Ethan: Thanks for having me, Spiffy! By the time they reach high school, students are expected to have switched from learning to read to reading to learn. Reading shifts from ‘free choice’ books to standardized curriculum organized around stories like Romeo and Juliet. For the millions of students who are behind in reading, grade-level texts are not only arduous, but inaccessible. Research shows that if a reader understands less than 98% of the vocabulary in the text, their reading comprehension plummets. Just like you can’t go from running a mile directly to running a marathon, students need to build up their reading skills with progressively harder texts in order to build vocabulary and confidence.
Nazgol: Thanks for having me, Spiffy! Our mission is to improve the care of joint disorders with the help of big data and AI. The problem is that the current tools for diagnosis and treatment planning of joint disorders do not provide sufficient and clear insight into patients’ joint abnormalities. This requires the orthopedic care team to rely on their experience, which can become problematic for patients with rare and complex joint disorders or those without access to experienced specialists. We are here to change that!
Matt: Thanks for having me, Spiffy! At Oban we are working to make fair credit accessible to individuals and Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) in Nigeria. Limited financial literacy and credit history in microfinance markets results in insanely predatory lending rates: 15-35% per month for borrowers. By providing an online microfinance marketplace and financial empowerment tools, we provide proxy credit scores that help ensure that borrowers can secure the best rates on their loans, improve their financial knowledge, and have a long term plan for credit.
