Raj Valli: Founder & CEO of Thinkster - 326

<p></p> <p></p> <p>Raj Valli: Founder & CEO of Thinkster talks with me about Thinkster Math, Thinkster apps, test prep, and tutoring. This is episode 326 of Teaching Learning Leading K12, an audio podcast.</p> <p>Raj Valli founded - Thinkster. </p> <p>He is a data and statistics guy at heart. As a certified Six Sigma Black Belt, he helped multi-billion dollar companies save money by making sure that their products and services were of the highest quality. Six Sigma means having less than 3.4 defects per 1 million pieces of anything you produce - engines, coffee cups, your shirt...tutoring….anything! That’s outstanding almost defect-free quality!</p> <p>He has worked for major multi-billion dollar corporations leading functional areas in marketing, finance, operations, strategy, and M&A, across Aerospace, Automotive, Life Sciences, Chemicals, Materials, Pharmaceuticals, Industrial Controls, BioTech, Services, and Software.</p> <p>He spent 20+ years volunteering his time to help provide basic education for underprivileged children.</p> <p>Several years ago, his daughters were using a worksheet based math learning program (like Kumon, Mathnasium) to help accelerate their math learning.</p> <p>He was frustrated by the lack of progress they were having in truly understanding math concepts. They were getting really good in the process of solving math problems in a very formulaic way without really understanding why they were doing what they were doing.</p> <p>He looked everywhere for a math program that would let his daughter’s learn math for life and not just for a test or completing homework. </p> <p>He wanted a guaranteed approach to learning math. Not hope. But GUARANTEED! Like, Six-Sigma defect-free! </p> <p>He knew that if they had a real strong foundation in math, it would take them places. He found nothing other than a few books on the topic or needed to hire an excellent math tutor for $100/hour.</p> <p>He took matters into his own hands and looked for efficient and fool-proof ways of g