01STUDENT · CLEO
The student, with CLEO.
Starts with what they love. CLEO helps them find it and sharpen it.
THE STUDENT'S STARTLoves figuring out how things work
Find work you love that employers are already asking for. Start with the courses it needs, and know when you're ready.
Students tell CLEO what they love. Employers reserve the seats they'll need with REEVE. Universities see both, and teach the courses that connect them.
CLEO and REEVE are Super Intelligence (SI) specialists, each built for one side of the exchange.
WHY
Today, you're asked to choose before anyone shows you the work.
The work draws on a handful of college courses, but the degree on the posting won't tell you which ones. No one shows you who's hiring before you choose. So you pick a major, pay for years, and find out at the end.
You don't have to start with the whole degree.
We analyzed about five thousand job postings from a hundred large employers in Texas. The typical posting maps to a handful of college courses — a median of four, fewer than eight — the part existing courses already teach.1 Fewer than a third of the postings we read require a bachelor's outright.2
In high-demand fields, Texas law now requires each university system to offer competency-based bachelor's degrees, where you earn credit for what you can show you know.7
If your goal is to get hired sooner, start with the courses the work uses.
Knowledge used to be the job; now AI supplies much of it. Employers worldwide expect creative thinking to keep rising in importance through 2030.10
Imagination is the talent now.
The NFL has drafted college players every year since 1936.9 The team picks the talent it needs, and the degree is still there to finish. Work can follow the same path. If an employer picks you before the degree is done, you can take the job and finish on your own timeline.
“Texas students deserve the option to receive a degree in a high-demand, high-wage field in less time.”6
founding_up starts the other way around.
01What you love.You start with you, not a major. CLEO helps you find it and sharpen it.
02Who's asking for it.You see the employers reserving that kind of work, and where they are.
03The courses it needs, first.From a university's own catalog. Your degree still counts. You just start with what the work asks for.
04Then you choose.With the work, the employer and the path in front of you.
See it together, before the tuition bill.
HOW THE EXCHANGE WORKS
THE FUTURES WORKFORCE EXCHANGE · OUR PRODUCT
Both sides, start to finish.
Students tell CLEO what they love. Employers reserve seats with REEVE, with a scholarship on the order. When a signal reaches a student, she sees the courses employers are asking for, from the university's own catalog.
AN EXAMPLE OF THE EXCHANGE · NOT LIVE DATA EVERY ROW IS AN EXAMPLE
→FROM STUDENTS · CLEO
"I like drawing buildings."El PasoBACHELOR'S FIRST · ABOUT 18 MONTHS REMAINING · PROJECTED JUST NOW · SAID TO CLEO
"I like numbers and patterns."PlanoREADY EARLY · AS SOON AS CAPABLE JUST NOW · SAID TO CLEO
"I like cooking for a crowd."Corpus ChristiREADY EARLY · AS SOON AS CAPABLE JUST NOW · SAID TO CLEO
"I like teaching kids."LubbockBACHELOR'S FIRST · ABOUT 18 MONTHS REMAINING · PROJECTED JUST NOW · SAID TO CLEO
"I like music and sound."AustinREADY EARLY · AS SOON AS CAPABLE JUST NOW · SAID TO CLEO
"I like being around animals."College StationBACHELOR'S FIRST · ABOUT 18 MONTHS REMAINING · PROJECTED JUST NOW · SAID TO CLEO
COURSES EMPLOYERS ARE ASKING FOR
ELEC 1310Electrical Circuits
FLPW 2320Fluid Power Systems
CTRL 2340Programmable Controllers
MFGE 3350Reliability Engineering
4 COURSES · 12 CREDITS · EXAMPLE
RESERVED SEAT ORDERSFROM EMPLOYERS · REEVE←
Manufacturing design Example Manufacturing Co. · AustinNEEDED IN 6 MONTHS · EST. $74K / YR$3,500 SCHOLARSHIP ON THE ORDER JUST NOW · SEAT RESERVED
Electrician apprentice Example Builders · AustinNEEDED NOW · EST. $46K / YR$2,500 SCHOLARSHIP ON THE ORDER EARLIER · SEAT RESERVED
Data analyst Example Bank · DallasNEEDED IN 18 MONTHS · EST. $70K / YR$1,500 SCHOLARSHIP ON THE ORDER EARLIER · SEAT RESERVED
Sous chef Example Hotels · San AntonioNEEDED IN 6 MONTHS · EST. $48K / YR$2,000 SCHOLARSHIP ON THE ORDER EARLIER · SEAT RESERVED
Welder Example Fabrication · BeaumontNEEDED NOW · EST. $55K / YR$3,000 SCHOLARSHIP ON THE ORDER EARLIER · SEAT RESERVED
Pharmacy technician Example Pharmacy · El PasoNEEDED IN 6 MONTHS · EST. $39K / YR$1,500 SCHOLARSHIP ON THE ORDER EARLIER · SEAT RESERVED
Coming in from both sides.
