It is not every day that we talk about how a 16-year-old high school student built a multi-million dollar venture with $100.  Josh Feinsilber embarked on a transformative entrepreneurial journey with only $100 and a laptop. His venture, a live learning game, Gimkit, was not built on the foundation of vast amounts of venture capital or an army of professionals assembled to see it take off; it was purely the product of a teenager’s extraordinary vision and willpower to transform how education is delivered in classrooms through technology.

Gimkit was developed based on Feinsilber’s personal experience in the classroom which he felt was not engaging enough to facilitate learning. Josh noted a significant disconnect between the teaching methods employed by schools and student engagement. As a result, going beyond his call as a student and his age, recognized a gap and decided to act. Therefore, he created an interactive learning platform that could change how knowledge was dispensed and retained by students.

With only his high school education, no business training, and armed only with youthful oomph, he chose the road not taken. His amazing success while still in high school serves as an inspiring example of the huge potential of young people to help address global challenges.

His amazing story demonstrates the transformative power of a simple idea and the dogged determination to see it through. Through his venture, Gimkit, Feinsilber has shown the world that age and station in life are not a barrier to designing impactful solutions and building them into multimillion-dollar enterprises.

The Beginning of Gimkit

While still in high school at Gibson Ek High in Washington, Feinsilber felt that he was not getting the most out of the classroom and that he only felt engaged in class when games were played to reinforce learning. He felt bored with class and wanted a way to opt out until an opportunity presented itself. A project-based internship program opened near his school, and he decided to enroll in it. It is here that he learned to code, a significant milestone that would help him build Gimkit.

He says that without the internship, he would not have developed the skills he needed to make Gimkit. Thus, a passion for technology and problem-solving met with the skills of coding, and a life-changing educational technology program was born as part of a high school project.

Moving From Passion to Product

The 16-year-old’s love for coding quickly turned into a business opportunity. He singled out the gaps in the educational tools at the disposal of students and their teachers and resolved to help fill the gap by shaping his passion for education and technology into a tangible product. He thus envisioned an interactive learning platform that would engage and hold the attention of students to make learning fun and at the same time facilitate the grasping of key concepts.

Student Becomes Teacher

In his sophomore year, the teachers began to take note of Josh as a student who loved the computer science club, a place where he would hone his technical skills. He also participated in various school project competitions which helped mold his business acumen. His teachers would also learn something from him, the effective way in which he balanced school time and his entrepreneurial pursuits, a testament to the unique mold he was made of.

Therefore, with just $100, a laptop, and a wealth of determination, Feinsilber developed the first codes that would build Gimkit into what it is today. The phenomenal success of his new invention would catapult him to the global stage, a millionaire status, and adoration by the over 3 million students and teachers who now use his product in over 100 countries.

As his product went through various forms of ideation to reality, Feinsilber managed to get ten teachers to help him test his product with their students. Even though he targeted several hundred, the ten who placed their faith in the tinkering projects of a novice returned valuable results. Satisfied with what he had achieved, he launched his product in 2017, training even more teachers on its use as it slowly rolled down to students, one teacher at a time, one school at a time.

What Gimkit Entails

Gimkit is a live and interactive learning game for the classroom that turns questions into games with no grades and no curriculum. It has a game portion and a writing portion. It is a self-paced engagement where students answer questions on the go. There is no timing while answering questions and the students get exposure to questions multiple times to ensure mastery. The students gain $1 for a correct question answered and lose $1 for an incorrect answer. It also has a question bank from other schools and students that learners can benefit from.

Gimkit is used in class and also as homework. It offers a variety of interactive modes that support learning and retention. Teachers have also used it to transform the traditional question-and-answer sessions into captivating games thus bringing the questions to life to the enjoyment of students.

Finally, the Gimkit format of live games which offers students an opportunity to compete in real-time serves the dual purpose of reinforcing subject matter and brings in a competitive element that many students find engaging and motivating.

Impact on Education

Learners and teachers alike have praised Gimkit for its transformation of the way learning is carried out and how learners receive it.

