John Kessler
17 Y/ONew York, USATech

John Kessler

Co-founded AI startup Aaru at age 15, which reached a $1B valuation by early 2026 — reported by The Wall Street Journal and Vanity Fair (Apr 2026).

What they built

John co-founded Aaru at age 15, an AI startup that builds large-scale human behavior simulation models. Aaru's platform generates the synthetic opinions of hundreds of thousands of imaginary individuals to help companies, political campaigns, and decision-makers run market research and strategic forecasting in minutes rather than months. The company reached a $1 billion valuation in early 2026, with clients including McDonald's and EY.

View Project

The F18 Thesis

Verified track record

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Updated April 27, 2026