Today we’d like to introduce you to Vishesh Gattani.
Hi Vishesh, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Like many students who gravitate toward math and science, my journey started early. Back in middle and high school, I volunteered as a tutor, helping younger students and peers with basic algebra and science concepts. What hooked me wasn’t just the subject matter – it was the moment when a struggling student finally got it. Seeing that lightbulb go off was incredibly rewarding. One of my favorite teachers once shared a quote that stuck with me: “You can never extinguish your own flame by lighting another.” That idea of lifting others through education has shaped everything I’ve done since.
I continued tutoring informally as I began my undergraduate studies in Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech, initially helping just one or two students I connected with through my local community. Tutoring kept me sharp academically and grounded me in the “why” behind what I was learning. Then, during my second year, COVID hit. Overnight, education moved online, and suddenly former students, families, and referrals began reaching out again. What started as a few virtual sessions quickly turned into full days of tutoring, blending virtual and in-person support as demand surged. As families grew more comfortable with online learning, I became deeply experienced in the virtual classroom and saw firsthand how powerful it could be when done well.
When I began my master’s degree at Georgia Tech, the demand had grown beyond what I could handle alone. That’s when Tutor Jackets was born. Georgia Tech has a strong startup culture – test ideas early, talk to users, solve real problems – and I applied that mindset directly. Tutor Jackets started simply: one tutor, one student, emails and Zoom links. But by early 2023, it became clear there was a real need in the community. Families weren’t just looking for homework help, they wanted mentors who could adapt to busy schedules, support students under pressure, and genuinely care about outcomes.
As we grew, the impact became very real. We helped a student with special education needs pass chemistry so he could continue playing football, something that played a major role in his mental health and confidence. We supported student-athletes and busy high schoolers juggling intense schedules and helped them regain control of their academics. At the same time, I was intentional about building Tutor Jackets as a place where tutors were respected and paid fairly. Having experienced low-paying on-campus tutoring jobs myself, I wanted to create opportunities that valued strong teaching, rigorous vetting, and genuine mentorship.
I continued running Tutor Jackets alongside my full-time engineering role until the spring of 2025, when growth reached a tipping point. At that moment, I realized I had something rare: a mission-driven business that was working, serving real students, and earning trust in the community. I decided to take the leap and pursue Tutor Jackets full-time. Since then, I’ve rebuilt our systems for scale, expanded our tutor team, and deepened partnerships with local schools across Fulton County.
Today, Tutor Jackets continues to grow as a student-first, relationship-driven tutoring organization. And we’re just getting started.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road, but that’s been part of the process. In the early days, the biggest challenge was simply not knowing where to start. There’s so much that goes into building something from scratch, and it can feel overwhelming if you try to do everything at once. I was very intentional about keeping things simple at the beginning – starting with just one tutor and one student, and only introducing new systems, software, or structure when growth actually demanded it. That mindset helped keep the business manageable and prevented me from overbuilding or overcommitting too early.
One of the hardest early hurdles was gaining momentum and credibility. Before you have a website, reviews, or a social media presence, you’re asking families to trust you based purely on how you show up. Those first few clients mattered immensely. I learned how important it is to nurture early relationships, align expectations clearly, and deliver consistently because reputation is everything when you’re just starting out. Over time, as momentum built, that challenge eased, but it was very real in the beginning.
As Tutor Jackets grew, the challenges evolved. Each new phase of more students, more tutors, more volume required restructuring how things worked internally. What functioned well at one scale often didn’t work at the next. There was always a new learning curve: legitimizing the business, filing as an LLC, managing contractors, handling taxes, and learning how to lead people effectively. Hiring was especially educational. I learned that while technical skill matters, attitude, adaptability, and a genuine desire to help students matter far more. With the right people, you can teach systems and skills; without them, growth becomes painful.
Another unexpected challenge was identity and community. As a young founder, especially in a service-based EdTech industry, it can feel isolating. Many peers pursuing startups are building software or AI-driven products, and there’s less visibility for people growing relationship-driven service organizations. Over time, I’ve been fortunate to connect with others in similar spaces, and those relationships have been invaluable, both for guidance and for perspective when things get difficult.
Overall, the road hasn’t been smooth, but each challenge has shaped how Tutor Jackets operates today. The constant learning, restructuring, and decision-making are what make the work meaningful. And they’ve reinforced why building something intentionally, rather than quickly, matters so much.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Tutor Jackets?
Tutor Jackets is a virtual academic support and mentorship organization that specializes in STEM tutoring for middle and high school students. We connect high-achieving Georgia Tech tutors with students who need personalized academic support whether that means catching up in a challenging course, raising grades, or pushing toward top performance. All of our tutoring is delivered virtually, allowing us to meet students where they are and support busy schedules with flexibility.
