Sean Hargrow and I met freshman year at the Yale Entrepreneurial Society to start a podcast that would hopefully inspire students Yale University to take more risks with entrepreneurship.
But it seemed that I went to a school that didn't value entrepreneurship - or at least not as much as I thought it did.
I built a social app freshman year called Mix26 - a platform for Yale students to post events during orientation week. And it took off, reaching 600+ users in less than 24 hrs, with people asking me if this could be a full-time thing.
But, sadly enough, I pitched this at Yale's Entrepreneurship Center only to have someone tell me "I don't think you have what it takes to be a builder."
Or to sophomore year where the offer wasn't lined up to JPMorganChase, Morgan Stanley, or Boston Consulting Group (BCG) - not because I didn't get in, but I didn't even bother applying. I was focused on something new that people just didn't understand.
But even worse, the entrepreneurial community here didn't seem to be a place that had students willing to take the same risk as me.
My mom always reminds me that I can't afford to loose, so taking the risk of going all in on the hardest niche to build in (consumer social) - was a bit crazy.
But what's even crazier is that some people let that stop them. I hear stories of how being risk-averse is better, how they'll "do it later" or "one day." It won't happen unless you start, or that regret will haunt you much more than any fear today will.
So that's why I built Series - the largest and most accessible warm network. Users interact with AI Friends to get intros to real people, in real time - where there's a mutual value add.
The phrase "it's not about what you know, but who you know" is bs. Because it always ends up that you "don't know" the right person for that moment.
Along with Jack Roberts and Eunice Lai - we think we cracked the code. Use Series, meet the right person, and lets start taking risks.
And a huge thanks to our backers and first-believers from day 1, including Anne Lee Skates and Parable previously at Andreessen Horowitz, Warren Shaeffer and Pear VC, Steve Huffman the CEO of Reddit, Inc., Tim Draper and Draper Goren Blockchain, Patrick M. and Uncommon Projects, Jaren Glover and 47th Street Partners, Daniel Skaff and Corey Vernon from Radicle Impact Partners, Edward Tian founder of GPTZero, and many more.
And most importantly - I thank God
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