Fundergrad

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  Logo

Inspiration

I was sitting in my intro to marketing class last March, and the teacher announced that we would be beginning a project. We were tasked with making optimal capital allocations across a firm's marketing obligations to save the falling value of the company's shares. And as I worked through the different factors that influenced growth and customer acquisition, I learned more about marketing than I ever had before.

So today, I decided that Fundergrad would take on the same challenge: to teach the next generation of college students financial literacy, through their favorite pass time: video games. I built this simulation to help students realize the autonomy (and responsibility) they now held, and I hope to scale this project to help people across the country.

What it does:

Fundergrad places students at the beginning of their semester and provides them with about $500 in starting funds, and let's them go. Each subsequent week, players think through the different scenarios they come across to maximize their savings/earnings, and minimize their stress. Recommendations and lessons are provided to guide them along the way, sourced from government pages and verifiable websites. The goal is to make it to the end with more money (and knowledge) than when they entered.

How I built it:

I first decided what layout I wanted for the user interface, and designed the logo on the home-screen using Canva. Then, I utilized my knowledge of HTML, Javascript and Claude code to build out the functionality of the game, starting with the toggles on the left of the screen, moving to the government sources hyperlinked at the bottom, and finally the animated chart in the center of the screen. I worked piece by piece to ensure that each necessary part of the learning experience received adequate attention, and fully produced the project with each lesson building up from the last.

Challenges I ran into:

The main challenge I ran into was the shear amount of coding needed to complete the project in this amount of time, considering the fact that I was on my own. I had to navigate all of the important project decisions off of my gut, with no one to assist. However, I managed to overcome the difficulty by putting away distractions and working on Fundergrad till fruition.

Accomplishments that I proud of:

• Building a full project and editing a full video on my own
• Learning my way around Github (I'm somewhat new)

What we learned:

• I learned the importance of a good cause. It is relatively easy to build anything, considering the fact that AI is growing stronger each day; but it is hard to build something that genuinely changes lives. Delivering value is always one of the top priorities in entrepreneurship, and I try to emulate in all of my builds.

What's next for Fundergrad:

• I am going to apply to A16z and Sequoia. I want to see how far I can take this on my own, and may hire employees if it shows true promise.

Built With

• claude
• collegeboard
• css
• html
• javascript