Before They Change The World

This episode is hosted by me, David and I speak with Ege who is a Computer Science Masters student at ETH Zurich. Next to his studies, he started Appeal, a project that uses AI to help YouTubers create better titles and thumbnails. We talk about the Youtube ecosystem today, about how Appeal works and the struggles of starting a company, the future of AI-assisted marketing, his journey from Turkey to Zurich and the CS education at ETH, among many others. This episode is packed with valuable insights and lessons so I’m sure you’ll get a lot from it.

“Everyone’s life is dictated by a series of fortunate and unfortunate events.”

🎞️ EPISODE LINKS:

Ege's Twitter: https://twitter.com/ekarais43?t=UCRxEkchMVtu1AU2MejTyQ&s=08

Episode resources: https://davidalonso.notion.site/Ege-Karaismailo-lu-Appeal-Resources-1f11c92ed8c64801a50baf9b9a914946

🎙️ PODCAST INFO:

Link tree: https://linktr.ee/btctwpod

Podcast website: https://www.beforetheychangetheworld.com/

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/before-they-change-the-world/id1621916494?uo=4

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/199oneGjV0sA3DkdhDLWl7?si=24ec5277d37242c7

Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy85MDAyNjBmOC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw

RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/900260f8/podcast/rss

👋 ABOUT THE HOST:

All my links: https://linktr.ee/david.alonso

Youtube channel: https://youtube.com/@itsdavidalonso

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-oort-alonso

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsdavidalonso/

Jonas Holzer is a co-founder of Refluenced, a Zurich-based startup aiming to revolutionize micro-influencer marketing by connecting influencers with brands. We talk about their recent appearance in Hoehle der Loewen, a Switzerland version of the famous Shark Tank TV show, where they succeeded in raising $300,000 Francs in investment, live on air.

We discussed the struggles and behind-the-scenes stories of creating a tech startup and his fascination with Computer Science and Entrepreneurship. I genuinely believe that Jonas and his Team will achieve their goal and beyond, and I am really thrilled that we had him on our podcast. I hope you also get inspiration from this episode.

Memorable quotes:

“While preparing the pitch at the parking lot, we got called in, and when we thought we finally had time, we had to go into the show right-away, without even completing the pitch once before. When we entered the room, the five lions (investors) were there, 15 cameras and we did the pitch for the very first time in the show itself”

“When I was five years old, I was so fascinated by the DVD player, I always clicked on it. And when I was 12, I got my first computer (iMAC G4), and I always wanted to know how everything works in the deep level. And soon I encountered the Terminal, which for me was like a magic door for me into enabling stuff that a UI (User Interface) couldn't”

Episode resources:

https://davidalonso.notion.site/Jonas-Refluenced-01d38cda8be1412b8cbd17f80bd9028b

Learn more about the Podcast:

https://linktr.ee/btctwpod

This episode is hosted by me, David and I speak with Jan who is studying Machine Learning for his Masters of Computer Science at ETH. He is also the co-founder of Generai, a young startup aiming to bring poster-quality AI-generated art to the masses. We speak about how Generai was born and their recent launch, the fast development of the generative AI field, the many applications and open-source tools emanating from this, some of the controversies that this has raised and lastly an outlook on Generai’s future and the field in general. Jan is deeply immersed in this field so I learned a ton from this conversation and I’m sure you will too.

“The century we live in now will be remembered as the one where computers learned the human language”

🎞️ EPISODE LINKS: 

Generai’s website: http://generai.art 

Episode resources: https://www.notion.so/Generai-Jan-Schnyder-Resources-11883d496b004315857423d7bf42e49d 

🎙️ PODCAST INFO: Link tree: https://linktr.ee/btctwpod 

Podcast website: https://www.beforetheychangetheworld.com/ 

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/before-they-change-the-world/id1621916494?uo=4

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/199oneGjV0sA3DkdhDLWl7?si=24ec5277d37242c7 

Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy85MDAyNjBmOC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw 

RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/900260f8/podcast/rss 

👋 ABOUT THE HOST:  

All my links: https://linktr.ee/david.alonso

Youtube channel: https://youtube.com/@itsdavidalonso

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-oort-alonso

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsdavidalonso/

Max Martinez was, at the time of recording, a few days away from graduating from his Masters of Robotics at ETH Zurich and starting a full-time job at Zipline in San Francisco. He’s a good friend of mine as we both studied Aerospace in Delft and transitioned to Robotics at ETH for our Masters. We chat about his many side-projects, elite sport, Zipline, his recent whitepaper called NashJudge and many other existential questions about AI and its future.  

