Brendan Finch

You absolutely need to hear the story of Brendan Finch, this dude is the real deal in the education tech world. He’s a YC S16 alum, which already shows he’s got that startup hustle. But his story? Holy shit, it’s like a crash course in what it takes to really care about changing education from the ground up.

Brendan kicked things off as a Teach For America corps member around 2007. That’s where he jumped into the trenches, teaching biology, physics, anatomy, all that real deal stuff, at LA public schools and virtual academies. He’s been in the weeds, actually doing the work with students, not just talking about it. That kinda ground-up experience? No bullshit. It shows he’s all about understanding the real problems kids face.

After that, he kept climbing. He was the CEO of Birdbrain Education for six years, leading in edtech. That means he’s not just about classroom tools, he’s all about how tech can actually flip the script on learning. Then, he got involved with Unreasonable as a Fellow, working on global literacy projects through The Project Literacy Lab. That’s where you see him thinking bigger, way beyond local schools, tackling literacy issues on a global scale.

Fast forward, he co-founded RocketLit, a platform aimed at making science and social studies more engaging for kids. That’s his baby. It got into YC S16, which is like the startup Olympics for founders. He crushed it there, and RocketLit evolved into InnerOrbit, now offering NGSS assessments, so he’s still pushing the boundary on how tech can help schools measure and improve.

What’s crazy is, Brendan’s process isn’t just about building products. It’s about a deep, genuine passion for education. His background in philosophy, psychology, and music from UCSB, plus his master’s in elementary ed from Loyola Marymount, shows he’s got a broad, human-centric view of learning. He’s been in the classroom, in leadership, and now in the startup world, connecting the dots between what works and what doesn’t.

Bottom line? Brendan’s story is about someone who’s been in the trenches, then jumped into the startup game to fix the shit that needs fixing. He’s motivated by a real desire to make education accessible, engaging, and works well. His process proves that real change comes from understanding the ground level, then building tech that actually helps teachers and students. No cap, this guy’s a force in edtech, and he’s just getting started.