why we started edhack

The education system worked for me. I went to a snobbish franchise school and scored in the 99th percentile despite not sitting in the classroom most of the time. I got accepted to the best of Indian and American colleges with a chance to study subjects of my choice. A generic tale you’ve heard many times over.

It is all a zero-sum game. I won because most kids around me lost.

But it doesn’t have to be so.

I have pursued an independent learning journey since I was 14. Reading Penguin non-fiction on everything that fascinated me, then signing a book deal with Penguin as their youngest author. Writing for many news digital platforms, then building and selling my digital platform of 50,000 members. Travelling to alternative learning spaces throughout the country, and then receiving foreign angel investments to build a learning company.

I recognise how privileged these opportunities and resources are. This is why I am passionate about making these latitudes available to millions of other kids. We need to build scalable solutions to help more young people learn and do what they love!

Old models of learning survive because they worked for a majority of us. There were no other sustainable ways of building a life for yourself. I am optimistic about some of that changing with a wealthier and more open world.

We hit 1,00,000+ in reach in two weeks.

I used the private grant to conceptualise and iterate edhack as a learning company. The fellowship helped me meet brilliant entrepreneurs and visit my favourite companies for crash courses.

We are still in very nascent stages of creating a platform where people can learn quick-skills for free and share their income only when they begin making money. It is a two-sided marketplace of trained remote workers and small-scale businesses.

We are just getting started. And if you’ve got feedback or ideas to share, you can be assured of a reply on akshat@edhack.io.

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