The Gen Z Fastlane

Wilman Chan is a high school class of 26' content creator based in Taiwan. He's currently building Typa, an AI content engine that helps creators streamline and grow their brand 

Timestamps:
00:41 - intro
01:59 - why grind linkedin?
03:57 - personal branding debunked
06:07 - the yc internship strat 
09:09 - your age as an advantage
09:44 - 1000+ hr on linkedin wisdoms
12:40 - copy & pasting posts
15:19 - wilman’s infinite content ideas source
19:20 - linkedin = too saturated?
20:36 - william chan
22:05 - using ai effectively for content
24:06 - wilman’s content vibe
26:27 - linkedin rizz
27:29 - breaking 10k followers
30:44 - wilman’s childhood
33:17 - being flown to sf
37:02 - KPMG intern vs YC intern
39:31 - debunking “startup life” myths
46:06 - time management
49:18 - fulfilment with posting
50:08 - typa
55:20 - proudest moments of high school
57:09 - are we living 2 lives?
58:28 - 2031 wilman

Hari Parthasarathy is 1 of 50 UC Berkeley M.E.T (Management Entrepreneurship & Technology) Class of 26' student (prev VP of student board), and currently at NASA GeneLab conducting research on genomics. 

TIMESTAMP - 
00:00 - Right femur injury motivation: Neurosurgery, Dermatology
02:12 - Road to NASA
03:10 - 2 Key Observation of the “Doctorpreneur” from Stanford
08:41 - Don’t Cold Email Internships Like This
13:39 - High School Startup Teammate turned Mentor
15:18 - BE KIND. BE USEFUL. BE TECHNICALLY DEEP.
16:29 - Don’t Expect Anything in Return.
18:01 - Problem Solving 1
22:37 - specialising vs being broad (i know.. there’s a twist tho)
28:55 - side projects
30:02 - Problem Solving 2
34:29 - 5 days weekends
39:10 - systems that “kill 2 birds with 1 stone”
43:33 - how to actually say “no” to an opportunity
51:31 - little piece of paper for each semester
56:35 - Diary of a CEO
58:28 - UC Berkeley MET
01:03:51 - vs UPenn M&T
01:04:32 - “UC Berkeley is too competitive”
01:10:26 - What’s the goal? 4.0 GPA? Internships?
01:17:01 - NotebookLM
01:19:12 - Projects vs Exams
01:21:39 - Genome Browsers for Smallpox Research
01:26:53 - The Unsolvable Equation
01:29:58 - what is even “value”?
01:41:38 - cool biotech startup trends
01:48:29 - exponential growth
01:52:18 - hari’s future vision
01:53:41 - how many hours of sleep do you normally get?
01:55:01 - one of the best podcast we’ve ever had

NOTE: “Problem Solving” are the stories that Hari shared discussing a UNIQUE experience where he contributed interesting strategies to build his personality!

Ingrid Chan is the Founder of MMRTD, a multi-sensory therapy VR headset solution for dementia patients, featured on the Craig R. Barrett Award for Innovation Winner, SCMP and CNN.

Timestamps:
00:46 - I hate CS, but building a VR startup
02:31 - self development and building mental strength 
04:22 - Peak of Startup during Peak of High School..
06:00 - using swimming and startup as a form of stress relief
09:55 - Ingrid’s prioritisation and tracking systems
12:17 - “grinding past papers”, “flashcards”, “tutors” - which one works??
14:45 - academic brain rot: how to approach this
17:23 - initial startup brainstorm
20:01 - MVP (minimum viable product) 
21:59 - best channels to “spark” those “unique” ideas
24:08 - don’t make these mistakes when pitching in events
27:51 - ***pet related startup ideas YOU can build
31:17 - parents, social pressure
39:00 - scaling to uPenn and internationally
41:03 - self doubt

Harris Cheng the Co-founder & CEO of Jupitrr AI. He was raised and born in Hong Kong, currently residing in London. In this podcast, we discuss the journey of scaling an AI software in a saturated market (video editing).