• Gimkit, created by 16-year-old Josh Feinsilber, has brought significant influence in educational environments with its innovative approach to learning.
• The product has moved from a simple quiz game to a comprehensive classroom learning tool that has reshaped classroom engagement.
• There is a significant improvement in the pass rate for students who use Gimkit to facilitate their learning. Some teachers place this increased pass rate at 14%.

Taking the technology to the Globe

Gimkit now serves over 3 million teachers and students in over 100 countries, drawn by its ease of use, accessibility, and adaptability to different curricula. Additionally, the software has a multi-language support system that makes it appealing to different curricula across the world.

Business Development and Marketing

Feinsilber used simple marketing techniques without spending a single cent on advertising to get the word out about his product and scale up its use, and it was largely organic;

• The first 10 teachers who tested the product and approved it shared it with other teachers and students.
• Students and teachers shared it on social media sites like Facebook and other social media sites.
• He placed it on Product Hunt, the platform for new products, used as a launch pad by new tech company founders to generate buzz about their products and services.
• He placed it on Reddit (Sub-Reddit Teachers), where users gave valuable feedback that helped fine-tune it and also reach a wider audience.
• Now it is mostly spread through a referral system by teachers and students.
• He built a sustainable cash flow by initially offering various tiers of subscriptions that appealed to every category of user, i.e. Basic plan, Pro Plan, and Team Plan which is a group rate for schools and districts.

As a young man with fewer needs, Feinsilber focused on reinvesting his earnings back into the business which helped build Gimkit to the software he desired and scaled it to a self-sustaining model.

Lessons in Business from a 16-year-old High school student who built a multimillion-dollar business with $100.

• Price right: charge a price that is responsive to your target clientele. Feinsilber has maintained the same price he charged when he founded Gimkit in 2017. This $5 price has endeared him to the users pushing his business forward significantly.
• Start with what you have: Feinsilber didn’t wait for the right time to start, he started with his laptop, $100, and with his persistence and creativity pushed the boundaries to what Gimkit is today.
• There is no right age to start a business r pursue your dreams. At only 16 years old and still in High school, Feinsilber doggedly pursued what he believed in.
• Start small with what you have and let the work teach you as you gradually scale up.
• Follow your passion: Find things you are passionate about and unrelentingly search for ways to address them or create them.
• Solve real problems for people and you will make your money in the process.
• On any journey worth taking, there will be problems and or challenges. Learn from your mistakes and turn them into opportunities to refine your product or service.

Plans for the Future for a 16-year-old-high school-student who created a multi-million dollar venture with $100

With the advent of AI, Feinsilber is hoping to continue pushing the boundaries forward through strategic advancements and growth, by using Artificial Intelligence to personalize education. These may include adaptive learning paths that help respond to students’ performance real-time thereby establishing an even more engaging and effective learning.

Josh Feinsilber’s Gimkit has redefined the intersection of technology and education, establishing itself as a successful learning application. As the company looks forward, it is poised to further influence the edtech industry through strategic advancements and growth.

Gimkit can also enter into collaboration with educational institutions for curriculum integration, corporate training, and further expansion into new markets.

Important Quote from Josh Feinsilber

It would not suffice to write a story about how a 16-year-old high school student built a multi-million dollar venture with $100 without capturing his most important quote;

“Students should be placed in situations that challenge them. It is through project learning that I was challenged to start Gimkit. Project-based learning provides outstanding opportunities for personal learning and growth because the students feel challenged. Give children space”!

Conclusion: How a 16-year-old High school student built a multi-million dollar venture with $100.

Josh has a gifted project mind with a passion for education and technology, that was aroused by his teachers through project work to create an interactive and effective learning platform for millions of teachers and students. At a very young age, he tactfully combined the thrill of games with the substance of learning. And thinking as a child with the desire to play, a business was born that combined enjoyment with education.

His pursuit of what he believed in is a testament to the amazing power of innovation and perseverance no matter one’s station in life. The world now celebrates how a 16-year-old high school student created a multi-million venture with $100. The future of education through technology will never be the same again. Feinsilber has revolutionized classroom engagement forever.

 

Also read our story how an “expert in failure” built a $100 million business.