In the light of the biggest startup competition and accelerator in Estonia - “Ajujaht” coming to an end: Here's the story of Markus Meresma, the co-founder and CEO of Mentornaut and winner of the EstBAN business angels award for 100K at “Ajujaht”.
Notice the watch on Markus’s hand? Well, apparently “it doesn’t work”, because he’s ALWAYS LATE!
Trust us, when we know something about him (except that he’s supersmart), it’s this.
When did you get into IT?
I really liked math and other STEM subjects at high school. We also had a programming course in the Tallinn 21st School. But to be honest, I wrote all the code off my deskmate, because all of my energy went to playing soccer at the time. I actually like programming, but just didn't have time to really get into it.
“Programming is like a superpower.”
Right after high school I went to the Edinburgh Napier University to study Business Information Technology. After the first semester I realised that wasn't it for me and went full in and started the Software Engineering program, which was a really good decision.
Of course I`ve always kept myself up to date with the world of technology, so that's a place where my interest started growing.
What kind of a student were you at high school? Were you in need of something like Mentornaut back then?
Not to brag, but I got really good grades at high school, my average was almost 5.0. Some of the lessons were at the same time as soccer practice, so I just didn't have time to attend them.
I used a tutor only once, when I wanted to get some extra speaking practice for the CAE English exam. The idea of Mentornaut didn't arise until last year, but my experience at the time gave a really good overview. There wasn't any place to find a tutor, you just had to know someone or post to a group at Facebook or something like that. Studying with a private tutor isn't that popular here in Estonia and even in Europe. In Asia and the USA, the practice is really widespread, almost everyone has a tutor there.
Did the idea for Mentornaut arise because of the pandemic?
Yes, I started thinking about it when the schools shut for the first time. My friend works at the hospital, and she had to be at work almost always and her son was at home getting bad grades at school, especially in Russian. Then I remembered my own experience and did some research. It made so much sense to have a platform for finding a private tutor locally, but there was almost nothing.
We started at the Global Hack event last April with a big team, who unfortunately parted after the hackathon. After that we found new developers in June and in the middle of July, we already had a product to put out. Then we had to find tutors and wait for students to apply. At the moment we are a team of 6 running Mentornaut. We have sold 2000 private lessons during this school year and helped over 400 students. Around 300 tutors have registered so far.
“University has given me the knowledge to speak with developers and really understand them. ”
Do your studies support running Mentornaut?
Yes, it has been super helpful. University has given me the knowledge to speak with developers and really understand them. I know more thoroughly what I need and want, how much time something takes, how much work needs to be done etc. So much more than I would have known before studying.
Is this your first startup?
Korko “Peenike” briefcase and Korko “Tasku” wallet
I got my first experience at high school, where I founded a student company called Korko with my friend Gregor, who's actually the cofounder of Mentornaut. We made computer bags and wallets out of Cork material. I mean I still believe in cork material and see the potential of it when enough money and energy would be invested. I even have the prototypes standing in the corner of my room, waiting to be put into production. It all came to a stop when I went to Scotland and Gregor went to do his military service. I've done almost everything with Gregor, the companies, high school, soccer. Korko was actually where the entrepreneurship interest sparked for us and what strongly influenced the decision to move on from soccer.
What kind of experience was Ajujaht for you?
It's a really useful program with all the useful trainings during this last half a year. I got a good base for performing in front of an audience, we had to pitch for the judges and cameras every 3-4 weeks. In addition to my improved performance skills, we got a lot of media coverage. And of course the big news was announced in the final!
Markus enjoying Edinburgh
Do you have plans to expand outside of Estonia with Mentornaut?
Yes, we are actually planning to test out foreign markets during the summer. Test how we'll manage to set up the supply part in different countries in Europe. Based on where we'll be the most successful we will choose the actual county we will focus more on. It will probably be in the middle or eastern part of Europe.
How are you planning to find tutors to join Mentornaut in other countries?
It will be a very interesting process, I haven't ever expanded anything to another country. But since our main targets are students, we are planning on contacting universities. They are a really good channel for Mentornaut, because being a private tutor is a really good opportunity for students to earn extra money, develop themselves and have a flexible schedule. It has worked really well in Estonia, with Tartu University, TalTech and Tallinn University. There are either students learning to be teachers who need training or just students who are competent enough to earn money by tutoring others.
What do you do in addition to studying and running your startup? Something to wind down?
Markus flying on the football field.
I have played soccer for 14 years and still play a little. We had a Sunday league with a group of friends. At first it was just for fun, but then after getting to the 3rd league, they wanted to pursue it more seriously and I decided to move on. I try to get on the field a couple of times a week, because it's like meditation for me, my mind goes blank and gets a full restart.
I also like to run. I wake up every day at 6:50 to run 5km and get a head start for my day.
Who inspires you the most?
All the huge technology entrepreneurs inspire me. For example Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, their stories and knowledge are super inspiring and have influenced me a lot. Also from Estonia, Bolt's story is really motivating.
How did you find your way to LIFT99?
When Corona first hit, I saw Ragnar Sass shout-out about his Corona campaign “F*ck Corona” to LinkedIn. I wrote to him personally and in the beginning of June last year, became a member here. I’m super grateful to Lift99 and a special shoutout to Kärt who helped us a lot during the “F*ck Corona” campaign. It was a great booster for us.