The Problem
Something peculiar happens when you watch a sixth grader struggle with pre-algebra. The knowledge exists—in textbooks, videos, a thousand Khan Academy lessons. The student has access. Yet learning fails to happen.
This failure reveals something fundamental: teaching is not content delivery. It's the art of presence—catching confusion as it forms, adjusting to a furrowed brow, intervening at the precise moment struggle threatens to become surrender.
Learning requires a tight feedback loop that most software cannot provide. Information is static. Teaching is responsive.
Why Now
We've built our schools on a flawed premise, and the results are catastrophic. Reading comprehension has collapsed to 1992 levels. Math proficiency sits at its lowest point in two decades. Only one in four students can write coherently. Critical thinking skills erode year over year.
Until now, great tutors didn't scale. They cost $100+/hour and live in major cities. But we've crossed an interesting threshold: LLMs are not only incredible content delivery machines, but they can also now maintain pedagogical state across months, adapt explanations in real-time, and—critically—resist being gamed by clever twelve-year-olds.
Mission
Many are racing to build superintelligence. Few are considering the place humans will have in that future. We are.
Join us to work on the most meaningful and urgent challenge of our generation.
Building in Hayes Valley
founders@jsv.ai