It’s an audacious proposition.
At Founders School, a new entrepreneurism-focused high school that opened its doors at the beginning of September in the Financial District, tuition costs a cool $150,000 per year. But, if students haven’t launched a business that’s made at least one million dollars in profit by the end of their fourth year, the school says it will refund a pupil’s entire $600,000 tuition.
“It’s bold but I don’t think it’s crazy,” said Nat Eliason, the school’s 33-year-old co-head and an entrepreneur himself. In 2025, he sold his content marketing agency, Growth Machine, to MBE Group for an undisclosed amount.
Founders School is an offshoot of the NYC location of Alpha School, a network of AI-based schools and learning centers that launched in Austin in 2014 and has since expanded across the country.
Fifteen-year-old Sanjay Divakar, who hails from Greenwich, CT, asked his parents if he could transfer over from his hometown public school after seeing Kolin Jones — CEO of one of the world’s largest private aviation companies, Amalfi Jets — speak about the school on Instagram.
“I’ve given two Tedx Talks on the fact that schools are not training students to their full potential,” Divakar said. “My [public school] teachers used to tell me running a business wouldn’t get me anywhere.”
Eliason said the idea for Founders School came about after Alpha School head Joe Liemandt asked pupils how they could make high school “ten-times better.”
“We already had students who were successfully starting businesses, but they felt they needed more support and resources to do that as effectively as possible,” Eliason explained.
According to Founders School, there are currently 21 students enrolled. Fifteen work out of the school’s Manhattan location, while the six others are based in Austin and will regularly travel to NYC to confer with their East Coast peers and mentors.
Some students started class with a project well underway. Divakar, for one, has been building a B2B software product designed to help companies find and eliminate friction between departments since July.
By the time he started Founders School earlier this month, he had already surpassed $10,000 in revenue. Now, he’s hoping the school will help him scale the business. He’s aiming to hit $100,000 in revenue in the next 100 days, and $20 million by graduation.
“Within ten years, [maybe] we’ll go public,” Divakar told The Post.
In a typical day at Founders School, lessons in core subjects such as English, Math, Science and Social Studies are condensed into just two or three hours of learning in the morning on tablets armed with AI-bots. There is no homework and no teachers, just human “guides” that roam the classrooms and assist when necessary.
That leaves the remainder of the school day for working on business plans and building out products and services, with the help of seasoned entrepreneurs and a proprietary entrepreneurial AI-platform.
The FiDi campus also houses a standard location of Alpha School, which launched in NYC in 2025 and currently has about 130 students. Like those in Founders School, they spend the morning learning core subjects with AI. Afternoons are focused on “life skills workshops,” with teens doing anything from assembling furniture to climbing rock walls and solving Rubik’s Cubes.
Founders School has opened as the use of AI in schools becomes an increasingly divisive issue.
Earlier this month, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the Department of Education announced a controversial set of new rules that ban artificial intelligence in public elementary and middle schools. High school students will have limited access to AI through five pilot programs.
The regulations do not apply to the New York chapter of Founders School or Alpha School because they are private institutions. They are also not formally recognized by the New York State Education Department and are considered “learning centers” not schools. Parents wishing to register their children must file formal documentation with the state designating them as homeschoolers.
Laurie Kopp Weingarten, co-founder of a college counseling service for high-achieving students in New Jersey, questions whether Founders School is asking students to do too much too soon. Online learning also concerns her due to dips in reading and math scores post-COVID.
“It sounds very sexy, but what’s the big rush to be an entrepreneur?” Weingarten asked. “I don’t see why it has to come at the expense of traditional schooling.”
In a statement provided to the Post, Founders School said, “Nothing comes at the expense of academics. Founders students complete a full academic curriculum, but it’s delivered through a personal learning platform, instead of a lecture-based classroom. Kids don’t move on until they truly understand a concept and don’t get to participate in entrepreneurial activities until they complete their work.”
The mother of one Founders School student isn’t concerned about the unique education model.
“I think we’re all very realistic about what’s going on here,” said the mom, who asked to remain anonymous to protect her child’s privacy. “They’re building the car as they’re driving it, and it’s full of our children … But we’re comfortable going along for that ride.”
