I'm building LearnKata. Every kid deserves a tutor, and AI is finally good enough to be one.
I always wanted to be an investment banker — I thought it was the fastest way to earn money and then start a business. Then COVID hit, I got bored, learned to code, and fell in love with building things. Dropped the business offer at NUS for computer engineering. Felt scary at the time, but turned out to be one of the best decisions I've made.
Since then, I've shipped a lot of things that went nowhere: an AI wedding planner, a dating app, even a game. They earned me $0, but they taught me everything I needed to build LearnKata.
The ones that worked:
What I keep coming back to is building things that make life better for other humans. In college, I built a volunteer management system for MINDS MYG, a charity for the intellectually disabled. Still the most meaningful thing I've built, and LearnKata is the same. I truly feel like I found my ikigai.
I grew up in Singapore, did an exchange at Stanford, and spent a year in SF for NUS Overseas Colleges. That year really broadened my horizons and showed me that successful businesses aren't just built by intelligent people, but by ones with tons of grit and resilience. Outside of building, I like diving, backpacking, and cooking.
You can also find me as ryanlohyr on X, Github, and LinkedIn.
ryan[at]learnkata.ai