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How did you come up with the idea for your business?
When I was working in my community to set goals for student learning in high school, we wanted to provide students with personalized teaching; however, teachers were already overburdened with immense responsibilities and trying to personalize the learning of hundreds of kids on top of their already heavy workload is too much to ask of anyone.
After GPT-3 was released, I realized that this technology and new advances in Artificial Intelligence could be the key to providing every student with access to their own personalized learning tutor - and Athena was born.
What does the average day look like for you now as an entrepreneur (especially compared to past jobs/days)?
As an entrepreneur, I have no “average day”.
The average day is: work on something, work on something, work on something - and try to get enough sleep, exercise, and food. “Work” can mean anything from Athena work, talking to potential partners, homework from classes, or posting on my YouTube channel. What’s nice is that I genuinely enjoy what I’m doing and it feels more like play rather than work; in fact, the only thing that can feel tedious at times is homework. Other than that, anything entrepreneurial that I’m working on is ridiculously fun.
What are some of the top things you have learned so far?
I’ve learned that it’s more important to just start and that it’s not necessary to be perfect from the get-go. I thought I understood this even before starting Athena, but the journey of actually executing on my vision made me realize that while I unknowingly assumed the entrepreneurial process would be linear and straightforward, it was anything but. Most importantly, I learned that perfectionism is killer, and that I needed to let go of it altogether in the early stages.
Who or what inspired you to become an entrepreneur?
I’ve always dreamed of creating a large-scale impact and blazing a trail, being a pioneer and the first to do something of some kind. Entrepreneurship is all about creating something from nothing, and it has a magnetic allure to me because it can satisfy what I crave most - creating the greatest impact possible regardless of my age.
What have been 1-2 of your proudest moments in creating your business?
My two proudest moments were when we first created and launched our first prototype, as well as when we created a partnership with a charter school for testing.
What’s the best advice you have received along your journey?
You don’t need to have it all figured out already.
What’s a fun fact about you?
My favorite show is Miraculous Ladybug. XD
About The Author:
Ramya Nambala '26
Founder of Athena
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