Why a16z-backed Wonderschool is acquiring EarlyDay | Equity Podcast

This episode is presented by invest Puerto Rico if you believe your business Can go anywhere Puerto Rico is the [Music] Place hello and welcome back to equity a Podcast about the business of startups Where we unpack the numbers and the Nuance behind the headlines my name is Alex and this is our interview show Where we sit down with a guest or in This case guests think about their work And unpack the rest today we are talking To three entrepreneurs who are combining Their efforts to solve Staffing Shortages in child care in one corner we Have wond school CEO and co-founder Chris Bennett and in the other early day Co-founders and CEOs Emma Harris and Melissa Tran everybody welcome to the Show Chris hello hello hello Emma hi hi Alex and Melissa hey good to have you Here hello hello there we go perfect so We don't usually do Acquisitions because People don't usually want to talk too Much about them but in this case we have All three of you which I'm very glad About because I feel like deals of this Nature do happen but they don't get Explored enough so I was hoping we could Just start by talking about the deal and Then we'll back our way into the market Because I do think that the world you Guys operate in is of supreme importance Especially today when childcare is so

Expensive but first of all we have two Companies that are joining forces and Chris wond school is buying early day And so just to start us off here when Did this deal begin to percolate you Know I I came across the early day team In a news article maybe about 18 months Ago and then um one of our investors let Us know about early day probably about Six months ago and I think we started The conversations about five months ago Okay so actually a relatively quick Turnaround then and then Mel on your end I'm curious how this deal kind of Started same pattern yes so obviously Being in this space we had been Following wond school for a while and so When we had the chance to meet Chris About five months ago and started Talking about this partnership Opportunity it just made a lot of sense And things got moving from there and I Want to talk about that it makes sense Element of it because you guys do have Some overlap in the businesses certainly A shared focus on child care and Early Child education but Chris on the wond School side things it seems that you Guys are trying to help people stand up And then run and operate their own child Focused businesses fair enough that's Exactly right okay and then on the early Day side you guys are more focused on The Staffing angle of ensuring that

Businesses that do work with kids have Enough staff fair enough correct okay Now when I think about this I can see The overlap but I'm kind of curious why You guys didn't decide to like fight it Out if that makes sense like why is this A Better Together situation versus a Better to compete because you know Business is all about winning I'm told So Chris why join forces yeah for us it Felt very obvious when I started the Company I actually started a couple of Child care programs myself to learn the Entire motion of starting a Child Care Program and once you get to about three Kids enrolled in the program you need to Recruit a teacher and then it became a Thing where you know every one of our Childcare providers needed help Recruiting teachers we sell a lot to Government and a lot to employers and One of the things we kept hearing from Governments in particular is that they Were having a really time getting Teachers into Child Care programs There's this huge teacher shortage it's All over the Press you know when I met Mel and Emma and spent some time taking A look at the early day product it just Felt like it was an obvious opportunity To partner interesting and then so Emma On the early day side you guys are Trying to help businesses find the Talent that they need and I want to get

Into why the deal made sense from your End but first of all is this an issue in Which it's hard to connect talent to the Businesses that need to hire them in the Child care world or is there just a Shortage total full stop of people who Are qualified ready and willing to work In that particular space well there's Both happening so there is a shortage of Child care teachers which is obviously Spoken about a lot but really the Crux Of the issue is that it is hard for Child care centers right now who are Hiring teachers which is most centers to Actually find and match with those Qualified teachers that need to be Credentialed in a specific way in order To be in their classroom so this is a Highly credentialed in qualified Industry which varies state by state and Sometimes City by city in terms of the Requirements that are needed to be in a Classroom which by the way then has Staff ratios from staff to student Ratios and so right now before early day There really was no great solution for Child care centers to go online and find A place where there were already Pre-screened and qualified teachers that Would match the exact requirements that They needed in order to fill that space In the classroom to then open a Classroom to have more come in and Enroll in their Center so it's a

