Worth

In this episode, Asher speaks with Prateek Swain: recent Princeton graduate, and the 23 year old co-founder of GreenTiger, an app that allows people in India to trade U.S. stocks commission free.

After being accepted into Y Combinator's Summer 2019 batch, and being dubbed "Robinhood for India", we caught up with Prateek and talked about some of the best advice he got during his time at YC, and the challenges of starting a fintech company.

[1:55]: Prateek's experience building his first business, "Shuffl", in high school

[6:54]: Launching India's largest hackathon and Princeton's first startup incubator

[12:41]: Why Princeton lags behind Harvard/Stanford when it comes to entrepreneurship

[16:05]: Working for Microsoft and discontentment with corporate life

[18:06]: How the idea for GreenTiger was born

[23:15]: Applying to Y Combinator early-decision

[26:04]: The best advice that Prateek received during his time at YC

[29:41]: How Prateek and Tyler divide responsibilities and prioritize tasks at GreenTiger

[33:06]: The "Series A Challenge" and where GreenTiger's focus currently lies

[37:09]: Prateek's favorite books and his love for Paul Graham's essays

Worth website - worth.carrd.co

GreenTiger website - https://greentiger.co/

Prateek's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/prateekswain/

Prateek's Twitter - https://twitter.com/Thelast_skeptic

Book recommendations - https://www.notion.so/book-podcast-recommendations-59abba1db1db4fc2b9b9a4e08edb0b24

In this episode, Asher is joined by Jess Li, 23 year old VC at Soma Capital and former Partner at Rough Draft Ventures.

We talk through Jess' decision to not return to Morgan Stanley after her junior summer, her experience working for multiple Y Combinator backed startups, and how she thinks about career development.

[1:45]: Jess' background and childhood

[4:42]: Advice from her father and diving into the world of startups

[7:58]: Jess' ongoing work with Elpha (YC S19) - a Reddit type community for women in tech

[16:07]: Investing in student-led businesses at Rough Draft Ventures

[21:25]: Helping founders to see their blind spots and how VCs can add value

[24:43]: Joining Soma Capital and staying on top of 200+ portfolio companies

[30:52]: What Jess looks for when evaluating founding teams at the seed stage

[36:19]: Closing the door on an investment banking job at Morgan Stanley

[41:20]: Jess' favorite podcast and advice for her pre-college self

Worth website - worth.carrd.co

Jess' Medium - https://medium.com/@jessli

Jess' LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-li-12b74968/

Elpha - https://elpha.com/

Book recommendations - https://www.notion.so/book-podcast-recommendations-59abba1db1db4fc2b9b9a4e08edb0b24

In this episode, Ethan speaks with James Gallagher: income share agreement expert, EIR at On Deck and a member of Pioneer's first ever cohort.

We dive deep into ISAs, James' experience as a publicly-traded person and why he believes in Jerry Seinfeld's "Don't Break the Chain" mentality when it comes to writing and publishing content.

[2:42]: why Income Share Agreements align incentives

[4:45]: ISA List - a snapshot of all players in the ISA space

[10:28]: James' experience as a publicly-traded person

[14:07]: explaining Pioneer, an accelerator for "ambitious outsiders"

[17:10]: building personal communities

[20:25]: Twitter as an "API for experts"

[21:15]: the asymmetric opportunity in writing online

[23:30]: we dissect James' writing process

[28:32]: books that James loves

Worth website - worth.carrd.co

ISA List - https://www.incomeshareagreements.app/

James' book: "Life Capital: Analyzing Equity Investing in People" - https://gumroad.com/l/lifecapital

Invest in James- https://www.jamesg.app/

Pioneer - https://pioneer.app/winners

James' Twitter - https://twitter.com/jamesg_oca

James' Blog - https://www.jamesgallagher.app/

Book recommendations - https://www.notion.so/book-podcast-recommendations-59abba1db1db4fc2b9b9a4e08edb0b24

This is Worth: a podcast where we interview the inspiring young people shaping our society.

We'll dissect where they come from, how they think and the impact they want to make.

Think Humans of New York, but for young people in the tech ecosystem.