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Why I started NTNRML

Why I started NTNRML

Watching bright kids get trapped in the system designed to hold them down motivated me to take imperfect action. I'm here to share what we are doing and how you can do it too. This weekly letter is designed to give young people hope.

ben richardson
September 02, 2025

NOT NORMAL TIMES

(These are annual costs. These don’t include lost opportunity costs or loan repayment costs.)

News From The Front:

This week, I created numerous automations and systems to help scale our content creation and distribution.

I’m excited to share this with our students in our network and help them grow their own businesses, too.

I’ll share the tools I used, but more importantly, how I thought about setting them up.

My New Content Machine

System Failure Alert

STUDENT DEBT CRISIS GROWS

$1.77 trillion student debt crisis - the numbers that should terrify every parent

The Numbers:

The average borrower takes more than 20 years to repay their student loan debt.
The average outstanding federal student loan debt per borrower is $38,375.
The total cost for that loan (if you take 20 years to pay it off at 7% interest) is: $71,405

Don’t Set Yourself Up to Fail

If you are attending a University with a high tuition that you are getting a loan to pay for it, you need to THINK AGAIN!

That is most likely a very poor financial decision.

Shame on any of your counselors or advisors who have not been honest with you. Shame on the banks that have agreed to enslave you with debt that will weigh you down and suck out of you your life force and meager profits from your labors.

You really need to think of the ROI of your investment. It is not a guarantee that you will be financially successful. It’s not a guarantee that you won’t be either, but that is the point. It’s not the guarantee it once was.

You need to run the numbers.

If you are not getting a loan, or if someone is paying for you, or you just have the money, the math is different, but you should still consider the “product” you are buying. Is it going to give you the “benefit” you think it will?

Many kids are studying for jobs that won’t exist in three to four years and never learn the skills that will actually make them successful in the real world. They are in for a rude awakening.

Be Smart. There are Other Options In 2025

Success Story

JAKE ESCAPES

Meet Jake - escaped college and “jumped the fence” after freshman year, now already earning $50K at 20, and he’s just getting started.

SEE HOW JAKE DID IT

Jake did it by improving video-making and editing skills, his self-discipline, his physical fitness, and learning high-value sales skills.

He is learning every day. He is also growing his level of experience and his network of people he can build with.

Tech & Tools

IT HAS NEVER BEEN EASIER TO MASTER YOUR WORLD

Insane text-to-video tools

VIDEO GENERATION

Go from image to video in a few short clicks. The only limit is your imagination.

SEE THIS CLIP →

How to create 10 unique vids in 1 minute

VIDEO VOLUME

If you want to make endless clips for your socials or to promote your business, this tool has you covered.

LEARN MORE →

Forward This Section

A CONVERSATION WITH BEN RICHARDSON

Meet the founder and brand architect redefining education through a proven protocol. Ben speaks on history, education, and the skills needed for the new world.

The Problem - The No-College VOID

by Ben Richardson

The biggest question I get from parents who have kids in college-age years, or who have just graduated high school, is: "I can see college is not for my kid…but, if they don't go to college, what am I going to do? There's just a giant void!”

That is absolutely true.

There is a huge void if you don't go to college because it provides a lot of structure, some experiences, some education, and a clear path to a “seemingly certain” outcome.

The problem we have now is that we don't live in the same world as we did over the last three and a half generations.

College used to be a pretty sure path to the middle class.

Times have changed.

That clear path no longer has the guaranteed outcome we have all been promised. Worse yet, the return on investment is NOT there at all for many degrees! It’s a false promise.

A false hope with terrible consequences.

What To Do About It

What young people need to learn now is how to problem-solve, to think creatively, to capture value, and to think critically.

They need to understand economics, philosophy, and history—not just from a "memorize these 10 points and pass the test" or "get 100% on your exam" perspective.

They need to understand these subjects from a different perspective. They need to really understand these things and know how to apply them to their life.

They need to make decisions from first principles, not just by analogy.

We need to help them develop the skills they need to launch into life successfully.

My Mission

My Mission is to give young people hope.

We do that by bringing together like-minded, ambitious young people and mentors from around the world so they can have a supportive community of other “not normal” kids, a clear roadmap, and a path to launch into life successfully.

REAL STORIES | NOT NORMAL LIVES

This month, we wandered through our network to find lessons from parents that embody the NTNRML spirit. You’ll want to watch these. Here are a few gems to bookmark.

Featured Not Normal: Chris Kunzelman