Will Whittle be around next year?

[Anonymous]

The boarding students from China were the linchpin. Tens of thousands of MS and US students board in the US (Cali) to improve English and have the inner track to good US colleges. My wife (from China) interviewed for a Mandarin teaching position at Whittle two years ago. She was pretty much told the school was intended as a bridge between the US and several campuses that were planned across China. She declined the position to remain at her current independent school because she was uncomfortable with the emphasis being placed on teacher pedigree because “it will look good on the brochures” is what she was apparently told.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anybody know what happened to the corporate staff in New York? Namely, when CW gave up on paying people to keep planning for the global aspect?

I know that many of them are in other jobs now, but I wonder when CW actually let that operation evaporate.....Would that have been the point when he actually knew the whole thing was a bust....despite what he's kept telling people?

Most of the NY staff was let go in early / mid 2020. As I understand it, the pandemic had a minor role - the bigger issue was the huge underperformance of DC out of the gates where CW had promised initial enrollment that was many multiples of what was ultimately achieved. And DC's underperformance meant that cash that was supposed to be going towards "growth" was instead being used to cover the large operating deficit.

So yes, it seems that ever since then he has been engaging in happy talk with outside constituents while his investors have slowly but steadily shuffled away. Even the China campuses are no longer under his control with the Chinese investors effectively having taken them over

DC certainly underperformed, but the real deathblow caused by the pandemic was ceasing/delaying any possibility of boarding Chinese students. That's where the real money to keep this thing going was going to come from, loads of wealthy Chinese kids boarding at full tuition and board.

Like all things Whittle, the claims about boarding had an element of truth but a lot of fluff. I heard the pitch and came away unconvinced. Two of the biggest issues: 1. The only international students that can attend US K-12 schools on a student visa are high schoolers. If we assume 200 kids per high school grade at full capacity and half of them as boarders, that was still only 400 kids paying extra for the boarding. 2. The much more material issue was how do you design the grade enrollment levels for grades 1-8. If the school had 200 kids per grade in 1-8, did that mean that half of those would get kicked out in 9th to make way for the boarders or were you now going to have high school classes that had 300 kids per grade? There were never any good answers to legitimate questions and if confronted with one, the Whittle team would immediately deflect and start talking about Lozenge Piano's amazing design...

So yes, CW will continue to claim the pandemic caused his issues and avoid the reality that it was his gross mismanagement and piss poor planning that doomed the scheme

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anybody know what happened to the corporate staff in New York? Namely, when CW gave up on paying people to keep planning for the global aspect?

I know that many of them are in other jobs now, but I wonder when CW actually let that operation evaporate.....Would that have been the point when he actually knew the whole thing was a bust....despite what he's kept telling people?

Most of the NY staff was let go in early / mid 2020. As I understand it, the pandemic had a minor role - the bigger issue was the huge underperformance of DC out of the gates where CW had promised initial enrollment that was many multiples of what was ultimately achieved. And DC's underperformance meant that cash that was supposed to be going towards "growth" was instead being used to cover the large operating deficit.

So yes, it seems that ever since then he has been engaging in happy talk with outside constituents while his investors have slowly but steadily shuffled away. Even the China campuses are no longer under his control with the Chinese investors effectively having taken them over

DC certainly underperformed, but the real deathblow caused by the pandemic was ceasing/delaying any possibility of boarding Chinese students. That's where the real money to keep this thing going was going to come from, loads of wealthy Chinese kids boarding at full tuition and board.

Like all things Whittle, the claims about boarding had an element of truth but a lot of fluff. I heard the pitch and came away unconvinced. Two of the biggest issues: 1. The only international students that can attend US K-12 schools on a student visa are high schoolers. If we assume 200 kids per high school grade at full capacity and half of them as boarders, that was still only 400 kids paying extra for the boarding. 2. The much more material issue was how do you design the grade enrollment levels for grades 1-8. If the school had 200 kids per grade in 1-8, did that mean that half of those would get kicked out in 9th to make way for the boarders or were you now going to have high school classes that had 300 kids per grade? There were never any good answers to legitimate questions and if confronted with one, the Whittle team would immediately deflect and start talking about Lozenge Piano's amazing design...

