MacKenzie Price
@mackenzieprice
In just 24 hours, he made $500,000 online. But first, he had to quit his 60-hour medical job paying just $40,000 a year. How Ali Abdaal found the "third door" to success:
Ali Abdaal visited our Alpha School in Austin. He shared his journey from doctor to YouTube star with 4M+ subscribers. His story shows what's wrong with traditional education - and what we can do differently. This speaks to a deeper truth about success...
As a kid, Ali lived two separate lives. School hours: following academics, getting good grades. After hours: coding, building websites, earning $5-10 with web design. What happened next shocked his traditional parents:
That side hustle - his "divergence from the academic path" - became his secret weapon. When applying to Cambridge Medical School, everyone had perfect grades. But Ali stood out with his coding projects and web businesses. This wasn't just luck...
At Cambridge, Ali got his first essay back: 49%. A devastating score for someone who'd always excelled. He realized competing purely on academics meant endless grinding with little return. But there was another way forward:
"There's almost no career where the academic game gets you ahead," Ali explained. What truly matters? Being interesting. Taking initiative. Building connections. Things traditional schools rarely teach. This revelation changed everything:
In med school, Ali kept pursuing tech interests. He joined hackathons, built websites for doctors, and kept one foot in each world. It perfectly positioned himself at the intersection of fields. That's where innovation happens...
During training, Ali had a brilliant insight. He asked established doctors: "If you won the lottery, would you still practice?" Half said they'd quit immediately. The rest would go part-time. This wake-up call prompted his biggest move:
Ali launched a YouTube channel in 2017. His goal was modest: create content to market his side business helping students enter med school. But something unexpected happened as he shared knowledge online:
The channel took on a life of its own. In a few years, he went from $40K as a doctor to building a multi-million dollar business. One course launch made $500K in a day and $2M in three weeks. But this isn't just about money...
It's about what Ali calls "the third door" to success. Imagine a nightclub with three entrances: • Door 1: The line where everyone waits • Door 2: VIP entrance for celebrities • Door 3: The hidden path most never discover
Today's schools train students to wait in that first door line. Follow rules. Get good grades. Stand in line. But the most successful people - from Gates to Spielberg - found that third door. They created their own path when conventional routes failed.
This is exactly what we're building at our schools. Students master academics in just 2 hours daily through AI-powered learning. Then we free them to pursue passions and develop real-world skills.
Our students outperform traditional schools while building businesses, coding apps, and creating portfolios. In Brownsville, kids from low-income families jumped from the 31st to 86th percentile in one year. The formula is simple but powerful:
Success isn't choosing academics OR real-world skills. It's mastering BOTH efficiently. "Do the academic stuff, and then build something cool... that unlocks opportunities," Ali explained. This is the future of education.
Hey, I'm MacKenzie. I'm on a mission to revolutionize our education system. Our school: • Uses AI to meet students exactly where they're at • Has 2 hours of core academics per day • Teaches real life skills If you're tired of the current school systems, keep scrolling...
Thanks for reading! 1. Like/repost if you found this helpful 2. Follow me @mackenzieprice for insights on: • How to advocate for better education • Revolutionary learning methods • Student success stories Let's transform the future of education together.