Strive

Strive is a Y Combinator-backed coding school for kids, based in Singapore. It had been built by engineers for an entirely reasonable reason: coding is a valuable skill, and children should learn it.

The trouble is that nobody buys a valuable skill from a nine-year-old's point of view, and nine-year-olds don't buy anything. Strive had two audiences with completely different motivations — parents paying for a future, and children deciding every single week whether to show up — and one message trying to serve both.

We researched both groups and found the same answer from opposite directions. Parents didn't want a coder. They wanted a child who could make things. Kids didn't want to learn Python. They wanted to build a game their friends would play.

So we repositioned Strive around creativity, play and building, rather than abstract technical skill. Coding became the means, not the message.

That unlocked clearer messaging for parents, a far stronger pull for kids, and a platform the business could actually grow into.