So yes, CW will continue to claim the pandemic caused his issues and avoid the reality that it was his gross mismanagement and piss poor planning that doomed the scheme

The other big problem seemed to be, from what I heard, that they failed to understand that they could not have international boarders in the first year of operating, because they would need to be approved by DHS and SEVIS while the school was already open. So out the gate that created a big problem for enrollment for the first year (and apparently they tried to merge or work with other schools as a way to get around that). But make no mistake — it was their own arrogance or ignorance that caused that problem

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anybody know what happened to the corporate staff in New York? Namely, when CW gave up on paying people to keep planning for the global aspect?

I know that many of them are in other jobs now, but I wonder when CW actually let that operation evaporate.....Would that have been the point when he actually knew the whole thing was a bust....despite what he's kept telling people?

Most of the NY staff was let go in early / mid 2020. As I understand it, the pandemic had a minor role - the bigger issue was the huge underperformance of DC out of the gates where CW had promised initial enrollment that was many multiples of what was ultimately achieved. And DC's underperformance meant that cash that was supposed to be going towards "growth" was instead being used to cover the large operating deficit.

So yes, it seems that ever since then he has been engaging in happy talk with outside constituents while his investors have slowly but steadily shuffled away. Even the China campuses are no longer under his control with the Chinese investors effectively having taken them over

DC certainly underperformed, but the real deathblow caused by the pandemic was ceasing/delaying any possibility of boarding Chinese students. That's where the real money to keep this thing going was going to come from, loads of wealthy Chinese kids boarding at full tuition and board.

Like all things Whittle, the claims about boarding had an element of truth but a lot of fluff. I heard the pitch and came away unconvinced. Two of the biggest issues: 1. The only international students that can attend US K-12 schools on a student visa are high schoolers. If we assume 200 kids per high school grade at full capacity and half of them as boarders, that was still only 400 kids paying extra for the boarding. 2. The much more material issue was how do you design the grade enrollment levels for grades 1-8. If the school had 200 kids per grade in 1-8, did that mean that half of those would get kicked out in 9th to make way for the boarders or were you now going to have high school classes that had 300 kids per grade? There were never any good answers to legitimate questions and if confronted with one, the Whittle team would immediately deflect and start talking about Lozenge Piano's amazing design...

So yes, CW will continue to claim the pandemic caused his issues and avoid the reality that it was his gross mismanagement and piss poor planning that doomed the scheme

The other big problem seemed to be, from what I heard, that they failed to understand that they could not have international boarders in the first year of operating, because they would need to be approved by DHS and SEVIS while the school was already open. So out the gate that created a big problem for enrollment for the first year (and apparently they tried to merge or work with other schools as a way to get around that). But make no mistake — it was their own arrogance or ignorance that caused that problem

This is typical in the “disruptor” mindset. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s less that they failed to understand and more that they just decided the rules didn’t apply to them and they’d find the right palm to grease. Where Whittle likely “failed to realize” is that graft works a little differently in DC than in NYC.

[Anonymous]

The only contractor that seems to have been paid is Monument --a K St lobbying firm they hired and paid a fortune to, to get their visa / Sevis issues worked out.

The much bigger issues were that they lied about their funding out of the gate to journalists, teachers and parents to get them to sign on. They never had anywhere near $700 million in the bank to spend on day one and its likely CW took a large piece of the series A and B that did come in, for himself because he launched the school right as the multimillion judgements from Avenues were solidified. He was desperate for cash day one and the school was broke by their 4th month...cutting expenses and people by month 6..telling no one.

[Anonymous]

Well he did it!!! He actually got the funds to get the school rolling for a while.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well he did it!!! He actually got the funds to get the school rolling for a while.

Really? Who is the patsy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well he did it!!! He actually got the funds to get the school rolling for a while.

Really? Who is the patsy?

Here’s the email sent to families by CW.


