Answer extracted from the The Tim Ferriss Show podcast — listen to the full episode below.
How does Mentava help kids learn faster than their age group?
Mentava is software designed to let kids learn as fast as they're capable of learning instead of at the pace assigned to their age. The core differentiator isn't just an optimized curriculum—it's sophisticated motivation design that applies game design principles to build children's intrinsic drive to learn, rather than relying on external rewards or pressure.
The flagship product is early literacy software for preschoolers starting as young as three years old, with the target of reaching a second grade reading level. This means children finishing the program can independently read books like Green Eggs and Ham, Hop on Pop, and the Elephant and Piggy series—the actual benchmark for fluent independent reading at that grade level.
Why motivation design matters more than curriculum alone
What separates Mentava from traditional educational software is the integration of game design principles into the learning experience. As detailed in this episode of The Tim Ferriss Show, Niels Hoven—the founder—spent years studying how mobile games achieve sustained user engagement. He realized that most educational apps either ignore motivation entirely or use crude extrinsic rewards (badges, points, prizes), which can actually undermine genuine curiosity.
Mentava's approach is different: the software is built to make learning itself feel intrinsically rewarding. This means designing the pacing, difficulty curves, and feedback mechanisms so that each child experiences the satisfaction of genuine progress without being manipulated by external incentives. The result is children who want to keep learning, not children who learn to game the system for external rewards.
The gap that sparked the idea
Niels Hoven created Mentava during the pandemic while locked down in a 600 square foot one-bedroom apartment with his wife and three young children. They realized there was no software actually designed for young children to teach themselves to read—existing tools either treated reading as a byproduct of other activities or relied on traditional methods that didn't adapt to individual learning speed. Hoven brought his background from Cloudflare, Class Dojo, and Pocket Gems—where he ran the highest-grossing mobile game in 2011—to solve this gap by combining pedagogical rigor with the motivational insights that make world-class games compelling.
The real-world outcomes speak to the effectiveness: children as young as two have demonstrated reading Green Eggs and Ham before their third birthday, and others have reached second grade reading level in roughly three months—a pace unimaginable in traditional classroom settings where children are taught to the middle of the age cohort. Discover the deeper technical details of how Mentava structures its curriculum and adaptation algorithms in the full conversation with Hoven.
"Mentava is software designed to let kids learn as fast as they're capable of learning instead of just at the pace assigned to their age."
Niels Hoven — Founder and CEO of Mentava. After working at Cloudflare, Class Dojo, and Pocket Gems (where he led the highest-grossing mobile game worldwide in 2011), Hoven applied his expertise in game design and motivation systems to early childhood literacy. During the pandemic, he and his wife recognized the absence of software genuinely designed for young children to teach themselves to read, which led them to launch Mentava and fundamentally rethink how children engage with learning itself.
Key takeaways
- Mentava removes the age-based learning bottleneck by letting each child progress at their own optimal speed, not the classroom average.
- The software combines a rigorously optimized curriculum with sophisticated motivation design borrowed from game development, avoiding both traditional rote methods and artificial reward systems.
- Real outcomes include children reaching second grade reading level (independent reading of Green Eggs and Ham and similar books) by age three or even earlier.
- Intrinsic motivation is the design priority—children develop a genuine desire to learn rather than learning to chase external badges or praise.
See also
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Survivors receive congratulatory messages implying a clear endpoint when treatment ends, but the psychological and physical recovery process extends far beyond the final appointment, creating a stark gap between public perception and lived reality.
How did Suleika Jawad reframe her understanding of recovery after cancer treatment ended?
Suleika Jawad realized that moving on from trauma is a myth—you cannot compartmentalize difficult experiences and skip the hard work of healing, grieving, and integrating those experiences into your life story.
Why did a journalist leave medical school at Stanford to pursue freelance writing despite significant financial investment?
Lori Gottlieb left medical school after two years because she recognized that her real passion was storytelling and telling other people's stories through narrative journalism and deep human connection.