I got banned from SoloLearn for trying to help beginners. Here's what happened.
Yesterday, I was on a mission. I'm Harun, a 12-year-old solo dev who built KODA, an AI coding mentor, entirely on my Android phone.
I noticed hundreds of beginners on SoloLearn asking: "How do I start?", "Help me with loops!", "I'm stuck!"
So I did what any helpful founder would do: I answered their questions, gave them code solutions, and added a small P.S.: "P.S. I built a free tool called KODA to help with this. Try it here: [Link]."
I thought I was being helpful.
SoloLearn's algorithm thought I was spamming.
Within hours, my account was blocked. 🚫
The Moment of Panic
When I saw "Your account is blocked," my first thought was: "Oh no, I messed up. My marketing is over."
But then, my CEO brain kicked in.
I realized: If an automated bot thought my helpful comments were "spam," maybe I was doing something right. Maybe I was being too effective.
The Lesson: Marketing vs. Helping
Here is what I learned in 24 hours:
- Algorithms hate links. Even helpful ones. If you paste a URL 10 times, the bot doesn't care about your intent; it sees a pattern.
- Trust takes time. You can't force users; you have to earn them.
- The Story > The Link. People don't click links because they are forced to. They click because they connect with the story.
The Pivot
So, am I quitting? No.
I'm pivoting.
- I'm turning this ban into this article.
- I'm going to focus on Dev.to, where the community values "Build in Public" stories.
- I'm going to ask my friends (Renuka, Dharaneesh) to be my first real users, face-to-face.
- And maybe, one day, I'll go back to SoloLearn with a smarter strategy: No links in comments. Just value in the bio.
To Other Founders
If you get blocked, rejected, or told "no" today: Don't stop.
Turn that hurdle into content. Turn that rejection into a lesson. Turn that "Blocked" screen into your next viral post.
Because while others see a wall, I see a story. And stories build empires.
Try KODA anyway (no login required to test): https://koda-aicodementor.netlify.app/
Built with ❤️ (and a little bit of rebellion) by Harun (age 12) on a POCO C55.