⏰ Timestamps:
01:00 - Intro: Building the Asian Fiverr, 2nd startup
02:00 - when all of your friends are going for banking / professions..
04:23 - learning coding summarised in 30 seconds
05:20 - dead internet theory??
07:51 - You are the RIGHT person (yes, YOU listening there)
11:10 - ** Talking Head Videos can’t beat THIS!! 
14:13 - AI Agents 
17:32 - Why YOUR Education Institute cannot teach AI
19:56 - Harris’s 2 GOLDEN Ticket to success
22:11 - Detailed LIVE breakdown + feedback on Jupitrr AI
25:09 - Biggest Revenue Stream for the startup
29:43 - Jupitrr AI vs Premier Pro vs Capcut
33:11 - What is the Biggest Challenge right now in Jupitrr AI?

At 21, Shasi has lived in over 7 countries: IDN, AUT, NA, SG, TX, PGH, BA. Our conversation today focuses on Shasi's journey on becoming a Venture Capitalist in UC Berkeley & practical tips that Gen Z founders and aspiring VCs can apply towards their craft.

⏰ Timestamps:
00:30 - Shasi Pinninti: UC Berkeley, Venture Capitalist
02:43 - EECS: difficulty, graduating early, 2x workload?!
04:44 - “Cal only” opportunity
06:29 - The Journey: Childhood, High School
08:52 - Identity Crisis After Living in 7 Cities
12:40 - Introducing “Quiz Bowl” Nationally
15:40 - Motivation for Quantum Computing at IBM
18:08 - Nurturing your interests vs In-born Nature 
21:39 - You shouldn’t track every aspect of your life 
22:40 - VC as a way to “stay in touch” with startups 
24:36 - The rewarding experience of being a VC 
27:50 - Skill transfer: CTO, CEO, CMO, CFO to VC
30:41 - Exact Step-By-Step breakdown for VC sourcing
35:26 - VC as a self accountability tool to stay on the trend for your industry
36:50 - Co-Founder Fit, Founder Experience are underrated, Newsletters
40:55 - ***Being the master of a PACKAGE of tools 
43:39 - The biggest challenge in my life
45:27 - Massaging YOUR ORIGINAL ideas to an industry

EP30 - Dhruv Kulkarni - Co-founder of Brutus AI (acquired by Forta Health), Founder of DocuBridge (a finance modelling software for finance); he’s also a UC Berkeley EECS dropout (former AI researcher). In our conversation, we mainly discussed Dhruv's experiences with startup acquisition, research on AI (and how us Gen Zs can take advantage of what's coming in the future), and also golden critical knowledge that founders need in 2025 and beyond.

00:30 - 03:00 - The Problem with the Modern Education System
03:01 - 04:20 - The Evolution of AI (Transformers, AI Agents, etc)
04:21 - 05:28 - The Importance of Co-Founder (Gen Zs!)
05:29 - 06:43 - How to choose my Co-Founder amongst the crowd?
06:44 - 08:55 - Using LI and YC For Co-Founder; Raising Money
08:56 - 13:28 - The Modern Education System, Changes, How to Maximise
13:28 - 15:44 - What is Education? With the Internet?
15:45 - 19:31 - MIT, Stanford, Harvard: my depression phase & inflection point
19:32 - 22:30 - How I’m Graduating in only 2 Years & Future Plans
22:31 - 26:32 - “Deep Research” in 2035 (AI companions & glasses)
26:33 - 30:46 - Real Education: Specific Knowledge, Logic, Fundamentals
30:47 - 34:50 - AI Tipping Point of in Enterprise
34:51 - 38:50 - Venture Capital is an “inefficient class asset” & not as fulfilling
38:51 - 41:21 - The Problems with Transferring Skillsets From VC
41:22 - 42:39 Biggest Challenge with my $3M backed Startup
42:40 - 44:19 The MOST critical skill for startup founders (underrated)
44:20 - 47:40 - The goal is NOT to sell the company, but THIS…
47:42 -  48:45 - When is the best time to SELL?
48:49 - 52:30 - The TOP Self Education Path for Young Entrepreneurs

EP12 - Vihaan is an inspiring rising Junior who’s currently pursuing Medical Machine Learning at CMU and Stanford. He also studies at one of the top schools in the State, taking an accelerated IB + AP program with 12 courses in total!!!