Combination of it being hard to find Talent it being hard to credential Talent it being hard to handle local Regulations which differ very much from Geography to geography and trying to Navigate that as an individual person Who may be better with kids than with The complexities of credentials in Business is just incredibly hard yeah Well that's not an easy challenge to Take on why did you guys choose this of All the things you could have build a Business around it sounds darn difficult That's a great question Alex I think That Mel and I both like challenges for One for two we've built marketplaces Before so this is the second Tech Marketplace that we've built before and When we started with this idea about Early Day in 2020 I was pregnant with my Son it was my first pregnancy I've had Another kid since then so now I have two Congratulations thank you and I was Personally trying to figure out child Care how was I going as a woman in the Workforce going to have a child bring it Into this world and then figure out Where they were going to get care what My options were I was honestly Completely confused and overwhelmed Trying to figure it all out and so we Started digging into the child care Space as a whole to figure out what Opportunities of marketplaces

Specifically we could bring into this Industry and very quickly after speaking To lots of daycare and preschool owners And directors and understanding their Challenges in our research process we Quickly realized that Talent was the Largest issue that was essentially Daunting the industry at the time and so We decided to take on this large Challenge and try to figure it out which We have all right so Mel given that you Guys made a lot of progress raised Venture Capital built this business why Go team up with Chris and his crew why Not keep running solo because you know If you guys are co-ceos now and you're Being sold to a different company you're Going to lose at least some control that Founders do always love to keep in their Hands since we launched three plus years Ago we received numerous inbound Inquiries from centers around the Country north Carolina California Kansas Asking when is early day coming to their City so we're in New York and Texas Right now so we have heard firsthand That hiring is one of the most Universally difficult challenges about Running a center regardless of where you Are in the country so when we started Learning more about the work that Wonder School is doing with local and state Governments across the country this just Was a light bul moment we knew that we

Could expand the reg of our proct way Faster by joining forces with Lund School I want to dig into that for a Second Chris on the wond school side I Know you guys have a partnership with is It Nevada yes to help expand we do have A partnership in Nevada that's right Okay can you explain that just so we Have some more context for the listeners Out there yeah so um we have a number of Products we sell to governments it's Actually around 15 products and three of Them that we're selling to Nevada are We're helping existing child care Providers we provide them technology and Then the technology we provide them Helps them manage their business and we Provide business coaching alongside of It another thing we do in Nevada is we Help start Child Care programs so we Start two types of child care programs We start centers and we start homebased Child programs is a center just a larger Business essentially oh yeah that's Great so a homebased child it's a Non-residential program essentially so It's in a commercial building it's what Most when people think of child care Often times they think of a center but Uh there's a large number of homebased Child care programs that are in America Today and just to ask kind of the silly Obvious question but we're going to need Centers and homebased care providers if

We're going to resolve the current Child Care crisis in this country so this is a All of the above thing not one is better Than the other oh that's exactly right We don't argue one is better than the Other we actually also work with outdoor Programs our forest schools and uh those Are those are very popular and as you Can imagine they were very popular During covid when uh parents weren't Very confident putting their children in A enclosed space but we're agnostic but We do say when we're working with a Child care provider it's often best to Start in home because you don't have to Pay for the commercial space and you Don't have to pay for an administrator The teacher is the administrator And the home is the space the costs of Entering the market are very low and It's the best way in our opinion to get Started got it no that makes a lot of Sense and the software that wond school Provides does actually work for even the Smallest homebased provider out there With a couple of kids and just one Caretaker yeah it works with one child And it works with hundreds of children It scales up to multiple programs okay Now when you have early day fully tucked Into the business what does it unlock For wonders school does this increase Your ability to grow does it improve the Overall Services you can offer I'm