What truly sets Tutor Jackets apart is our people. Our tutors aren’t just subject-matter experts, they’ve very recently been in the same classrooms, taking the same rigorous courses our students are facing now. That proximity matters. It allows our tutors to teach not just the material, but the how: how to study, how to manage workload, how to think through problems, and how to build confidence. For many students, tutors naturally become informal mentors –d more like an older sibling guiding rather than a traditional instructor lecturing.
We are extremely intentional about who we bring onto our team. Every tutor goes through a rigorous interview, mock-teaching, and onboarding process to ensure they can teach effectively in a virtual environment and connect meaningfully with students. We train tutors to use virtual whiteboards, shared folders, and collaborative tools but just as importantly, we look for the personality, patience, and coaching mindset needed to support students long-term. Because of this, we’re proud to have a 98% satisfaction rate with initial Tutor-Student Matches.
Tutor Jackets supports nearly all middle and high school STEM courses, ranging from foundational math to advanced AP-level classes. This includes subjects like Algebra, Geometry, Precalculus, AP Calculus AB/BC, Calculus 2, AP Physics (I, II, and C), AP Chemistry, AP Biology, Environmental Science, and Computer Science. Our tutors specialize across different disciplines, allowing us to match students with someone who truly understands the subject not just broadly, but deeply.
Another major differentiator is flexibility. While many tutoring companies operate within narrow business hours, our tutoring availability spans late evenings and weekends. Because we work with college students, we’re able to support families during the “gray areas” of the schedule – after sports practices, late-night study sessions, or weekends packed with activities. This flexibility has been critical for student-athletes and highly involved students who need support outside traditional windows.
Brand-wise, what we’re most proud of is the trust we’ve built with families. Tutor Jackets is a high-touch service with closed-loop communication. Parents receive session summaries after every lesson, and we maintain group communication channels so that parents, students, and tutors are always aligned. From the first consultation through ongoing support, families are guided every step of the way.
At its core, Tutor Jackets is about more than tutoring.
It’s about mentorship. Access. Consistency.
We exist to help students feel supported, capable, and confident in some of the most challenging academic moments of their lives, and we take that responsibility seriously.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
For most of my life, I wouldn’t have described myself as a risk taker. I followed a fairly traditional path with engineering education, graduate school, and a stable role at a large company. I believed in working hard, paying dues, and progressing step by step.
To me, risk isn’t about jumping blindly. It’s about preparation.
That perspective changed in spring 2025, when I made the decision to pursue Tutor Jackets full-time. Walking away from a stable, well-paying engineering role to step into something ambiguous and uncertain was by far the hardest decision I’ve made. The challenge wasn’t just financial, it was psychological. Letting go of a clearly defined path and choosing the unknown requires a lot of trust in yourself and in the mission you’re building. But I also knew that if I was serious about creating something meaningful and sustainable, I needed to fully commit.
The turning point came during a work trip that I extended into a short visit with close friends in New York City. I had spent the previous two years waking up before dawn, working long days in manufacturing plants, learning how large-scale operations run and gaining invaluable experience, and then working on Tutor Jackets after hours.
But during that trip, as friends asked me about my life outside of work, I noticed something I hadn’t fully acknowledged before: when I talked about engineering, I was calm and capable. But when I talked about Tutor Jackets, I lit up. I spoke passionately about the students we were helping, the tutors we were empowering, and the impact we were having. One of my friends said something simple that stuck with me: “If you love this so much, why don’t you do it full-time?”
That question forced me to confront the risk I was already taking – trying to grow something meaningful in the margins of my life. The business had reached a point where something had to give, and I knew it would be far more painful to walk away from Tutor Jackets than to walk away from a job I could always return to in some form.
My approach to risk has always been calculated. I don’t believe in jumping without preparation. I spent two years building Tutor Jackets alongside full-time work testing demand, refining the model, listening to families, and making sure what we were building truly solved a real problem. For me, risk isn’t about being reckless; it’s about knowing when the data, experience, and conviction align. Then having the courage to act instead of endlessly recalculating.
That’s still something I work on today. But I’ve learned that growth requires movement, and sometimes the biggest risk is staying comfortable for too long. When the math finally works and the mission feels clear, you have to step forward or risk watching the opportunity pass you by.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://tutorjackets.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tutorjackets/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Tutor-Jackets/61569383170143/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tutorjackets
- Other: https://www.google.com/search?q=Tutor+Jackets