00:58 - CMU: Network, Non-Profit
02:00 - “Unserious” people are the most committed people
02:45 - CMU Courses, Avoiding Easy Classes, 3D CNN Machine Learning
08:32 - Advice for anyone doing AI
09:15 - Areas of Evolution in Machine Learning for Medical Field
12:03 - Finding a more Cost Effective Solution for Machine Learning
14:40 - 3D Convolutional Neural Network vs 2D CNNs
17:44 - Standing out from other applicants for pre-college program
24:50 - Time Management, Studying Strategies, Taking 6 IB Courses, 6 AP Courses
33:04 - University Application: Research Interns, Non-Profit
37:00 - Should you start your own Non-Profit if you don’t have a story?
39:01 - Biggest Advice for anyone looking for success

Today we were honoured to invite Tianyi Huang from the App-In Club to educate us about the trends and applications of Artificial Intelligence - specifically for Gen Zs. Either than the practicals - we discussed the ethnicity of AI - including our shortened attention span and how we can find “motivation” to pursue our intrinsic passions.

⏰ TIMESTAMPS:

05:35 - Tianyi Intro - YC Founder, App-In Club, MIT App Inventor
06:06 - The Flaws of Traditional Coding Classes
11:15 - Solving Coding Problems vs Replicating Code
12:15 - Persevering for a summer internship
14:42 - Prototyping software backed by MIT and Google
16:26 - The sense of responsibility for AI evolution
18:26 - How can you get access to MIT labs without a “resource” heavy parent?
19:59 - The community for all levels of tech enthusiasts (beginners, intermediate, advanced)
23:02 - Partnering with non-profit organisations, starting chapters
25:05 - Helping YOU outsource funding, help teachers have better AI knowledge
27:12 - NO BS: HOW TO BUILD A STRONG NETWORK!!
30:19 - AI tutor to teach you AP Calculus better than your school teachers.
32:11 - Why do parents pay human tutors more money than AI tutors?
34:01 - 101% of AI data is accurate??
36:21 - SKIBIDI
37:22 - ChatGPT, Claude, Anthropic, Gemini, Google AI - ALL POWERED BY…
39:07 - Nvidia is focusing on data-centric models, but we have FINITE data??
40:32 - AI Researchers have been trying to figure this out for 100+ years.
41:49 - Prompt Engineering is not the future.
42:18 - Personalised + Context Aware + Multi-Data = FUTURE OF AI
45:19 - Why tf should I read research papers (Is Tony a crazy guy??)
45:54 - “I work myself till I’m dying”
47:10 - The “Underrated” Dopamine Spike with Research Papers
48:59 - Choosing Research Papers like Choosing Relationships: interesting??
50:22 - Shortcuts when you READ!!
52:06 - Stop asking me “How do you come up with these crazy ideas???”
52:33 - “I just solved cancer” is a common mistake
53:54 - 8-second attention span: why is this actually fking happening to us!\
56:36 - You are HORRIBLE at motivating yourself, so stop trying!!
57:50 - The more you think about something, the easier you can forget.
59:09 - Covid 19 and social media popping off
1:00:20 - Time travelling in the future?!
1:02:26 - Factory workers won’t get REPLACED by AI
1:04:09 - The first iPhone came out WHEN????
1:07:23 - OpenAI vs Google vs Meta: ChatGPT is LOSING!
1:09:56 - OpenAI will die.
1:12:33 - Cutting a hole in your brain for Elon Musk’s microchip
1:12:46 - If you can live in your dream world vs reality: THE MATRIXXXXXX
1:15:19 - The Sci-Fi movies: 100-150 years till it comes true :0
1:16:48 - Sentimental AI is coming soon (AI with actual human emotions?!)
1:18:41 - Push. Push. Push.
1:21:36 - Watching “brain-rott” videos ARE GOOD!!
1:23:35 - App-In Club & The Gen Z Fastlane

EP26 - This is part 2 of Moritz’s podcast - where he goes through tips & tricks on how to scale successfully as a lead generation / acquisition agency. Make sure to watch part 1 where Moritz share his story!!

00:00 - Spending $60,000 on Lead Gen Communities
4:01 - The Outline for My Course Structure (releasing soon!)
9:04 - Evergreen vs Dynamic Knowledge
17:04 - How to “activate” your creativity for outreach
19:16 - Pricing Models and Commitment for my course
22:53 - Greatest Change in the Next 5 & 10 Years For Sales
25:01 - Starting to utilise LinkedIn Shorts
27:00 - Focusing on the Journey, not Destination
28:01 - Advice for Young Lead Gen Agency Owner