Intentional Gap Year, Inc.

ARE YOU HERE TO CONTRIBUTE TO A BETTER WORLD?

Gap years are most readily available to those who can afford to take a year out to explore. Gap year programs are expensive (averaging $5K - $30K)*. Intentional Gap Year is available as an option to enter college with a clearer direction for those who want to consider their choices.

Why should you care about helping a person in a position who apparently can already help themselves? Doesn't that seem counterproductive?

We have talked with and guided others and had deep conversations (57 customers) in a year. Over and over again, we hear the same questions: What do I really want? How do I use the experiences I have gained to really make a difference?

What we have discovered: Dynamic, talented people with all possibilities available to them sometimes get lost in the options, rather than commit to a choice.

We have created a platform for self-discovery that works hand in hand for experiential programs. The students do the work. We reflect back on their work. Our built-in scalability will allow us to hire as many people necessary to offer quality guidance for our young people.

The Intentional Gap Year promotes personal accountability and responsibility. We believe that anyone who chooses to examine their strengths, accept their challenges, envision their solutions, and fearlessly overcome their obstacles will make a plan and take action.

So, what if our young people are the pioneers of social, environmental, or systematic change?  

Who knows? Maybe, one young adult you help by investing in us will be the head of social-missioned non-profit offering skills that impact communities in need of change. Perhaps another will bring a balanced, compassionate leadership style to a business of commerce and change the way their employees are treated. 

*Our program is $499. We are an exception. This makes our program available to people who can benefit from their own gap year, and offer them a "gap year mindset" even if their current option is staying close to home. We are also well within the budget of organizations that want to include our workshop and expand their programming using our platform and curriculum.

AS AN INVESTOR, YOU CAN HELP US RESHAPE AN INDUSTRY

We have already raised our minimum goal of $20K, which we are using to take action selling licenses of our workshop to organizations that promote personal growth through experiential programming to their students.  We don't want to be a temporary solution that will solve their problem right now. We want to become integrated as a long term solution. 

Successful models promoting travel, volunteerism, and internships are not possible or present challenges in the current pandemic environment. Students who already committed to a year off to have experiences that will expose them to balanced options for their education and life choices in the future are left with limited choices right now.  Staying on track for education is also being redefined.  College online, at a premium expense, was not a part of the plan. Admissions and projected attendance in the fall are already showing evidence that students are considering a delay.

The reality: The students are in limbo. The system is not prepared. Nobody is at fault, but it is evident that what worked was never examined for what would happen if it didn't.

Click here to read more about the Gap Year Industry and its benefit to contributing to higher education graduation and success of its students. 

We Don't Claim That We Predicted The Present, But We Anticipated The Future - And Why You Might Want to Trust Our Vision

The internet is continually evolving and creating new ways to interact with the times. A popular way to present information comes into being because technology gives a solution, and it works. It also becomes quickly outdated, but only a few understand the advancements and get ahead of the curve. If successful, replicated processes become the new norm.

Our platform uses innovations for superior service and engagement. We designed it to encourage focus, accountability, and communication transparency for students and coaches. 

With the recent pivot to service business organizations that will license our workshop for their own students, components have been added for monitoring student progress as well as offer insights about them. Confidential information between students and their Intentional Gap Year Guides® maintains a personal level of trust, but a component has been added for the public where students summarize what they have learned. Our questions have been developed to enhance the information gained that can be used by our business partners for program improvements or tailoring experiences for their students.

THIS IS WHAT YOUR INVESTMENT COULD LOOK LIKE

We consulted with later-stage VC advisors who worked with us to evaluate what they believe our company will be worth when it comes time to raise a series A, assuming we hit our target milestones. This number was estimated to be between $6M-$10M. According to their professional recommendations, we decided to set a $3M valuation cap as an appropriate incentive for early investors given that we don't have enough subscriber data at this stage to derive a valuation from financials. 

We've set the investment terms of this campaign so you will receive the greatest financial benefit by investing now, instead of later at a future financing event.

You are investing in this company on the terms of a SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity) note, meaning that your money will convert into equity in our company at a future financing event, such as raising a series A.

PROOF OF CONCEPT

Since forming our workshop in 2018, we have tested our program on 57 people and discovered a great deal about what works in an e-learning environment and what does not.

Research shows that Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) completion rates average only 3.13%. Our first round of alpha testing with 26 participants had a completion rate of 23%. Their feedback guided us to make adjustments that increased our next round of beta testing, with 31 paying participants to have a completion rate of 42%. Future adjustments to our platform based on customer feedback will allow us to continue increasing this percentage over time. Our goal is 98% (95% over the average)

Does our program work? Each graduate submitted a testimonial reporting significant personal transformation as a result of taking our program. We placed some of our favorites on our former site that you can review: https://thegapyeargirls.com/testimonials

OUR PATTERN TO REACH FORMER MILESTONES AND OUR FUTURE PLANS

With a self-funded budget of $80K and a two-member founding team, we have met our primary goal for product development. An example of one of our lesson videos:

Lesson 15: Your Intentional Gap Year

Our Key Milestones:

Company Formation: April 18, 2018. Original focus: Online Personal Empowerment Workshop for Gap Year Women.

• Application platform designed and developed, put into service for testing December 2018. (see: "Proof of Concept") https://thegapyeargirls
• Curriculum "The Intentional Gap Year" written. 
• Thirty-one videos were scripted and produced.
• Workshop submitted for review as original work. Copyright ©2018
• US Copyright Registration Number: TX0008784925 / 2019-01-18
• Social media initiated

2019

• Completed alpha testing 
• Improvements made to application and program based on testing results.
• Retesting initiated using paying beta users
• Marketing initiated
• Mentor relationships developed. Results: Quality board of advisor including later-stage V.Cs in Silicon Valley

2020

• Company pivot to selling licenses to business organizations (Read More About Our Decision to Pivot and Why
• Design and development for pivot: https://intentionalgapyear.org
• Redevelopment of the workshop to appeal to all genders.
• Components to service b2b online created and executed.
• Procedures for consistency of service created (in anticipation of hiring more certified life coaches and train as Intentional Gap Year Guides®
• Our fundraising begins.*

MILESTONE GOALS WITH USE OF FUNDS

• Edit branded videos to make messaging inclusive for both men and women (minor editing that does not affect our ability to sell our product now but will equalize the delivery.
• Hire a salesperson to meet the demand to reach the market on a daily basis. We are overextended, and this addition to our team to help us expedite our growth. Sales will make us financially independent using our profit.
• Hire a social media team member to improve outreach. We have identified this as a current challenge that we can solve. 

* Before COVID began having a noticeable impact, we raised $100K from a private investor. Because of his other obligations to existing startups and uncertainties, our investor pulled out.  Although this was disappointing, it encouraged us to find our way here.