Curious what the core thing you're Hoping to get out of the deal as a Business is well when we were talking Our early day the clear thing to partner On is more of our government partnership So Nevada is one of our Partnerships but We actually have eight of them and all Of our partners are asking for support In recruiting teachers and then when we Talk to other States cities counties we Consistently hear that there's a need to Recruit teachers so when I was spending Time with Emma and Mel I was telling Them about all these opportunities we're Seeing and they we all got really Excited about partnering together to Work on them together that's because Early day today is in Houston Dallas and New York City and I I was going through Your guys's website earlier that's the Only three markets you guys are Currently available in that's correct Okay how many markets do you guys expect To be in in say a year from now post the End of this acquisition cycle Mel that's a great question I think the Sky's the limit our Tech is built in a Way that's very scalable so it takes Less than 5 minutes of an engineer years Time to be able to launch a market so we Will go where governments want us to go Is the government side of this a benefit To your business or is it a General Market impediment because often when I

Talk to people who are building tech Companies the government regulation and I mean even just credential isation Credentials can be viewed as things that Slow business down and make people have To move a bit more slowly and kind of Fulfill more red tape is that the case In your Market or is it actually more of A benefit that these governments want to Work with you and that supersedes or Takes away the sting of Regulation it's A benefit it's a way for us to be able To scale into so many more centers and Support all of the centers that are Hiring right so if we sell into a state We're then able to support every Center In that state if that's what the deal Consists of to allow them to have access To our product to be able to support Their hiring efforts whereas right now Or previous to the acquisition the early Days strategy is that we were selling Center to Center and we love all the Centers we work with we love supporting Them but we were going door too selling Center to Center and our whole mission Comes back to being able to provide Support to every Center across the Country and through wonders school's Vision of selling to governments it's Actually a huge unlock for all of our Partners and potential Partners okay now I want to dig into the deal itself so I'm curious Chris is this cash and stock

A pure stock deal how did you guys Structure it so when we were spending Time working on the deal we went through A number of different options we've Decided that it's best not to disclose The terms of the deal boo Hiss but that's the best I can do Alex Okay the company was sold for nine Coke Bottle caps and three vintage Pokemon Cards you heard it here first everybody It was significantly more valuable than That actually you know significantly More valuable no I'm sure but I part of My job is to ask the Rudee and maybe Slightly awkward questions but I was Going back through each of your Companies fundraising history and on the Early day side the last Capital that I Could see that the company raised was in Late 2022 and if you look at where we are Today thinking about roughly in 18mon is Time frame for each Capital raise was The early day team kind of in a look We're either going to go out there and Raise more money or we are going to Partner up with a different company was That kind of the choice you guys were Facing no actually this was quite Opportunistic for as you mentioned we Had just raised money in 2022 so it was Really an opportunistic opportunity no That's totally fine and this is why it's Good to ask because on paper it looked

One way but you know sure inferences and General Trends don't always hold up in The individual cases so that's helpful Okay so not disclosed but when do we Think this deal is going to fully be Locked loaded and everything signed and Done oh the the deal is yeah it's lock Loaded and done it's a it's happening we Are building together let's go Mel and I Are wond School employ I thought this was still Chris Bennett Is our Boss well now that changes the whole Flavor of this interview I should have Flipped this around entirely from the Beginning yeah Alex make us look good in Front of our boss please yeah sorry I I should have woron a tide gosh Okay so then maybe the right question Would be is when did this close when was The final date in which everything was Signed probably a couple weeks ago I Don't remember the exact date but it's Probably two to three weeks ago okay all Right I want to put the deal down and Talk a little bit more about the market And why the childcare issue is so hard To solve and the part that startups Might play but before we get into that a Very short Break what's next in Tech that's not the Right question it's where PTO Rico more Than just a Tropical Paradise it's an Innovations Paradise where startups and

