From Zero with Anusha Kannan

Moving back to the place you came from can feel harder than leaving it. When everyone around you still remembers the old version of you, how do you keep growing without shrinking back into who you used to be?

Anusha Kannan gets brutally honest about the hidden emotional cost of returning to her hometown after time abroad- not the logistics, but the identity whiplash of walking into familiar rooms where people think they know who you are. What starts as a reflection on homecoming turns into a relatable breakdown of what happens when your old life and your new self stop fitting together.

you'll listen to things like:

Why coming back home can be more disorienting than moving abroad in the first place

The trap of “performing” your old self around family, friends, and familiar routines

How social media and online visibility create the illusion that people are tracking your transformation

The difference between the old self, actual self, and ideal self

Why pretending is not neutral & how it can quietly keep you stuck

The role of filters and boundaries in protecting your sanity, standards, and direction

Anusha also shares the internal fight of being in-between seasons - too changed to live as before, but not yet fully aligned with the person she wants to become. She explores the grief of outgrowing a version of yourself, why old environments pull you backward, and how to stop over-explaining yourself when other people’s expectations don’t match your reality.

This episode is for anyone who has ever moved, returned, changed, or felt like they no longer fit the version of themselves that other people still expect. If you’re navigating identity, boundaries, reinvention, or the uncomfortable middle of becoming someone new, this conversation will hit home.

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/6RHumWcF9Vs

Read From Zero: https://fromzerowithanushakannan.substack.com/

Let's connect:

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

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anusharameshkannan/

Who even am I? https://www.anushakannan.com/

0:00 Intro: one year back in India

0:25 What I thought the hardest part would be

1:24 What I didn't expect

2:20 Walking into rooms where people think they know me

3:35 The assumption I kept making about people watching me

5:12 What I got wrong about that

5:58 Something I started doing without realizing it

6:42 Stuck in between seasons

7:29 Why my brain won't let this go

8:50 The pretending isn't as harmless as I thought

9:53 A framework I keep coming back to

11:46 Outgrowing a version of myself

13:16 Why the in-between is the hardest part

14:58 The first thing I'm doing about it

15:22 The second thing

17:47 The third thing I'm realizing

19:12 Letting go of needing to explain myself

21:20 Letting people be who they are

21:59 Where the real work happens

In this episode, Anusha talks about a feeling she's had since her first internship, one that AI finally made impossible to ignore. What happens when words like brand, authentic, and expert stop meaning what they used to, and the one question she now asks before creating or believing anything.

If you've felt the gap between something real and something that performs real - tell me where. I read every comment.

Chapters:

1:10 — The feeling I've had since my first internship

1:36 — "Building a brand" doesn't mean what it used to

2:00 — The authenticity paradox

2:41 — Two philosophers saw this coming

3:25 — The copy that replaces the original (LinkedIn)

4:33 — What bees know about staying honest

5:26 — The chef in a small town

5:45 — AI didn't create this - it removed the friction

7:01 — The wrong question vs. the one that matters

7:52 — What I'm doing about it

8:33 — The filter (and the question for you)

Join From Zero: https://fromzerowithanushakannan.substack.com/

Let's connect:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anusharameshkannann
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anusharameshkannan/
• Website: https://www.anushakannan.com/

Five pieces of advice that sounds smart, but are quietly messing with your head and how to stop internalizing someone else’s context as your verdict

Get early access to Gen Yodha: https://www.genyodha.com/

It's 4am. I'm rebuilding my entire platform from scratch while talking you through what's been happening :)

3 months ago I started building Gen Yodha - the anti-LinkedIn for early career professionals (0-7 years). This is the real update: the positioning mistake that almost derailed everything, why vibe coding broke my MVP & what I'm doing about it.

In this video:

00:01 - Announcement for The 360° Marketing Show viewers

01:01 - The 3 month journey so far

04:22 - The positioning mistake (marketing)

09:50 - Vibe coding: what worked and what broke

12:30 - Why I'm launching messy

15:28 - The thing I learned from Polywork

16:45 - What building in public actually did for me

19:00 - What I'm learning about myself

21:30 - What's next

📢 If you're watching from @The360DegreeMarketingShow- this is the new era. The show now lives under From Zero - same marketing conversations, but focused on pre-seed, seed, and series A stage marketing. Subscribe to this channel to follow the full journey.

—

If you have 0-7 years of work experience and you're tired of feeling invisible on LinkedIn, this is for you.

