Keet (YC S24) – An app to create video courses on anything

Hi HN! We’re Zack and Tommy the Co-Founders of Keet (https://trykeet.com). We are building a mobile app that generates courses on any topic, with short videos for explanation and games for reinforcement. Courses mirror a real curriculum to help you learn over an extended period of time.Tommy and I met in linear algebra class in college and spent the next 4 years taking classes together. Our friendship was formed around learning new things. In school, someone else designs the curriculum, delivers the content, and writes the assessments. All you have to do is show up. Learning without this structure was frustrating, and there was a lot of friction to get started.Zack has a coffee obsession and struggled to assemble youtube videos, conversations with ChatGPT, and the books he was reading into a coherent understanding of all of the different variables that go into brewing a cup of coffee. His attempts gave him the freedom to follow his curiosity, but the instructional design was difficult. Every piece of content either presumed some prerequisite knowledge or none at all.Keet is our attempt at providing the autonomy to teach yourself anything while adding a structure conducive to learning. It finds a custom starting point and sequences lessons in a logical order.We have found Keet most useful in the following scenarios:- You have a subject matter interest that you enjoy passively learning about. (i.e. you really enjoy learning about medieval history and generate courses on medieval engineering)- You want to explore a niche topic of a subject area you already know a lot about. (i.e. You know a lot about biology but want to explore how migratory animals sense Earth’s magnetic field.)- You see a really niche topic get mentioned somewhere you want to explore more (i.e History of Penny Universities, Double Entry Book keeping or Robert Moses and the creation of the BQE)When you create a course we ask some questions about how difficult it should be, how much depth the

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62

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VALIDATE

high confidence

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Mobile app that auto-generates structured learning paths for niche topics you're curious about, filling the gap between unstructured YouTube rabbit holes and formal courses.

The pain

Self-directed learners hit friction when assembling knowledge from scattered sources. YouTube videos assume inconsistent prerequisite knowledge. ChatGPT conversations lack sequencing. Books don't adapt to your starting point. You want to learn about coffee brewing or medieval engineering but lack a coherent path forward.

The gap

Existing solutions are either too rigid (formal courses on mainstream topics) or too chaotic (raw internet search). No tool currently sequences custom learning paths based on your knowledge level and curiosity. Udemy/Coursera don't cover niche topics. YouTube is unstructured. ChatGPT is conversational, not curricular.

Build angle

Start by validating willingness to pay in one specific niche (coffee, history, or technical skills). Build a tight feedback loop: generate course → measure completion rates and learning outcomes → iterate on sequencing logic. The real moat is instructional design quality, not just content generation. Test whether users actually finish courses or if novelty wears off after 2-3 lessons.

Strengths

  • Solves a real friction point for self-directed learners with specific interests
  • YC backing and founder credibility (met in linear algebra, 4 years of learning together shows domain understanding)
  • Mobile-first approach matches how people consume learning content
  • Niche topics are underserved by traditional ed-tech platforms
  • Gamification element addresses retention, which is the hard problem in online learning

Risks

  • Completion rates for self-directed learning are historically terrible (often <5%). Unclear if structure alone fixes this.
  • AI-generated curriculum sequencing is unproven at scale. Bad sequencing kills learning outcomes and retention.
  • Monetization unclear. Freemium model may not work if users expect free AI content. Subscription model faces churn risk if courses don't deliver results.
  • Market size unknown. How many people actually want to deeply learn niche topics vs. passively consume content?
  • Competitive threat from ChatGPT plugins, Perplexity, or other AI tools adding curriculum features at zero marginal cost.
  • Retention and engagement metrics not mentioned. Without proof of learning outcomes, this is a content generation toy, not an education product.

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