Global players coexist in a vast and Vibrant ecosystem where Talent runs deep Highly skilled and bilingual plus the Island offers the most competitive tax Incentives in the US if you believe your Business can go anywhere Puerto Rico is The place find out more at invest pr.org TechCrunch now we've talked about the Deal and the companies I want to talk a Bit more about the market because folks Who don't have kids might not realize a Couple things one how expensive Child Care is period two in how many markets Getting on the weit list to get access To Child Care can be longer than a year And also some covid money ran out in 2023 leading to what was called very Ominously the childcare cliff in many Media reports there were concerns that Up to 70,000 individual childcare Providers we're going to go out of Business so my first question to really Any of you three is has the market been As bad as people have expected in the Last 6 months since some of those Federal programs did run their course And we're now back to a a less supported From a Federal level Child Care market So I haven't seen it be as bad as as What we were reading in the Press but it Definitely has um slowed things down for The investment we were seeing in child Care into Child Care programs so you Know we have heard anecdotes of

Childcare providers who aren't able to Take on additional kids because they're Not getting the funding they were Getting from government but one thing we Are seeing so there was a lot of One-time money from the federal Government to states to invest in Childcare but it's really served its Purpose And helping States realize that they Need to increase their investment in Child care so what we're actually seeing Is um often times states don't have much Of their budget invested in childcare It's a lot of it's from the federal Government but we're seeing a lot more Investment from States from cities and From counties and and doubling down on The funding that they're getting from The federal government because there's Just a very very big clear need to Invest in child care and also the Dollars that the states were able to Receive help them realize the benefits Of investing in childcare Emma how is it At all possible that states weren't Aware of the need to invest in this Because to me it just seems like a Screaming obvious issue and yet by what Chris just said it sounds like this was Almost like a wakeup call for these States so how is there such a disconnect Between Market need and what the Government was able to see through its

Own eyes I would imagine the government Sees it and knows it and hears it but It's never been a focus in our country Right is I think that a lot of these Child Care related issues were Co Essentially brought light to a lot of These issues because it was impacting The economy because parents couldn't go To work because their child care wasn't Working and that impacted the economy And so then there was this big Spotlight On all these issues which in fact if you Really dig deep and go back in time a Lot of these issues have really always Existed it's just that a really wild Time brought a spotlight basically onto Them so Mel does the landscape feel more I don't know attractive for people to Start businesses in this space and kind Of work in it because it sounds like if There was such a need for early day to Help people find workers that it's still A pretty hard place to build a business Inside of so I'm curious has there been Like a sentiment shift I think one of The things that a lot of people may not Be aware of about the child care Industry is that the teachers who work In this industry make a significant Amount less than Elementary School Teachers so the average salary is 23,000 Per year so we've always made it a core Feature of our site to force all Employers to put put salaries and

Benefits on job postings even just a Small bump in hourly wage can make a Huge difference to them and that's Another reason why for our teachers this Opportunity to join forces with wonders School makes a lot of sense through the Wonders School product and Tech we can Show teachers that they can make the Next step in their career and become a Center owner themselves so they can take What they've learned as a teacher open Their own Center enroll their own Students and ultimately triple or even Quadruple their income and so hopefully That's an Avenue that we're also opening Up for educators who've been passionate About this field not sure if they can Take that next step or really make money So this brings up one thing that I've Always been slightly confused by so I Was prepping for our chat today and According to a 2022 care.com survey 51% Of parents say they spend 20% or more of Their household income on child care Which is a fifth which is one out of Every $5 which is a lot and yet when we Talk about how much people who are Working in this space make Mel it does Sound like often salaries and just Overall pay structures are very low and I've never understood how Child Care can Cost my friends so much and yet my Friends who work in child care make so Little is there some sort of fundamental

