Maker of the Month — Dec ’24: Yan Chummar // From Young Dreamer to Tech Innovator

Arundhathi
TinkerHub
Published in
4 min readJan 19, 2025

“I was just 9 or 10, so my imagination just ran too wild!!” These words from Yan Chummar perfectly capture the spirit of a young dreamer who, instead of starting with simple projects like Rock, Paper, Scissors, jumped straight into building websites for his imagined billion-dollar company.

Hi everyone! I’m Yan, and this is the story of how a curious 8-year-old with limited internet access and boundless imagination grew into a tech entrepreneur.

The Early Days: When Dreams Met Code

While most kids my age were playing video games, I was dreaming about making them. At just 8 years old, I caught the game development bug. The conventional path would have been to join coding classes, but what they taught wasn’t exactly aligned with my ambitions. Instead, fate had other plans.

A tech-savvy cousin and his friend introduced me to the world of CSS and HTML. With just a 2GB monthly internet package, YouTube tutorials were out of the question. So, I did what any determined kid would do — I learned from articles. Every. Single. Day.

When Being “Too Young” Was Actually Perfect Timing

Here’s something you don’t hear every day — I was actually turned away from app development institutions because I was “too young”! But looking back, that rejection was a blessing in disguise. It pushed me toward something even better: communities.

The Community That Changed Everything

Enter TinkerHub and GDG Cochin. TinkerHub’s WhatsApp group, with less than 200 people at the time, became my first real connection to the tech world. “The term API was first introduced to me in that group,” I recall with a smile. These communities didn’t see my age as a barrier — they saw potential.

Learning Through Limitations

You might think having just 2GB of monthly internet would be a massive roadblock, but it actually shaped my learning style. Unable to rely on video tutorials, I developed a deep appreciation for written content. Articles became my best friends, and this text-based learning approach helped me build a solid foundation.

The real challenge? Understanding where to start with a new programming language in a pre-AI world. “Had to revisit the same topics again and again while I was trying to learn Java, my first major programming language,” I remember. But each revisit made the concepts clearer.

From First Project to Founding Dreams

My first real project was keralatoday — an app that combined five prominent news websites into a single platform. While it might seem simple now, it was a huge milestone in my journey. But I’ve always believed in looking forward rather than dwelling on past achievements. Each project is viewed through the lens of “what could have been done better,” feeding into the next creation.

Present Day: Building the Future

Now, at 21, I’m not just a mechanical engineering student at MEC — I’m also a co-founder of 9.8 (https://ninepointeight.io), where we’re building AI agents for Shopify stores and experimenting with various AI products. It’s a far cry from those first HTML pages, but the spirit of innovation remains the same.

A Different Kind of Impact

Despite my experience with public speaking and mentoring, I’ve recently chosen to step back from college speaking engagements. Why? Because I believe in creating impact through action. “I’ve done my fair share of that, now I will when I do something even more cool!”

Words for the Next Generation

As someone who learned everything from scratch in an era before AI coding assistants, I have a unique perspective on learning tech. While AI tools are incredible, I strongly advocate for understanding the fundamentals. For at least the next three years, knowing how each button works and understanding why errors occur will be crucial.

Looking Ahead

The journey from that 8-year-old dreamer to a startup co-founder has been incredible, but it feels like just the beginning. At 9.8, we’re not just building products; we’re shaping the future of AI-powered e-commerce. The billion-dollar company dream might have started as a child’s fantasy, but who knows? Sometimes the wildest dreams are the ones worth chasing.

Remember, whether you’re 8 or 80, it’s never too early or too late to start building. The key is to just begin, and let your imagination — no matter how wild — guide the way.

Stay curious, stay determined, and never let anyone tell you you’re too young to dream big.

— Yan

Written by: Aswathy Thummarukudy

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TinkerHub
TinkerHub

Published in TinkerHub

TinkerHub Foundation is a not for profit organisation that is working to enable people to learn and create new technology. We work with campus communities to create a talent pool that can work with disruptive technologies for the common good.

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