Prequel

About this time last year, I was nervously interviewing for BETA Camp, unsure of stepping outside my comfort zone. But I took the leap, and now, 9 months after the program ended, I’ve had the privilege of helping a new generation of students bring their dream startups to life. This summer, I worked alongside expert startup advisors including Essam Aboukoube, Sophia Ma, and Anderson P., and hosted phenomenal guest speakers like Vicki Powell and Kristin Kenzy. Together, we witnessed three cohorts generate over $40K in revenue, and saw startups like Alano and Ledgit build from the ground up in just four weeks. I was incredibly fortunate to be surrounded by the most extraordinary team: Rishi Goel, Sarah Chan, Shrihan Ala, Cindy Chen, Dylan Atwal, David Kim, and Diya Kalia. You all are unbelievably dedicated, and you inspire me daily. I know it’s a well-worn statement, but I truly mean it—I’m genuinely SO excited to see what the future holds for you because you’re all bound for incredible success. A special shoutout to Diya and David, my Cohort 2 dream team. It’s been amazing working closely with two people who have such strong work ethic and are so deeply considerate of others. You both turned the 13-hour days and 2 AM Zoom calls into highlights of my summer. To Salman Sohani and Katarina Smith—thank you for this amazing opportunity. You’ve created a truly one of a kind environment for personal growth, teamwork, and collaboration. I am sure that l will remember this summer for decades to come, and it has been an absolute pleasure to work with you. Lastly to any high schoolers reading this—do yourself a favor and JOIN Prequel. Build out your dreams and be a part of something truly incredible.

Today marks the beginning of an incredible journey for our newest AlphaX cohort. Welcome to a community where passion meets purpose and where your ideas transform into projects that… …impact millions! The future is yours to shape! Congrats! Aiden Zeng, Anjani Saraf, Aryan Sharma, Chibueze N., Jaspreet Singh, Jessica Xiong, Maia Samaha, Max Tan, Sophie Belle Yang, Srijan Singh Want to join our next cohort starting September 16th? Check out AlphaX: https://lnkd.in/gTUu9iMy

Build your dream, not someone else's. What does that mean? On the surface, as an entrepreneurship program, it sounds like we are teaching kids how to be their own bosses vs. working for a boss. But it's more than that. What does it take to build your dream life, and not the life that someone else expects you to live? It takes know how to: - Explore new ideas - Fall in love with different passions - Figure out how to turn passions into meaningful projects - Find like-minded people who support you - Develop the skills to build your dream - Have the confidence that you can carve your own path Prequel teaches kids how to build their dream life instead of passively allowing life to happen.

Thank you, Prequel, for hosting #FounderORL this past Sunday. It was a privilege to learn how to pitch and negotiate effectively from inspiring leaders like Joe De Sena, the founder of Spartan Races, and Michael Miller, the co-founder of LeapFrog. I also enjoyed attending and speaking on a panel with Noor Sattar, Lukas Pakter, and Zaki Hirji. 💡My key takeaways from the event: 1) Nobody knows exactly what they're doing. What makes successful people stand out is their willingness to take the first step despite fear and uncertainty. So just get started. 2) Be ready to pivot. Some of the most interesting people don't confine themselves to a single career path. You can pursue everything you want—just maybe not all at once. 3) Have grit. If you don’t know how to do something or feel underqualified, find a way to figure it out. Don’t be afraid to network, engage with the world, read, talk to experienced people, and outwork everyone until you succeed. 4) Be grateful. As you grow, bring others along with you. Thank those who have opened doors for you, and appreciate the opportunities you’ve been given.

Thank you, Prequel, for hosting #FounderORL this past Sunday. It was a privilege to learn how to pitch and negotiate effectively from inspiring leaders like Joe De Sena, the founder of Spartan Races, and Michael Miller, the co-founder of LeapFrog. I also enjoyed attending and speaking on a panel with Noor Sattar, Lukas Pakter, and Zaki Hirji. 💡My key takeaways from the event: 1) Nobody knows exactly what they're doing. What makes successful people stand out is their willingness to take the first step despite fear and uncertainty. So just get started. 2) Be ready to pivot. Some of the most interesting people don't confine themselves to a single career path. You can pursue everything you want—just maybe not all at once. 3) Have grit. If you don’t know how to do something or feel underqualified, find a way to figure it out. Don’t be afraid to network, engage with the world, read, talk to experienced people, and outwork everyone until you succeed. 4) Be grateful. As you grow, bring others along with you. Thank those who have opened doors for you, and appreciate the opportunities you’ve been given.