Disconnect in how the money gets from Parents to the people taking care of the Kids or is this just a business with High overhead cost that consumes quite a Lot of the overall tuition or fees that Parents are paying it's the ladder this Is AOW low margin business they're high Operational costs in order to run the Center like I mentioned earlier in this Conversation there's really strict Ratios so even the amount of people you Have to have on your payroll compared to The number of students in a classroom it Varies depending on the age and the Location but this is like it's an Expensive business to run it's not like These centers are you know rolling in it They're doing their best to maintain and Operate great businesses but at the end Of the day most of the owners of these Centers are people who really love Children and want to help serve the fam So that they can offer child care to Them all right then Chris this brings us Back to the Wonders School point because I'm curious what the company can do to Is it lowering overhead costs that can Make the overall childcare Market more Financially attractive for providers and Maybe also for parents or what's the key Thing that as a benefit you can bring to The market to make this relatively tough Situation for parents Educators and kids Work better for everybody yeah I'm going

To sound a little bit like a broken Record but the answer is home home based Child Care keep saying it no no no the Two biggest two biggest costs for a Child care provider if you own your own Business are your staff and your real Estate the person who makes all the Money is the administrator so that's the Person who's actually seeing like the Majority of the profit or that's doing Well we really encourage folks to S to Become their own administrator go start Your own program and start it out of Your home and cut out those real estate Costs that you normally would have to Pay if you were running a center what we Find is that folks who start homebased Child Care programs are able to pay Their staff more they're able to charge Parents less and they're able to make More than they would if they were Working at a Child Care Program so it's A very very like clear win-win when People start home based Child Care Programs okay I have a pitch though so One thing I keep reading about is Commercial real estate is in a separate Crisis in which no one wants to go into The office early day by the way it's a Remote company so they're part of the Problem as I am calling in here from my Home office what if we took all the Commercial real estate that we don't Need anymore CU everyone's at home and

Put kids in it it seems like a win-win Alex I think that's a brilliant idea Right now a lot of the regulations for Operating Child Care programs in a Commercial real estate can be very cost Prohibitive for folks to enter that Market but government leaders control Those regulations right and so there's a Lot of opportunity to take a second look At those regulations and to work with Folks looking to start childcare Programs or to work with employers to Figure out ways to make it a good idea Essentially and to lower the barriers of Entry for folks to start these programs I I often say you know um there are a Lot of empty conference rooms all across America right now that are ripe for Child care programs and so so that is Actually something we work with Employers on um we have an employer Component of our business and it's a Conversation we have but right now the Thing that gets in the way are Regulations Okay so there's been an interesting Shift I think in technology and Venture Capital as well in the last probably 10 Years it's the right time frame there Used to be this ethos that technology Does its thing over in Silicon Valley DC Does its thing over in DC and never the Twain shall meet we don't cross the Mississippi essentially that's very much

Changed people talk a lot about and Jason Horowitz for example lobbying the Government on crypto regulations just to Pick an example about this so for all Three of you does wond school have a not A moral need but almost like a like a Business requirement to go and influence For the better hopefully government Regulations that may be holding back Some things that could make your Market Bigger and more attractive for the small Business owners that we're talking about I'll touch on this briefly um right now We work with a number of lobbyist we're Backed by Andre and horo with I know I Spoke at the American dynamism event This year and the year prior and we find That lobbying can be really valuable When working with governments but we Also work really closely with government Leaders to provide them data that's one Of like the core components of Wonders School so we can share with a government Leader hey this is why childcare Programs are having a hard time opening In your state city or county this is why Child Care programs are closing because We have such Rich data and then we all Actually work with jurisdictions to Change regulations we just recently Changed a law with our lobbyists and With our team there in Idaho to not Allow for HOAs to block homebased child Care providers from operating it's