Dear Whittle School Families, Faculty, and Staff: There is good news to share, but, first things first.
The entire Whittle community owes great gratitude to Michael O’Neil, Paul Baldassari, and Carl Einsel. For over two months they have been elbow-to-elbow with me in navigating our seemingly endless capital effort. The good news I have to share below is in large part the results of their tireless efforts on behalf of all of us. I could not imagine better coaching, conceptual guidance, and actual tactical “get it done” effort. So . . Thank you Michael, Paul and Carl.
So, here’s what we have accomplished for the school.
As you know, a couple of weeks ago we were “left at the altar” by one of the three key investors/partners we were counting upon. In very short order, we had to replace them in our “capital stack,” ensure that the other two parties in the transaction were still firm, and, because the transaction was delayed, find short term funds to get us from here to the closing. I am pleased to report that we have accomplished virtually all of those in the past 10 days.
Yesterday, we received important wires that provide the majority of the capital which we need for the next month—which is the time period we and our investors/partners believe will get us to the closing. Along with the funding we just received, we also have secured pledges that are expected to cover remaining bridge capital we may need. We are pleased that, with those funds now in hand, today we are funding a full payroll, i.e. not just for our teachers but for all our staff and leadership team too. We have also set aside a portion of the received funds for our most critical suppliers including health benefits and campus security.
In the past two weeks (and at all hours of the evening and on weekends), Michael, Paul, Carl and I have had extensive discussions with the other two investors/partners. Collectively, we are confident that we are on a path to concluding this capital program within 30 days, with 45 days being the latest. Our investors/partners have their own incentives and want to close in this same time frame as well.
And one of those two parties is, effectively, stepping into the shoes of the missing investor.
With the urging and help of Michael, Paul, and Carl, the leadership team will find ways to be more efficient on our expenses.
I want to thank you for your immense patience as I know how anxiety-producing these days have been. I also know that you may be thinking “is it really going to happen this time.” The answer is the four of us believe, if we stick together and continue the good progress of the past few days, yes, we will succeed!

So “most” of the money needed to maintain barebones operations for the next month until maybe more investment is secured? This continues to be painful to watch.

[Anonymous]

I also know that you may be thinking “is it really going to happen this time.” The answer is the four of us believe, if we stick together and continue the good progress of the past few days, yes, we will succeed!



Yeah, well, that’s not actually how the capital markets work. Sticking together and believing does not provide voluminous liquidity for a fraudulent and failed venture that even cursory diligence would result in a prospective investor sprinting the other way.

I’d go ahead and take the “under” on the probability of this closing.

What an asshole.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I also know that you may be thinking “is it really going to happen this time.” The answer is the four of us believe, if we stick together and continue the good progress of the past few days, yes, we will succeed!



Yeah, well, that’s not actually how the capital markets work. Sticking together and believing does not provide voluminous liquidity for a fraudulent and failed venture that even cursory diligence would result in a prospective investor sprinting the other way.

I’d go ahead and take the “under” on the probability of this closing.

What an asshole.

+1000

And now we know the names of the 3 Stooges, 21st Century edition. Michael, Paul and Carl!

[Anonymous]

At least he's stopped pretending he is about to buy the building. While everyone may be breathing a sign of relief, this is just a stay of execution. It doesn't even sound like he raised enough to cover the next month - the "majority of" line is a dead giveaway.

CW's greatest talent has always been being able to identify the proverbial sucker born every minute. Looks like he found a few more minutes worth to get them to put money into this black hole

[Anonymous]

Based on a careful read of the email, it does NOT exclude the possibility that Michael, Paul, Carl just wrote a check themselves. No evidence of an outside investor for this capital... is there???

[Anonymous]

Why in the world would those 3 or anyone put a dime into this situation? I'm so confused.

[Anonymous]

Cannot imagine getting emails like this from my child’s school and still sticking it out.

[Anonymous]

One of the three is a private wealth manager. Can you imagine a more foolish branding exercise than being “point man” on a Ponzi scheme?