“I’ve learned so much more in OCW than anywhere else, including my university in Delft.”  

“You need countries to be incentivized to cooperate because if they are incentivized to cooperate, then the rational action or decision to make is the one that is actually aligned with the common good”  

"The century we live in now will be remembered as the one where computers learned the human language"  

00:00 - Intro 

00:49 - Portfolio projects 

04:06 - Finswimming 

9:53 - Going to TU Delft 

15:24 - Switching fields and going to ETH Zurich 

21:25 - Zipline 

42:04 - Nash Judge 

1:12:13 - Intuition-based questions 

 🎞️ EPISODE LINKS: 

Max’ portfolio website: https://maxmartinezruts.github.io/ 

Episode resources: https://www.notion.so/Max-Martinez-Resources-acf93868e2474399a5ca2d9434324ca0  

🎙️ PODCAST INFO: All our links: 

https://linktr.ee/btctwpod 

Podcast website: https://www.beforetheychangetheworld.com/ 

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/before-they-change-the-world/id1621916494?uo=4 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/199oneGjV0sA3DkdhDLWl7?si=24ec5277d37242c7 

Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy85MDAyNjBmOC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw 

RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/900260f8/podcast/rss 

👋 ABOUT THE HOST:  

All my links: https://linktr.ee/david.alonso

Youtube channel: https://youtube.com/@itsdavidalonso

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-oort-alonso

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsdavidalonso/

Massimo Albarello is an Electrical Engineering Masters's student at ETH Zurich, specializing in distributed systems and computer science.

The idea of Omnia arises from a simple question: “Can we control and use all the digital devices around us as if they were ours?”.

Imagine a future where you can enter a room, and the temperature, lighting, and ambiance of the room will automatically get adjusted for your taste, and you can start using any screen in the room without connecting anything, all automatically.

We talk about how he started this idea with his friend Luca, applying for Y-Combinator during the first year, making funny promotional videos, and the current status of the project.

Resources

Before They Change The World Podcast

Visit https://linktr.ee/btctwpod to stay in the loop with the latest updates from our podcast!

Junwoo Hwang is an Electrical Engineering Bachelor's student at Korea University and a co-host of the podcast Before They Change The World. 

He is currently doing an internship at Auterion (https://auterion.com/) and in his free time he enjoys climbing, paragliding and doing DIY engineering personal projects.

In this casual conversation we talk about his youth in South Korea and the US, his passion for engineering, how he ended up in Switzerland, what he does with his time and an outlook into his future

Memorable quotes:

"not to put a stereotype on Asian culture, but you know, I was forced to study. I couldn't even go out play soccer with my friends cuz I was begging my mom to go out. I was telling her I want to go out play, but she was not letting me go out until I solved a hundred problems per day or something."

"In order to change the world, I think you really need to change people."

If you want to learn more about Junwoo, check out is his personal blog: https://beginnerjunwoo.wordpress.com/

Visit https://beforetheychangetheworld.com/ to stay in the loop with the latest updates from our podcast!

David Alonso is a Masters student in Robotics at ETH Zurich and a co-host of the podcast Before They Change The World.

He completed his Bachelors in Aerospace Engineering at TU Delft, where he was a founder of the team Talaria, which competed for the international GoFly award sponsored by Boeing, for building a personal aerial vehicle.

Aside from his studies, he manages a Youtube channel, Photography account, and a Music production channel.

If you are interested in David’s hobbies, please check out his website at https://david-alonso.com/

TU Delft Dream team Talaria's website: https://talaria.aero/

Visit https://beforetheychangetheworld.com/ to stay in the loop with the latest updates from our podcast!

Welcome to Before They Change The World, where we explore the minds and ideas of inspiring individuals working on impactful projects, before they change the world.

Every episode will be a casual 1 on 1 conversation about routines, struggles, and hobbies of inspiring guests as well as their research or entrepreneurial endeavors before they hit the world stage.

We will be interviewing people developing carbon capture technologies, electric airplanes, Virtual Reality Gyms, River Cleaning Robots, AI-powered music tools and so many more!