Actually a big component of of our Strategy and now that the early day team Has joined wonders School we're now Going to have a lot more visibility into The credentialing component into the Teacher component we just want to make Things better and so our goal is not Actually to force certain regulations It's just to allow for transparency in Data and operate with the idea that you Know our policy makers are rational People you know I find when you present Folks with data and the data goes Against their goals they're open to Change and so that's something that We're really focus on visibility Transparency and data to government Leaders so that they can make the best Decisions okay well I mean honestly That's the most optimistic thing I've Heard in a while and I'll take it Seriously no I mean no sarcasm no BS I Mean hearing that policy makers are Willing to change their mind and follow The data is kind of what you would hope In a high functioning country and Sometimes I feel like we're more Aspirationally on that path than having Reached the destination so I'm glad that We can still keep making progress I want To talk about one more thing though Which kind of ties into this so Regulation is not anathema to me as a Consumer I'm kind of in favor of it for

A lot of stuff but on the early day side Of things when you guys were working With helping people connect to providers Who had credentials and so forth you Probably had a pretty good look into how Hard it is to get those credentials and So forth and there's always to me kind Of a balance between providing the best Care you can for kids and also ensuring That the rules and laws are as stringent As they need to be but not more and I'm Trying to back my way into asking the Question of is there ever a balance in Your guys's business and operations Between growing the company and making Choices as a business that are always I Mean 100% kid-friendly because we're not Selling software to oil companies we're Trying to provide better and more care To kids and so I'm curious if there's Ever a tension between your Target Demographic and running a business if That makes sense Mel leaning into the Data point that Chris had made for we Try to give both sides of our Marketplace as much information as Possible to make a better and faster Decision so for instance when we onboard Teachers onto our platform we ask for All of their education and work Experience and what we do differently From other platforms is that we use AI To add data tags to the teachers Experiences which not only identify does

Person have experience working with Children but we actually go down to the Level of what type of setting was it was It an after school program a camp K12 Child Care Center what type of Educational philosophy was used if any Was it a monory program was it a Bilingual Spanish program and then also What classroom type or age of children Was in that classroom and that data then Feeds back into both the recommendations That we make to both sides the Marketplace as well as the search Filters that can be used on our site and So it's up up to the employer the Schools the centers to then Zone in on The type of teacher that they would want In their classroom and so that's the Kind of data that we're looking to kind Of present on our site and let folks Make their own decisions based off of it So going back to Chris's point about Data and people making rational choices There's probably less tension between Business and good care than I'm thinking Because it sounds more like what you Guys want to do is ensure that everyone In the employment transaction has enough Data to make the best choice they can But the choice they make how they you Know compensate that person Etc that Still Remains entirely in their hands Yes that's right okay okay Chris same Question over to you growth versus

Caring for kids does it ever come into Like tension or conflict at w school one Of the things we focus on this can sound Sometimes a little crude but we help Childcare providers make money and that Is a I think that that still can be a Little grading sometimes when I'm Talking to childcare providers because Oftentimes they don't think of Themselves as entrepreneurs but what We've learned is that um one of the Biggest reasons why we're in the middle Of a childcare crisis is because a lot Of the childcare providers aren't Operating their businesses with the best Business practices and that that was Actually like the big unlock for me when I started the business you know I went To a homebased Child Care Program that The woman who started the program is Still running it today she grew it into A center and she's an incredible Businesswoman and when I met a lot of Childcare providers they weren't talking About money they weren't talking about Their tuition effectively so um just Really found that there was like a Really big opportunity to help them be Better business folks one of the Clearest things we found is if you Operate a high quality Child Care Program you can make more money and you Will have a weight list like a weight List you cannot even manage and so

There's all of these like clear clear Benefits to both investing in yourself So that you're a better child care Provider and investing in the quality of The Child Care Program and so for us we Found that the two are aligned which is Great there's nothing going against it It's just you're helping everyone Realize that the two are aligned so Essentially if you can help these Businesses operate better as businesses It will lead to higher quality care Which will in turn because parents talk Oh my god do we talk youever watched a Two-year-old try to swing it gets boring In 15 seconds all you have left around You is parents so you talk and you talk About where you're getting child care Where you're buying stuff and then you Get a longer waight list so essentially There isn't a tension it sounds like Between business goals and the poor end Product which is child care which is Great that's lovely to hear because I'm I understand capitalism I'm a fan I also Understand child care I'm a fan and it Does seem that they might butt heads but Doesn't sound like in your guys's case That's too much of an issue even given Regulation in a tough Market that's Great that's actually very encouraging That's the second time on this call I've Been encouraged gosh guys that's more Than a week usually you should do this

