absolute gold.

1:32.3

Have fun.

1:33.0

This week in startups is brought to you by Goldbelly.

1:36.4

Goldbelly ships America's most delicious, iconic foods nationwide.

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