Codemonkey, a K-8 coding education startup, achieved global success with a small team with expertise in gaming, teaching kids to code, and lean product management. They were able to provide a superior learning experience to competitors. With little text in Codemonkey, translation was quick and easy, allowing the startup to partner with resellers in 10 countries within a year. The startup stayed lean by having co-founders develop an MVP, gaining early revenue from a government contract, partnering with curriculum providers instead of building sales teams, and partnering with education platforms instead of expensive marketing. This low burn rate allowed the company to go through fewer funding rounds at lower valuations, keeping founders in control until the profitable sale of the

1. Codemonkey’s journey
Global Win for a K-8 Startup

2. Size doesn’t matter
A smaller team with deep skills and experience in:
1. Gaming
2. Teaching kids to code
3. Lean software product management
Managed to provide a superior learner a than competitors

3. Coding is global!
● Very little text in CodeMonkey - one week to translate
● Lack of rigid CS curriculum requirements in K-12 made
localization easy
● Developed simple tools for partners to independently sell
and support in their countries (CodeMonkey’s Partner
Dashboard)
● Setting up and training a new reseller in one week
● Resellers pay upfront for exclusivity
● By 2018 had active resellers in 10 different countries!

4. Stay lean and win
Achieved low burn rate by:
1. Garage phase: Three coding co-founders dev MVP. Graphic
designer also worked purely for equity initially.
2. Early significant revenue through national government
contract in Israel
3. Partnered with established K-12 curriculum providers instead of
building our own expensive salesforce
4. Exposure partnership with leading US K-12 platforms (code.org
and brainpop.com) instead of expensive PR and adds budget

5. Stay lean and win (continued)
Low burn rate allowed:
1. Fewer funding rounds under with lower valuations
=> Founders stayed in control, cap-table stayed flat
=> Education companies could afford buying company
2. Cash neutrality achieved
=> Stronger position when negotiating sale of company

6. Thank you!
Jonathan Schor, co-founder & CEO