Again sometime yeah I can go I'll add in A couple of other things yeah if you Have a higher quality Child Care Program You can pay your teachers better you can Attract better teachers you track better Teachers you can charge more I always Say um you want to be the Harvard or Stanford of your local community of Childcare because um Harvard and Stanford don't spend a lot on marketing They they already are just they're a Magnet for talent they're a magnet for People wanting to enroll their children In there they're magnet for individuals Wanting to get a college education from There same thing with child care if you Have the highest quality best program in The community or if you're perceived to Be the highest quality best program in Your community you really want have to Market and you have higher retention It's just better all around so I for Listeners out there there's a slight Correction coming in now because Chris Just mentioned the Harvard or Stanford Of childcare what he meant was the University of Chicago of child care Sorry to my my sister who went to both Harvard and Stanford but I didn't go Understand I didn't go to either well no I I have particular beef because I'm the Only one of my siblings who didn't get Into Stanford and I had to keep going to Stanford commencements after they

Rejected me so I have a lifelong beef Against the farm even if their women's Soccer team is the biggest feeder team For the Nwsl I've got nothing to add now as a Harvard Alum do you have anything to say Go Crimson that's all I can Say I mean with my sister got her NBA From Harvard I had to go and kind of Look around and I was like oh it is nice Here okay fair enough now there are some Competitors out there to wond school Bright wheel lilio Procare Solutions and Others my last question for you guys is This are there enough startups out there Right now working on this issue or is it A bit like the climate Tech space in Which the more the merrier I hope Everyone Dives in and gets busy I Personally hope everyone Dives in and Gets busy there is so much work to be Done in child care there are lots of Companies that are building for K Through 12 and it feels like child care In many ways has been forgotten about That's honestly one of the reasons that Mel and I got so excited about wonders School when we started speaking to Chris Because it's just such a big and Exciting home for us for early day and I Just hope that will be more Entrepreneurs that continue to build in The space because there is a lot of Opportunity for everyone excellent and

Then actually Chris one last final Question before we go which is wonders School IPO 2026 Q3 I think we were thinking Q4 oh Okay I can wait Yeah that's it's not on the immediate Horizon but it's definitely the ambition That's what we're building towards good Well I want to bring you guys back on in About a year and talk about what's Changed in the market and how people are Doing because this is an interesting Business story but also it's a thing That impacts everyone who has kids which Is a lot of folks not everybody but many Many people and I hope that there's a Way under our economic and political System to also take care of parents who Have kids and provide a little bit more Support because I don't think as a Society we're doing enough and I'm Hoping that companies like Wonder school And this combined entity now and your Competitors can amarate through Market Forces just the life that people live Because it's hard out there and you know If people want to to have more kids well A bit more support wouldn't go a Miss Well we will countd down for the S1 Until it finally drops but Chris Emma Mel thank you all very much for coming On the show and if you liked this Episode well there's always more Equity Where that comes from we are out Mondays

And Wednesdays and Fridays we also drop Interview episodes whenever we can fit Them in and if you need more from the Equity crew we are Equity pod over on X And threads or Tech rench pods over on Tik Tok this is Alex this is equity We'll talk to you soon bye Equity is hosted by myself editorinchief Of Tech runch Plus Alex Wilhelm and Tech Runch senior reporter Mary an aeto we Are produced by Teresa loans solo with Editing by Kell Bryce Durban is our Illustrator and a big thank you to the Audience development team and Henry pet Who manages Tech wrench audio products Thank you so much for listening and We'll talk to you next Time