"Your brain is most receptive to absorbing educational knowledge as a young person, as a teenager. If you don't impart the right skills at that age group, it is difficult to course correct. It is never too late, but your best ROI you'll ever have is from getting K-12 education right. Getting K-12 right is the single most important thing that an education system can do." - Henry Motte de la Motte
"One of the consistent trends is that increase in screen time and increase in use of gadgets in schools has not improved, but made educational outcomes worse for the students over time. For the first time in global history, we see students' academic outcomes decreasing, not increasing." - Adam Huh Dam
"I built an education tech company in the US, and I'm choosing to raise my kids in Singapore. You had to build education tech in America because the public and private system, and the gaps in between were so bonkers that private market solutions were really the only solution for many people. As somebody who has the ability to access the Singapore education system, it felt like a no-brainer both on the value in terms of outcomes coupled with the safety and stability component, coupled with a tremendously low cost." - Jeremy Au
Get the basics right in school and everything else builds on it. Miss that window, and it is very hard to course correct.
In this compilation from the BRAVE archive, Adam Huh Dam of Stick 'Em, Adriel Yong of Clouted, Henry Motte-de la Motte of Edge Tutor and host Jeremy Au break down what actually improves learning outcomes, and why so much of edtech does not.
Why authenticity and real traction can beat a polished pitch, from the team that won the 2025 Hult Prize (Adam Huh Dam)
Why more screens and gadgets in schools have made outcomes worse, and where AI can genuinely help students (Adam Huh Dam)
How the US and Singapore education systems differ, and how gaps in public schooling create private markets like college counseling (Jeremy Au and Adriel Yong)
Why time abroad and cross-border relationships matter more for young people as AI takes over routine work (Adriel Yong)
Why selling into public school systems takes so long, from multi-stakeholder buying to risk aversion (Henry Motte-de la Motte)
Why K-12 is the highest-ROI investment a government can make, and what the Asian Tiger economies got right (Henry Motte-de la Motte)
Watch the full episodes:
Adam Huh Dam, Co-Founder of Stick 'Em
How To Win A $1M Prize And Fixing The Global Education Crisis | Adam Huh Dam of Stick ‘Em - EP682
Adriel Yong, Co-Founder & COO of Clouted
AI Has Changed The Way We Create, Consume And Value Content | Adriel Yong - E730
Henry Motte-de la Motte, Founder & CEO of Edge Tutor
Henry Motte-de la Motte: Education Tech Challenges - E372
00:00 Intro
00:40 Adam Huh Dam: going to London knowing we wouldn't win
03:48 Why Stick 'Em won the Hult Prize
04:50 AI in classrooms: the low-hanging fruit
06:07 More screens, worse outcomes
07:36 Jeremy Au & Adriel Yong: Singapore versus America
09:57 College counseling and pay to play admissions
11:51 The moonshot: six months abroad for every student
13:22 Henry Motte-de la Motte: education's long sales cycles
14:23 The window closes at 18
15:04 What the Asian Tigers got right
15:50 Outro
Keywords: EdTech, Southeast Asia Education, K-12 Education, AI in Education, Singapore Public Schools, B2G Sales, Government Procurement, Hult Prize, Startup Founders, Screen Time Outcomes
