# Brian Tobal

> Brian Tobal is a New York-based education entrepreneur, Hickory co-founder and former CEO, former head of academics at Flatiron School, and former SchoolHouse CEO. His work spans classroom teaching, curriculum, employee knowledge retention and microschools. He co-hosts Ways We Learn; his current LinkedIn profile also lists TasteBud.

- **Role:** Co-host at Ways We Learn
- **Organizations:** Hickory, Flatiron School, SchoolHouse, Harlem Children’s Zone, Ways We Learn, TasteBud
- **Education:** Y Combinator
- **Known for:** Co-founded Hickory, a Y Combinator Summer 2015 company focused on employee knowledge retention., Led academics at Flatiron School., Co-founded and led SchoolHouse, which reported $8.1 million in funding in April 2021.

## Career timeline

- **—** — Began his education career teaching science and technology at Harlem Children’s Zone.
- **2015** — Hickory, which he co-founded and led as CEO, participated in Y Combinator’s Summer 2015 batch.
- **2019** — Appeared on Pursuing Mastery to discuss spaced repetition.
- **Before 2020** — Served as head of academics at Flatiron School.
- **2020** — Co-founded SchoolHouse with Joseph Connor and served as CEO; published his Surgical Reading essay on June 23.
- **2021** — SchoolHouse announced $8.1 million in funding; April reporting described about 250 students across roughly 50 locations in 10 states.
- **2022** — Co-hosted Ways We Learn with Sean Dagony-Clark and Joe Burgess; the first numbered episode is dated December 26.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Hickory, a Y Combinator Summer 2015 company focused on employee knowledge retention.
- Led academics at Flatiron School.
- Co-founded and led SchoolHouse, which reported $8.1 million in funding in April 2021.
- Published Surgical Reading: How to Read 12 Books at Once in 2020.
- Helped Circle’s founders connect with angel investors, according to Circle’s founding account.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — At research time, his LinkedIn profile lists TasteBud; an exact current company title is not visible in the public profile.
- **2024-11** — Ways We Learn lists Learning About Copyright Law with Ariel Diaz, dated November 26, as its latest numbered episode.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-tobal-a4946911
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/briantobal
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WaysWeLearn

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/brian-tobal
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-26