In 2020, classrooms worldwide fell silent almost overnight. Teachers scrambled to adapt, parents became unofficial tutors, and students struggled to keep up. In Romania, the challenge was especially stark—finding a reliable tutor had always been tough, but the pandemic turned it into an urgent problem.

We didn’t set out to “revolutionize education.” At first, we just wanted to solve something simple: how could students quickly find a good tutor without endless back-and-forth messaging? That question led to Meditatii.ro, a small idea that grew into something much bigger.

From day one, we knew that for online tutoring to work, it had to serve three groups equally: Students, who needed engaging lessons and timely feedback; parents, who wanted transparency and real results and tutors, who needed better tools to manage their workload and connect with more learners.

Every feature we built—from search filters to AI-driven progress reports—was designed with this balance in mind.

Early missteps and hard lessons

Like most startups, we had our fair share of wrong turns. Initially, we thought price would be the biggest factor for parents choosing a tutor. We built our entire model around affordability, assuming everyone would go for the cheapest option.

We were wrong.

Parents weren’t just looking for low-cost lessons; they wanted someone they could trust with their child’s education. A good track record, strong credentials, and positive testimonials mattered more than saving a few euros per session. When we shifted our focus to transparency—detailed tutor profiles, student reviews, and verified qualifications—engagement shot up. It was a humbling reminder that assumptions mean nothing without real user feedback.