What if the best person to build a school is someone who has never taught in one? In this episode, Ben and Steve sit down with Akida Mashaka, founder of Barcelona High School, to explore what happens when an entrepreneur with no education background tries to build a better school from first principles. From five students in a windowless basement during COVID to two campuses and almost 500 students, all without a single investor, Akida shares how listening to students, putting wellbeing first and rejecting one-size-fits-all education shaped a school where the director tells the children: "You are our bosses." Akida Mashaka is the founder of Barcelona High School, a self-described "social wellness school" that gives students' social and emotional wellbeing equal weight with academics. Originally from Los Angeles, he moved to Barcelona with his family in 2017 on a one-year plan and stayed. A serial entrepreneur who previously founded and led a restaurant group and studied at Harvard Law School, he started the school in 2020 to give his own son a more flexible education, and has grown it through a lean, feedback-driven approach he calls Build, Harvest, Succeed. We cover: - How a one-year move from LA to Barcelona turned into founding a school during COVID - Starting with five students in a basement co-working space, and why the original idea pivoted almost immediately - What families really wanted during lockdown: their children back, socially and emotionally - Why Akida refused to keep a waiting list, and the risk of moving to a much bigger building - First principles thinking: what outsiders bring to education without the "historic baggage" - The BHS method: Build, Harvest, Succeed, and how lean startup thinking shapes learning - Ditching the ego: empathy, feedback and iterating fast - Students as "bosses" and customers, not parents - Failure, shame and why fear of getting it wrong holds learners and educators back - Why safeguarding and feeling safe and supported must come before academics - Student-led extracurricular clubs that build initiative and confidence - Against one-size-fits-all: IB, AP and finding every child's superpower - Can initiative be taught? Life as a journey, from losing a scholarship to Harvard Law School - Scaling from an experiment to two campuses without investors - What entrepreneurs get wrong about teachers, and why teachers aren't startup employees - What schools could learn from restaurants about keeping their customers coming back Why you should listen If you've ever wondered whether schools could be designed differently, or felt that "the way it's always been done" is holding learners back, this conversation offers a refreshingly outside-in perspective. Akida isn't offering a model to copy wholesale, but a set of principles any school leader can borrow: start before you're ready, listen harder to students, and put belonging and wellbeing at the heart of learning. Chapters 00:00 Highlights 01:23 Welcome to the Edufuturists podcast 02:05 Family travels and the Uprising 2027 announcement 04:22 Meet Akida Mashaka: from Los Angeles to Barcelona 05:47 Five students in a windowless basement 08:11 From one son's education to a whole community 09:06 Finding a superstar teacher 13:08 Why he refused to keep a waiting list 14:14 Outsiders, entrepreneurs and first principles thinking 17:21 Learning from outside education 18:43 The BHS method: Build, Harvest, Succeed 21:53 Harvest: empathy, feedback and dropping the ego 23:43 "You are our bosses": students as customers 26:37 AD: Brilliant Festival 2026 27:50 Failure, shame and building the plane while flying it 30:02 Why failure carries a stigma in Spain 31:13 Safe and supported comes first 34:03 Student-led clubs and building confidence 35:23 Against one size fits all: IB, AP and every child's superpower 39:17 Pick 'n' Mix Education and the football analogy 42:53 Can initiative be taught? 45:33 Losing a scholarship, Harvard Law and life as a journey 49:09 From experiment to two campuses and almost 500 students 53:03 What entrepreneurs get wrong about teachers 56:10 Quick-fire questions 1:00:59 Wrap up and thanks Thanks so much for joining us again for another episode - we appreciate you. Ben & Steve x Find out more about BHS: https://www.barcelonahighschool.com/ Connect on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bhselementary/ Connect on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bhs_barcelonahighschool Check out the BHS method: https://www.barcelonahighschool.com/bhs-method Check out all about Edufuturists at https://www.edufuturists.com Want to sponsor future episodes or get involved with the Edufuturists work? Get in touch: info@edufuturists.com Grab your copy of the new Pick 'n' Mix Education book at: https://www.crownhouse.co.uk/picknmix-education Come to Uprising - 25-26th June 2027: edufuturists.com/uprising-awards/uprising2027 Join the Wolfpack: edufuturists.com/wolfpack