Every person, employer, seat and course here is an example. Students appear by what they love, never by name, until they say yes.
THE SIX STEPS, IN WORDS
02EMPLOYER · REEVE
The employer, with REEVE.
Reserves the seat it needs, in its own words. A scholarship can hold the seat.
THE EMPLOYER'S STARTA manufacturing design seat, scholarship committed
03UNIVERSITY
The university.
Its own courses connect the two. It sees demand as seats are ordered, and decides what to teach.
THE ROADFour courses and a certification
04BOTH SIDES
Both sides see the pipeline.
The student sees who is reserving the work they love. The employer sees students growing toward its seat, by number, not name.
THE SIGNALEmployers are reserving the work she loves
05BOTH SIDES
The introduction.
When the student says yes, the two meet.
THE YESThe student says yes, and the employer learns her name
06BOTH SIDES
The hire.
Both sign one record. No money moves until the hire.
THE OUTCOMEBoth sign: $74k to start
This example runs through a university. Five ways forward: Apprenticeship · Technical School · Community College · University · Military.
Texas counts more than degrees. The state's goal: “60% of Texans ages 25-64 will receive a degree, certificate, or other postsecondary credential of value by 2030.”5
THE RECEIPT AT THE HIRE
This time, you saw the work first.
FOR YOUBuilt to get you to work you love sooner. Not just what was open.
FOR THE EMPLOYERBuilt to fill the exact seat it reserved, before a posting would have gone up.
One record, signed by both: the courses, the employer, the wage.
founding_up△SAMPLE · NOT YET ISSUED
RECEIPT AT THE HIRE · NO. 000001AGREED BY BOTH SIDES
THE STUDENT · STARTED WITH
“Loves figuring out how things work.”
THE EMPLOYER · SEAT REQUESTED
Manufacturing designExample Manufacturing Co.
THE COURSES THAT CONNECT THEM · 4 COURSES · 12 CREDITS
EXAMPLEELEC 1310Electrical Circuits3 cr
FLPW 2320Fluid Power Systems3 cr
CTRL 2340Programmable Controllers3 cr
MFGE 3350Reliability Engineering3 cr
BEYOND THE COURSES · SHOWN, NOT CLAIMED
Each one is shown by a work product or an additional course.
HUMAN SKILLSLeads a shop-floor teamWORK PRODUCTorADDITIONAL COURSEEITHER ACCEPTED
SI SKILLSDirects SI tools to test a designADDITIONAL COURSE
IMAGINATIONRedesigned a part from a blank pageWORK PRODUCT
INTRODUCED10/01/2026EXAMPLETo Example Manufacturing Co., after the student said yes
A scholarship holds this seat.$3,500 toward the coursesEXAMPLECommitted by Example Manufacturing Co. before the hire. No money moves until the hire happens.
EMPLOYERExample Manufacturing Co.
WAGE$74,000 / year to startEXAMPLE
Maria G.
THE STUDENT · NOT SIGNED
Example Mfg. Co.
THE EMPLOYER · NOT SIGNED