Verizon Innovative Learning STEM Achievers
Hampton University
Summer STEM program participant
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About Daniel Dano
Daniel Dano is an American teenage software developer, founder of Ryla Labs, and author of Built Young.
+ Founder — Ryla Labs+ Author — Built Young+ BLAST Program
Official Biography
Daniel Dano is an American teenage software developer, founder of Ryla Labs, and author of Built Young.
At 13 he founded Ryla Labs, an independent software studio crafting web applications, developer utilities, and micro-SaaS products. Today, software engineered under Ryla Labs reaches an aggregate audience of over 100,000 monthly active users across 12 countries.
He is the author of Built Young: How I Started Building Companies at 13 (and What I'd Do Differently) (ISBN 9798176660999, Amazon B0HL4YGWGQ), host of the LinkedIn interview series Eight Minute Episodes, and a two-term class president participating in the BLAST (Building Leaders for Advancing Science and Technology) STEM leadership program.
I started building because I wanted things that didn't exist yet.
At 13 I founded Ryla Labs, a small software studio. What began as weekend projects turned into custom web applications, developer tools and mobile apps with a combined 100,000+ monthly users across 12 countries.
Alongside software, I'm the author of Built Young — now live on Amazon in Kindle, Hardcover, and Paperback editions (ISBN 9798176660999). And since 7th grade I've been in student leadership: two terms as class president, continuing roles in high school, and the Building Leaders for Advancing Science and Technology (BLAST) program.
100,000+
Monthly users*
12
Countries
13
Age when I founded Ryla Labs
*Measured across aggregate analytics and active tool installs across Ryla Labs software.
STEM programs, platforms and organizations I've built and learned with
✦Virginia Tech STEM
✦BLAST Program
✦Hampton University
✦HubSpot Academy
✦Ryla Labs
✦GitHub
✦Vercel
✦Student Council
✦Virginia Tech STEM
✦BLAST Program
✦Hampton University
✦HubSpot Academy
✦Ryla Labs
✦GitHub
✦Vercel
✦Student Council
What I do
Three things I care about
Software, writing and leadership overlap more than people expect. Each one makes the other two sharper.
I build custom web applications, tools, interactive software and mobile apps — with a combined 100,000+ monthly users across 12 countries. My main venture is Ryla Labs, which I founded at 13.
My first book, Built Young, is live on Amazon in Kindle, Hardcover & Paperback — turning what I learned from building Ryla Labs into thirty moves other young builders can steal this week.
Class president in 7th and 8th grade, and still in student leadership through high school. I also took part in the BLAST program for advancing science and technology.
Résumé
Learning in the field.
A concise record of STEM enrichment, academic recognition, career exploration and civic learning alongside the work I do in software.
Generated from the current résumé on this page, so every new credential added here is included in the download.
STEM & enrichment
BLAST
Radford University
Building Leaders for Advancing Science and Technology participant
Explore Life Science
Virginia Tech
Life-sciences summer program participant
Amazon Robotics Camp
Hampton University
Amazon-sponsored robotics program attendee
STEM Summer Camps
Virginia Peninsula Community College
STEM and technology summer-program participant
Chesapeake Drone Camp
eAviation & Drone Academy
Hands-on drone flight and programming program participant
Summer Golf Camp
First Tee — Hampton Roads
One-week summer golf program participant
Awards & certifications
Digital Marketing Certification
HubSpot Academy
Completed the digital-marketing certification course
President’s Award for Educational Excellence
U.S. Department of Education
Recognized for academic excellence through the President’s Education Awards Program
Governor’s Letter of Recognition
Office of the Governor of Virginia
Recognized for outstanding academic achievement
Sim Stock Challenge
Division Winner
Won a division through a simulated pharmaceutical-sector trading strategy
1776 History Program
Student history enrichment
American history program participant
Community & civic learning
Special Olympics Healthy Athletes® Special Smiles®
Boston
Three-time volunteer supporting inclusive oral-health screenings
STEM Symposium & College Career Fair
Time Out 4U, Inc.
Three-time attendee
Pathways2Careers
Greater Williamsburg Chamber of Commerce
Career-exploration program participant
Sheriff’s Citizen Academy for Youth
York County / York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office
Program graduate
TRUST Certificate of Completion
Federal Aviation Administration
Recreational UAS safety test completed
Memberships & platform experience
E-commerce Founder
Ryla Labs
Founder with hands-on commerce, product and operations experience
Apple Developer Program & Apple Beta Software Program
Apple
Member and beta-software participant
Amazon Associates Program
Amazon
Affiliate-program member
E-commerce & platform experience
Stripe · Shopify · Meta
Working knowledge of online selling, payments, marketing and product tools
Operating systems
Windows · macOS
Comfortable working across both desktop environments
Memberships & fun facts
Sam’s Club Plus · Costco Executive
Yes, both — a deliberately playful but entirely true footnote
Languages & technical fluency
Communication matters, whether the audience is a teammate, a customer or a compiler.
- English
- Native speaker
- Spanish
- Working familiarity
- HTML
- Fluent — the joke counts
Beyond the screen
I bring the same curiosity and focus to the court and course as I do to building products.
- Golf
- Avid golfer
- Tennis
- Recreational player
- Pickleball
- Recreational player
Timeline
Leadership & achievements
- Grade 7
Class President
Elected to represent my grade — my first real experience organising people, running meetings and following through on what I promised.
- Age 13
Founded Ryla Labs
Started a software studio from my bedroom. It now serves 100,000+ monthly users across 12 countries.
- Grade 8
Class President (re-elected)
A second term, with bigger projects and a much better sense of how to actually get things done.
- High School
Student Leadership Roles
Continuing in student leadership — supporting classmates, running initiatives and representing student voice.
- Program
BLAST
Selected for Building Leaders for Advancing Science and Technology, an academic enrichment program in STEM.