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Now that we've gotten that out of the way, I'd like to share a few reflections.
For our 10-year anniversary last year, I wrote a long, personal email. It sparked more real replies than almost anything I've ever sent. So I'm going to try to earn that again.
💡 Some history you may not know
Eleven years ago, my brother Naeem and I left jobs at Meta and Microsoft with one conviction: learning for software developers was broken, and we could help fix it.
The problems were obvious. Books went stale too fast. Video tutorials were too passive. Alt-tabbing between a lesson, an IDE, and three Stack Overflow tabs was an obstacle course masquerading as education.
The better path was clear: hands-on, interactive learning. Build things. Break things. Learn in the same environment where the lesson lives. Basically doing it live, which we already knew was how developers learn best.
To put it another way: you can't teach someone to swim by showing them a video. You have to get in the water.
Eleven years later, that principle still holds. But the water has never moved faster.
🤩 A few meaningful milestones
Three million.
That's how many developers have now used Educative to build new skills, ace interviews, and stay sharp in an industry that never stops changing.
That number still surprises me when I say it out loud. Every time I hear from someone who finally cracked something that had stumped them (or landed a job they really wanted) it makes it all worth it all over again.
Some of you have been here since the early days of Grokking System Design, before System Design Interviews became table stakes at every major company. That one is still close to my heart. It's helped more developers land jobs than I can reasonably count (but if I had to guess... I'd say in the neighborhood of 300K).
This past year, the team has doubled down on creating hands-on AI skills courses. The response from you all around these has been amazing.
Here are a few of my favorites from the last year:
• Grokking Generative AI System Design
The system design skills that got you this far still matter — but the paradigm has shifted. This course bridges the two eras.
• MCP Fundamentals for Building AI Agents
MCP has quietly become the connective tissue of the agentic AI world. We built this one because I couldn't find anywhere else that taught it properly.
• Agentic System Design
The question I get more than any other right now: how do I design systems that actually work with AI agents? We built the course that equips you with the answer.
👀 A sneak peak at what's coming
One more thing. This one is a little different.
Naeem and I have also been building something new. It's called Fenzo AI. Tell it anything you need to understand, and it builds you a personalized interactive course on the spot. Any topic, any depth, right now — not just software development.
We're iterating fast and I'd genuinely love to know what you think. Go poke around at fenzo.ai, and please submit feedback or reply directly to this email. I value your perspective greatly, and I'm keeping an eye on this inbox.
And to recap, just this week, we're giving our community first crack at our best discounts of the year for our Anniversary Sale.
If you are hoping to level up your System Design, AI, or Cloud skills this year, there won't be a better time to start than now.
Thanks for everything. What a ride it's been.
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