Sage Salvo | Words Liive

In this episode, Gil Perkins (dba Sage Salvo) walks us through Words Liive, The Opus, and his journey as an “edtech entrepreneur” focused on elevating the level of reading proficiency across the US. Sage puts passion and vigor into everything he does, and he does not disappoint in this episode filled with gems and wisdom.

Armed with a patent-pending algorithm to convert song lyrics into literacy tools, Sage developed a digital platform as a service (PaaS), called The Opus, to facilitate the mass collaboration between music artists and classrooms for automating lesson plans for literacy instruction. Words Liive is organized around a ‘Literacy Moonshot’ goal to get 2/3rds of the nation’s students to grade-level reading proficiency by 2045. Through its beta stage, Words Liive has already serviced over 4,000 educators and parents. Available in program format as well, Words Liive offers a ‘Reading Hackathon’ program for schools looking to boost student literacy performance.

Sage has worked hard to experience several prestigious incubators, accelerators, labs, fellowships, pitch competitions, and summits. Sage is a 2021 Aspen Institute Tech Policy Fellow. Sage has also been selected as a 2021 Elite 200 GSV Cup Startup, a 2021 4.0 Schools Alumni Coach, 2020 AfroTech World Finalist, 2020 Harvard Alumni Launch Lab Accelerator Fellow, 2020 Education Pioneers Fellow, 2018 AT&T Aspire Entrepreneur, 2018 Lean-Lab Fellow, 2017 Clinton Global Initiative – Social Entrepreneur, and 2017 Camelback Ventures Fellow. Sage has been featured four times at the South by Southwest Conference where Words Liive was named among the Top 3 new EdTech start-ups. In 2019 and 2017, Sage was honored as a selection into the US Delegation of Entrepreneurs to represent the U.S. at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in The Hague, Netherlands and in Hyderabad, India; respectively.

Sage also presented at the TEDx MidAtlantic Conference and was a Keynote speaker at the IB (International Baccalaureate) Americas Conference. Leveraging his new technology, Sage has also partnered with Harvard University’s Hip-Hop Archive to build a new application for their research. Ever expanding with his goal to expand community education, Sage has designed, facilitated, and taught Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation programs for Howard University, Georgetown University, Montgomery College, and Prince George’s Community College. Most recently, Sage was elected to the Harvard Kennedy School – Washington DC Alumni Council, where he helps lead efforts on local official advising, local education reform, voting security, and food insecurity. Sage has also authored opinion pieces in the Washington Post and EdSurge. He’s been featured in FORBES, Inc. Magazine, NPR, and The Washington Post among others. He is also the author of the forthcoming book, Inseparable But Unequaled: How Brown v. Board of Education set up an education culture war.

Sage is also a 2017 graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School where he earned a Master’s degree in Public Administration (MPA) with a focus on Social Innovation. In addition to his MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School, he holds a MBA from the University of Toronto. Sage Salvo resides in Arlington, Va. with his wife Latasha and their daughter, Gaia-Noelle.

Find Words Liive and Sage Salvo Online:

• Words Liive's Website
• Words Liive's Facebook
• Words Liive’s Twitter
• Word Liive’s Instagram
• Sage Salvo’s Instagram

Cool stuff discussed during the episode that you should further explore:

• Incubators / Accelerators – Sage has tapped into both of these as a way to grow his business to where it is today
  • Halcyon Incubator – Sage called this out specifically during the show
• Local Government – Small Business Support – Sage made mention that people should tap into their local government to understand the resources that are in their own back yard ready to help
• Importance of Conferences, Competitions, and Conventions – Sage is a huge believer in the power of thoughtfully networking and used an example of how he has been to SXSW (South by Southwest) a number of times and the exposure that created for Words Liive
• Intellectual Property – Sage commented on the importance of developing and protecting your firm’s IP
• B2G / B2B / B2C – Sage spoke about transaction models based on customers and how though Words Liive started with one model, due to the pandemic they began to explore others
• Podcast: Masters of Scale with Reid Hoffman
• Podcast: The a16z Podcast
• Podcast: HBR IdeaCast
• Book: Innovation and Entrepreneurship
• Book: The Art of the Start
• Tool: Google Dashboards