Suggestions
Tamir Shklaz
CTO & Co-Founder at Strive Math (YC S21)
Tamir Shklaz is a prominent entrepreneur and venture partner at Pioneer Fund, a venture capital firm that invests in startups associated with Y Combinator. He is based in Singapore and has a strong background in technology and education.
Professional Background
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Current Role: Tamir serves as a Venture Partner at Pioneer Fund since May 2022, where he collaborates with a network of over 300 Y Combinator alumni to support and invest in top startups from the accelerator.13
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Entrepreneurial Ventures: He is the Co-Founder and CTO of Strive Math, a company that focuses on teaching math through coding to make education more engaging and applicable to real-world scenarios. Strive Math was part of the Y Combinator S21 batch.1
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Previous Startups: Tamir has founded several other startups, including:
- Quillo: South Africa's largest second-hand textbook marketplace, which he scaled significantly during his university years.12
- Insupply: A platform aimed at facilitating the buying and selling of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 pandemic.2
- Coronapp: A centralized repository for COVID-19 information in South Africa.1
Education
Tamir holds a degree in Electrical & Computer Engineering from the University of Cape Town. His education laid the foundation for his technical expertise and entrepreneurial endeavors.1
Impact and Vision
Throughout his career, Tamir has been dedicated to leveraging technology to enhance educational accessibility and effectiveness. He aims to disrupt traditional educational models by integrating coding into learning processes, thereby preparing students for modern challenges.2 His involvement in various initiatives reflects his commitment to empowering individuals through innovative solutions in education and technology.
Highlights
600 students registered for our Strive League coding competition that took place online on Sunday.
The most meaningful moment for me was right at the end of the day, during the last workshop.
It was 3:15 p.m., and I was hosting a coding workshop that was supposed to run from 2-3 p.m. I was already 15 minutes over, so I wanted to wrap up.
A student asked a question that I knew would not be simple to answer, so I told him:
"Great question, but unless you guys want to sit here another 20 minutes, I'll have to answer that another time."
To which dozens of students passionately responded with, "No, I want more", "Sir, can we keep going?", and "1 hour isn't enough."
These kids had already spent their entire Sunday from 10 a.m. in back-to-back workshops (5+ hours), and here they were pounding their fists for another 20 minutes.
We tend to think kids can't concentrate on one thing at a time for too long.
Nonsense!! have you seen how long kids can spend glued to the screen playing Roblox or Fortnite?
Seeing that these kids were as engaged with coding as they are with their favourite games reminded me how powerful education can be when we focus on having fun and empowering kids to follow what they're passionate about.
These students are now hard at work with their friends to submit a coding project to win their share of the grand $ 5,000 prize. I'll share their incredible projects with all of you in a week's time.
Thank you to Crimson Education, Omnidesk and Pilot Corporation of America for sponsoring the event and making it possible.
Strive (YC S21) | Coding School For Kids.
We’re running a Formula 1-themed coding workshop and competition for kids 🏎️ - no coding experience needed.
It's happening online on the 24th of September at 2 pm SGT (register for free using the link in the comments)
This event is designed to help kids prepare for the Strive League - our grand competition happening on October 15th, where students team up with their friends, join workshops led by Stanford, Harvard and Google Alumni and compete to code the best app/game to win their share of the $ 5,000 grand prize.