—

From Zero presents: The 360° Marketing Show

Lessons from building marketing, career, startup & self FROM ZERO

Join From Zero: anushakannan.com/newsletter

Let's connect:

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

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anusharameshkannan/

Who even am I? https://www.anushakannan.com/

#buildinpublic #startup #marketing #antilinkedin #genyodha #foundersjourney #mvp #vibecoding

I watched that Alex Hormozi x Tony Robbins video and couldn't stop thinking about one question: do you have to make $100M before you're allowed to talk about healing?

Everyone's making videos about how "if our hero needs to heal, maybe we should too." And I agree. But there's this undertone - like you haven't earned the right to take a break. You got 99%, why not 100? So I sat with it. And I'm sharing the one time I did something just to prove someone wrong - and why I'll never do it again. This one's for anyone who's building from zero and wondering if they're allowed to ask what it's all for.

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Join From Zero: anushakannan.com/newsletter

Let's connect:

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

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anusharameshkannan/

Who even am I? https://www.anushakannan.com/

1:22 - The question no one's asking

2:12 - Why we're drawn to people like Alex

3:14 - The anger I found in myself

4:08 - I don't do things to prove people wrong...but

4:48 - the one time I did (the attendance story)

6:15 - The empty feeling

6:36 - I don't believe in regret

7:07 - Building from purpose, not pain

tags: alex hormozi, tony robbins, hormozi tony robbins, alex hormozi reaction, purpose vs pain, building from zero, early career, gen z career, hustle culture, when success feels empty, healing, personal growth, from zero

Gen Yodha - closed cohort soon → https://www.genyodha.com/become-an-unofficial-board-director

I wanted to share the thing career influencers won't tell you: the advice isn't broken, your starting point is just different. Here's what actually works if you don't have the name, the network, or the credentials yet. Building something for people like us.

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Gen Yodha:

Check out Gen Yodha 🏹: https://www.genyodha.com/

Follow Gen Yodha 🏹 on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/genyodha/

Read the first unofficial board update: https://genyodha.beehiiv.com/p/day-1-of-gen-yodha

How is Gen Yodha different from LinkedIn? Read our product updates - https://www.genyodha.com/product

Timestamps to help you navigate the video :)

0:00 - I followed every piece of career advice and still got rejected

0:33 - The standard playbook everyone tells you to follow

1:15 - Why the same advice works for them but not for you

9:22 - 4 lessons that slappped me in the faceee

12:44 - What I'm building for people starting from 0

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Join From Zero: anushakannan.com/newsletter

Let's connect:

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

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anusharameshkannan/

Who even am I? https://www.anushakannan.com/

current subs: 178💚

tags: career advice, job search 2026, linkedin tips, gen z career, how to get a job, networking tips, personal branding, job hunting, career advice for beginners, entry level jobs, how to land a job, job search tips, career growth, linkedin strategy, cold dming, job referrals, networking for introverts, first job, career change, job market 2026, building a network, starting from zero, no experience jobs, career tips gen z, how to get hired, job application tips, linkedin for beginners, peer networking, career development, early career advice

music from CapCut

Happy New Year 2026! It's been a minute since I've done an audio episode - I got so wrapped up in building Gen Yodha that I kind of forgot to just... talk. This one's about the two paths in life - linear vs exponential - and how to tell if you're actually building toward something or just stuck in sunk cost fallacy. Also, why I didn't even notice when the date changed to January 1st this year, and what that taught me about goals, small wins, and being nicer to myself in the process.

Join From Zero: anushakannan.com/newsletter

Let's connect:

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

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anusharameshkannan/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@anusharameshkannan/videos

Who even am I?

https://www.anushakannan.com/

🎙️ For marketing nerds: Subscribe to The 360° Marketing Show ⁠ @The360DegreeMarketingShow ⁠

🏹 First 10 users, sign up here →https://www.genyodha.com/cohort-1💚 Join the unofficial board: https://www.genyodha.com/become-an-unofficial-board-director ----------------------------------------------------------------------Gen Yodha:Check out Gen Yodha 🏹: https://www.genyodha.com/Follow Gen Yodha 🏹 on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/genyodha/Read the first unofficial board update: https://genyodha.beehiiv.com/p/day-1-of-gen-yodhaHow is Gen Yodha different from LinkedIn? Read our product updates - https://www.genyodha.com/product----------------------------------------------------------------------Join From Zero: anushakannan.com/newsletterLet's connect:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anusharameshkannannLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anusharameshkannan/Who even am I? https://www.anushakannan.com/🎙️ For marketing nerds: Subscribe to The 360° Marketing Show  @The360DegreeMarketingShow  Polywork raised $44.5M from Series B and shut down on January 31st, 2025. They were backed by Andreessen Horowitz (led Series A), Stripe founders John and Patrick Collison, Alexis Ohanian (Reddit co-founder), and more. In this video, I break down exactly why the "anti-LinkedIn" failed...the cold start problem, the unclear value prop, and the pivot that alienated their core users. Plus, what this means for anyone trying to fix professional networking (including me with Gen Yodha).Sources:- Polywork shutdown announcement: https://x.com/multiplay3r/status/1873859669065978327- Series B funding ($28M): https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220915005370/en/Polywork-Secures-28M-Series-B-Funding-as-it-Launches-Out-of-Private-Beta- Series A funding ($13M, led by a16z): https://www.siliconrepublic.com/start-ups/polywork-series-a- Polywork post-mortem analysis: https://www.productreleasenotes.com/p/what-happened-to-polywork-an-eye current subs: 159💚tags: polywork shutdown polywork failed linkedin alternative why startups fail anti linkedin polywork vs linkedin startup post mortem network effects cold start problem gen yodha early career networking startup lessons linkedin competitorMusic from Capcut: Reasoning, Verification, Serlous, News, Accompaniment: LP(1455637)

