The "Classroom-to-Market" Gap: What I’m learning by building instead of just reading.

As a commerce student, I spend my mornings learning the theory of how businesses and markets function. By night, I’m trying to build those same concepts into software.

The biggest surprise? The gap between the textbook and the reality is much wider than I expected.

Bridging the Theory We learn about market efficiency and business models in class. It’s perfect, clean, and logical. But when you start building something like my project, MarketPlay, you realize the real world is messy.

The Theory: A product solves a clear need for a specific customer. The Reality: Finding that customer is a process of constant iteration, listening to feedback, and realizing your first idea probably needs to change.

Why I’m "Building in Public" I decided to start sharing my journey because I want to learn from the people actually doing this work. I’m currently documenting the process of turning an idea into something functional, navigating the challenges of product development, and figuring out how to balance long-term goals with day-to-day execution.

I’m not an expert. I’m just a 17-year-old student who wants to understand how the gears of the economy actually turn.

My Invitation to You I’m documenting the questions I encounter the ones that don't have answers in the back of the book.

If you're a professional in the finance or tech space, I’d love to hear your perspective. What is one thing you learned in your first year of business that you never saw in a classroom?