Who we are
We are entrepreneurs, educators and productivity-nerds who want our kids to love learning and pursue a wildly exciting future with confidence.
To help students succeed in school and life
(and enjoy the journey)
Nick
CEO of Coachbit
In 12th Grade, my parents realized I had no idea how to study. They sent me to a study-skills workshop and a speed-reading course.
Nothing stuck. I slipped back into chaos: late night cramming and missed assignments. With graduation looming, we spent a small fortune on private tutors.
In college, my high school cramming wasn't cutting it. I wasn't coping. Something needed to change.
Someone started showing me how to learn, manage my time and structure my day. It changed everything!
I graduated near the top of my Engineering class, built three global businesses, and manage a busy family of five without burning out.
I kept thinking: "if only I had learned this at school". That's why we created Coachbit - so others could.
Our Origin Story
18 years in the making
Learning what students need
Nick founded Teach Me 2, a tutoring company which serves 50+ countries, with half a million hours of tutoring delivered. Learns how students get good grades, and more importantly, what holds them back.
Moving to California
Nick and his wife, Angela, a high school teacher move to California.
Nick co-founded Storie, a venture-backed social media network in Palo Alto, CA. Learns how to make apps fiendishly addictive using behavioral science.
Seeing the bad side of social media
Storie shuts down after losing to TikTok (formerly Musical.ly). Nick sees first-hand the dangers of social media addiction.
Two ex-Storie engineers join the mission: his brother Simon and Tomo (also a high school Math teacher)
Coachbit is born
Nick convinces Ken to abandon pursuing a PhD in Behavioral Economics, and join the founding team. Our mission is to help teens beat the bad habits and build good ones.
Running out of money
Our learning explodes as the COVID-19 pandemic forces governments and schools to look for digital answers in education.
Our tech+human powered coaching service starts to work and demand soars.
Crazy growth
Coachbit grows 15x in a year, nearly runs out of money. We beg and borrow to keep the company running.
We grow from 4 to 65 full/part-time coaches in 6 months.
We secure $3M in venture capital
After getting his Masters in Behavioral Design from Stanford, and working alongside BJ Fogg in the Stanford Behavior Design Lab for 6 years, Andrew joins the team to inject some cutting behavioral science.
Gamification works
We research, test and release our Habit Gamification platform.
It improves our students' Habit completion rate by 58%.
Using our platform for good
We launch our impact arm helping to serve under-resourced students.
We begin trying to use our behavioral change platform to help orphans and vulnerable children.
Here we are
Thanks for reading, why not join the mission? Or get a coach and let us join yours!
The Problem with Traditional Education
School teaches you what to learn, not how to learn
This isn’t the fault of schools or teachers. It’s because learning how to learn is a real challenge. It requires building skills through habits. It’s not just about understanding concepts.
In class, teachers have so many concepts to cover. The pace of new work means students become stuck in an endless cycle of catching up.
Slowly, the joy and excitement of learning degrade into an endless cycle of survival. Then our kids graduate and go off to college or a career without ever developing the skills, mindsets and tools they desperately need to succeed. We don’t want this to be true.
Help students build the
skills school doesn't teach
Tiny, consistent steps
Big interventions don't work, at least they don't last. The only way to sustainably change behavior is by breaking down big goals into micro ones. Then tackle them, in order, one by one.
Habits, not information
You can give students great advice, effective tips, and even show them how to do something. But, information doesn't change behavior. To really help, you need to help them change their habits. So that's what we do.
Human accountability
"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together". That's why top athletes, performers, and executives have coaches. Because we all perform better with someone alongside us. It's deeper than performance though. Someone with us shows us that someone cares.
Ethical gamification
Not every behavior can become a habit (automatic). Some behaviors are just a grind. Using streaks, points and rewards in a non-addictive, creative way can help turn that grind into something fun.
Who you learn from matters more
than what you learn
This is our core belief.
We believe AI has huge impact potential and use it to great effect internally. But AI isn't going to solve the education crisis. That's because it's fundamentally a who problem, not a what problem.
AI can pretend to care for your child, but they'll still know they're alone. Knowing you matter, that your life is meaningful, and that you need to show up, is a belief bestowed by people, not machines.
In the end, it's not the lessons alone that shape a life, but the people who believe in you while you learn them.
All the cool tech, tools and features we build need to serve this core purpose: to serve the whos.