BECOME THE UNOFFICIAL BOARD DIRECTOR: https://www.genyodha.com/become-an-unofficial-board-director

Want to be part of shaping this? Fill out this research form (anonymous!): https://forms.gle/Y6L5zHr5eY2AmMAv9

I've been job searching on and off for 3 years. And the biggest lesson? Senior people rarely responded to my cold outreach. But my peers-classmates, friends, people at my level--they're the ones who actually helped. Real referrals. Real information. Not generic advice.

That's why I'm building Gen Yodha. A place where early-career people actually help each other instead of performing for algorithms. If you're trying to build a personal brand without a big company name, building something alone, or just want a job without the performative culture, this is for you.

This is the name reveal. Welcome to Gen Yodha. 🏹

T I M E S T A M P S

0:15 - the people who actually helped me get jobs

0:33 - why your peers matter more than you think

1:05 - the problem with existing networking platforms

1:26 - what if helping each other was the default?

1:56 - the name reveal

2:16 - what building a career actually comes down to

2:30 - the unofficial board of directors (and how to join)

3:37 - BTS: filming at 4 AM because my neighbors won't keeep it dowwnn hehe

If any of these resonate with you, drop a comment and let me know which bucket you're in (or if you're all three, like me).

Read my story & decide if you'd like to follow along: anushakannan.com/newsletter

Let's connect:

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

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anusharameshkannan/

Who even am I? https://www.anushakannan.com/

🎙️ For marketing nerds: Subscribe to The 360° Marketing Show @The360DegreeMarketingShow

Want to be part of shaping this?

Fill out this research form (anonymous!): https://forms.gle/Y6L5zHr5eY2AmMAv9

3 years ago, I was looking for something that didn't exist. After trying to find it everywhere and getting 100+ job rejections along the way, I decided to build it myself.

In this video, I'm sharing what I'm building and why it matters for three types of people:

→ Bucket 1: People building their personal brand from scratch (without a big company name backing them)

→ Bucket 2: Builders who feel completely alone and need real feedback from people who actually get it

→ Bucket 3: Job seekers who just want a straightforward recruiting process, not generic rejections with zero feedback

T I M E S T A M P S:

0:15 - Why the job market is brutal for Gen Z & millennials

0:47 - The 3 types of people this is for

1:00 - Bucket #1: Building your brand without a big company name

1:58 - The harsh truth about personal branding

2:35 - Bucket #2: Builders who feel completely alone

3:27 - Why 98% of friends are too nice to give real feedback

4:27 - Bucket #3: People who just want a job (no influencer stuff)

5:21 - The "step marks" concept for recruiting

6:09 - The problem: no space to be visible without performing

6:25 - What's coming next + how to join

7:02 - Moving back to India from the US (quick update)

If any of these resonate with you, drop a comment and let me know which bucket you're in (or if you're all three, like me).

Join From Zero: anushakannan.com/newsletter

Follow along→

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

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anusharameshkannan/

Next video, I'll reveal what I'm calling this platform, the plan, and how you can join the first 100+ people helping build this thing.

Who even am I?: https://www.anushakannan.com/

🎙️ For marketing nerds: Subscribe to The 360° Marketing Show ⁨@The360DegreeMarketingShow⁩

tags: PersonalBranding, BuildingInPublic, StartupJourney, EarlyCareer GenZCareers JobSearch CareerDevelopment Entrepreneurship SoloFounder BuildingAlone StartupCommunity CareerAdvice JobMarket2025 AIandJobs EntryLevelJobs RecruitingProcess CareerPlatform ZeroToOne BuildingFromScratch ProfessionalGrowth CareerTransformation StartupLife FounderJourney CommunityBuilding RealFeedback CareerSupport