If you're a founder dealing with AI tutors, start here.
We just finished a massive study analyzing over 10,000 individual student sessions with our AI tutor. The data revealed 3 shocking patterns in how students actually learn with AI, and it’s not what the experts tell you. The truth is in the numbers.
What I've Learned From 142 Companies
A few patterns in AI tutors come up again and again.
The founders who handle AI tutors well understand that customer feedback is the only metric that matters.
The Counterintuitive Truth
In AI tutors, the best practitioners often do less, not more.
The lesson: the market doesn't care about your roadmap. It sounds simple. It's incredibly hard to execute.
What I Tell Founders
Before deciding anything about AI tutors, start with three questions:
What's your timeline? Because the right approach for a company with 6 months of runway is very different from one with 3 years.
What have you already tried? Most founders have tried something. Understanding what didn't work is often more valuable than knowing what might.
Who on your team owns this? If the answer is "everyone" or "no one," that's your first problem to solve.
These questions seem simple but they reveal a lot about where a company actually stands.
This connects to broader themes around student data, learning analytics, ai tutor that I've been thinking about a lot lately.
Final Thoughts
There are no shortcuts in AI tutors, but there are smarter paths.
The strongest teams treat AI tutors as a competitive advantage, not a checkbox. They invest in it early, measure it obsessively, and never stop improving.
If you're just getting started with AI tutors, don't be intimidated. Everyone starts somewhere. The key is to start with the right mindset and the right framework, and then execute like your company depends on it. Because it probably does.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q:How has this view evolved over time?
My thinking on most topics has changed significantly over the years. Early in my career, I held many conventional views that experience proved wrong. I try to update my beliefs when the evidence changes.
Q:What experience informs this perspective?
This perspective comes from over a decade of building companies in Silicon Valley, two successful exits (RemoteTeam to Gusto, MovieLaLa to Gfycat), and investing in 234 startups including Anthropic, OpenAI, and Scale AI. I write about what I've lived.
Q:Do all experts agree with this view?
No, and that's fine. The best ideas in business are often contrarian. I share my perspective based on my experience and data, but I encourage you to seek out opposing viewpoints and form your own conclusions.