The Startup I Built in Sixth Grade

I didn’t set out to build a startup. I just wanted to teach someone how to code in the way I wish I had learned.

When I began coding at eight, I spent hours watching lectures from Harvard and MIT. I was learning from brilliant 60-year-old professors, but I barely understood half of what they were saying. I’d pause the videos every few minutes to Google something I didn’t understand, then dive into rabbit holes, forums, and StackOverflow threads until things clicked. The content was great, but none of it was built for someone my age. So when a classmate asked me how I learned to code, I didn’t just send them a playlist. I started building something I wish had existed for me.

That became TeachMeCode, a peer-to-peer coding platform where kids could learn from other kids. The concept was simple. You’d select your age, and the system would match you with tutorials made by someone close to your own level. That might mean an 8-year-old teaching another 8-year-old, or a 12-year-old walking another 12-year-old through a loop or a basic function. The difference was immediate. The pacing, tone, and perspective made things feel less intimidating and more fun. It wasn’t just education. It was permission to try.

To keep people engaged, I built a reward system that gave users points for watching lessons, passing quizzes, and creating tutorials. Those points could be redeemed for real-world rewards like toys, certificates, and badges. Some kids came back just for the chance to teach, not just to learn.

Parents even started emailing me. I’d get messages saying, “My daughter finally understands coding because of your site” or “This is the first time my son stuck with a programming course.” At 11 years old, I was getting feedback from people twice my age who told me I had helped their child unlock something they didn’t think was possible.

Eventually, I found myself speaking with top-tier edtech investors and explaining the mechanics of the age-matching system, the gamification loops, and the peer-led content. I didn’t fully understand what venture capital meant yet, but I knew this mattered. People were learning, the systems were working, and I had built something people didn’t just use. They believed in it.

Looking back, TeachMeCode wasn’t just a project. It was the foundation of how I think today. It taught me that great products don’t just solve problems. They shift behavior. They meet people where they are and guide them just far enough to grow. That insight became the blueprint for how I later built Kodezi.

Where TeachMeCode helped kids learn how to code, Kodezi helps codebases learn how to evolve. One was built for people, and the other is built for systems. Both started with the same idea, though: learning is easier when the system sees you.