Lernin Games

Jordi Miró was negotiating his exit from Wuaki TV (later Rakuten TV), where he served as CTO, when co-founder Iñaki Ecenarro approached him at an event about launching a startup. Miró was hesitant—he had promised his family he'd join either a large corporation or a mature startup, not start from scratch. But Ecenarro persisted, eventually meeting him at a Starbucks with a small prototype. The concept was simple but compelling: create an educational gaming app for children aged 2-6 that would be more engaging than YouTube, helping parents reduce screen time while teaching basic kindergarten concepts.

The two co-founders built the MVP themselves from October to February, with Ecenarro handling the frontend and Miró managing the backend and databases. They deliberately avoided hiring additional help initially, which Miró later acknowledged was the right call. The app launched with 20 games and the KPIs were strong enough that all five VC funds they pitched received positive responses. Impressed by their past successes, track record, and complementary skills, K Fund led a €1.5M seed round. With funding in place, the founders recruited a 10-person team leveraging their strong ecosystem reputation.

Lernin Games took a calculated approach to user acquisition, targeting second-tier markets where competition was less intense. They ran Google Adwords and Facebook Ads campaigns in Pakistan, India, and Southeast Asia, discovering that female users converted better than male users. The free app found success quickly—it ranked in top positions in India and Pakistan, and attracted cold email interest from large regional VC funds. This validated both the product concept and the acquisition channels, though it wasn't their intended long-term market.

The biggest challenge was engagement. Kids' attention spans were limited, and parents had to actively encourage app usage—YouTube was simply easier. Miró's team invested heavily in parent-facing analytics dashboards showing playtime, games completed, and learning progress, but this value proposition never resonated strongly enough. When VCs eventually demanded revenue rather than just user growth, the team pivoted from free to subscription. They discovered yearly subscriptions generated cash faster than monthly plans, reaching $10,000 MRR at one point. However, the CAC-LTV ratio remained problematic, and the subscription conversion didn't move the needle sufficiently. Meanwhile, Ecenarro stepped down, other team members left, and Miró's health deteriorated, landing him in the hospital multiple times. Ultimately, prioritizing his family's mental health over the company, he shut down Lernin Games.

Miró reflected that the core mistake was not monetizing from day one. He also regretted raising too much money, building too large a team, and underestimating the 120% commitment required in early-stage startups. The founders had assumed their seniority and past successes would compensate for reduced hours, but early-stage companies demand different hiring and leadership. For the last 18 months, Miró has served as CTO at The Hotels Network.