Mission accomplished- we pulled it off! Months of planning and organizing culminated in the success of the Impact Millions: Teen Entrepreneurship Dinner & Panel, co-hosted by my partner Sofia. Grateful to Prequel for the opportunity to join the team as an (event coordinator) intern- entrusting us with pulling off this incredible event! 🎉 🌃 This evening, our 25+ high school guests immersed themselves in networking bingo, a social entrepreneurship workshop, dinner catered by cafe et cetera, inspiring guest panel featuring Cecy Rivera & Rhett Jones, and networking mixer! 👩💼 Here’s to more impactful events ahead! 🌟 #TeenEntrepreneurship #joinprequel #betacamp #alphaX

Last week, I had the pleasure of being on ICON Talent Partners' panel discussion on tech and entrepreneurship, moderated by Niluka Kottegoda with Ve Sharma and Zainab Bokhari. ❓One of the questions I was asked was: what are some first steps that high school students can take right now if they are interested in exploring entrepreneurship or forging their own path? Here is what I recommended based on my experience: 1️⃣ Understand your strengths and areas of interest first. There are many industries within the tech sector, and I believe it’s important to navigate it based on what areas a student already has strength in or a genuine curiosity about. There is no single path, but the most important part is starting. I got into tech based on my interest in improving political participation among youth. This interest led me to my first internship at a govtech startup in university. 2️⃣ Find ways to build skills based on areas of interest. The best way to do this is to plug into an incubator or accelerator program in one’s city. Other ways include participating in hackathons, conferences, and events around tech and entrepreneurship. Attend networking events. Throughout my high school and university days, I attended as many networking events as I could. Surrounding myself with people in the ecosystem helped me understand and know I wanted to build my skills in business development and partnerships even before I knew that was the name for it. 3️⃣ Reflect and pick problems to solve. I also encouraged students to reflect and pick problems they see within their school or larger communities and try to solve them. Several programs like The Knowledge Society (TKS) and Prequel have structured programming for students to grow and build their entrepreneurial and tech skills. 4️⃣ When I was in high school, I did not know much about tech until university. Joining The Cansbridge Fellowship, a community for impact, entrepreneurship, and tech-minded students, was one of my most transformative experiences. 5️⃣ My fellow panellists also recommended that students reach out to existing tech and entrepreneurial leaders for coffee chats. Many people believe in giving back and championing the future generation. ❓What other tips would you give to high school students on a tech career today? Drop a comment on what you think might be helpful for high school students reading this 👇🏾 Thank you Derrick Raphael Esq. and ICON Talent Partners team for organizing an incredible event! #tech #careerintech #tips #students #speaker

This summer was an incredible journey of growth and discovery. A quick recap? Co-founding Resonate—a profit-generating business, learning from CEOs and founders from around the world, building a team with like-minded individuals, advancing to the finals to compete for a $10,000 prize, and working towards becoming Valedictorian of my cohort! I am beyond grateful for the opportunity I received to accomplish all of this at BETA Camp! Over just four weeks, I formed a team with some of the most amazing people I have ever met: Armon Fathollahi, Angel Shen, Lucas Fassman, and Rajvi Patel. Together, we built Resonate, pushing the boundaries of entrepreneurship and becoming a close-knit family in the process. From 4 AM calls spanning three different time zones to soaking up wisdom from inspiring speakers like David Owasi, Nadia Ladak, and Ugo Udeogu, amongst countless others, we gained invaluable real-world industry insights. The knowledge and growth I experienced at BETA Camp will be key in shaping my future, so a huge thank you to all of the special guest speakers that enhanced this Camp experience!! BETA Camp equipped me with essential life skills such as networking, effective communication, and teamwork, along with crucial business skills like developing MVPs, gaining customer traction, financial forecasting, and crafting marketing strategies. It was the perfect environment to cultivate my entrepreneurial and business aspirations!! The experience would not have been the same without the awesome people behind the scenes at BETA Camp. Their unwavering support and insightful guidance made all the difference. A heartfelt thank you to Salman Sohani and Katarina Smith for leading such an exceptional program, and to the community builders who made it unforgettable: Diya Kalia, Dylan Atwal, Rishi Goel, Shrihan Ala, Sarah Chan, David Kim, and Zayba Ali!! Also a huge thank you to Anderson Petergeorge, CPA who personally advised and guided Resonate to so much success! I am immensely grateful to Prequel, BETA Camp, the entire Cohort 2 community, my team, and all the CBs and mentors who made my summer unforgettable. This experience has been a tremendous catalyst for my personal growth, and I am incredibly fortunate to have had this opportunity.

I’m excited to be one of the judges for Prequel BETA Camp's Summer 2024 Demo Day 🥁 After weeks of hard work, a group of teen entrepreneurs will be showcasing their startups to Shriya Nevatia, Loren Cohen and myself with a chance for one of them to take home a $10,000 investment for their venture 🎉 Can’t wait to represent LOI Venture and see what ideas these young founders drum up. Want to join in and watch the pitches? Register here: https://lu.ma/dq84hvgs #startups #technology #entrepreneurship

Co-founder at 16... ✅ Meet two of the PayBridge Technologies founders, Navin Narayanan and Trinayaan Hariharan ! From Minecraft servers to bridging the gap between payment platforms like PayPal Cash App and Venmo , they're showing the world that age really is just a number. via Prequel 🎥