Youāve probably seen all the chaos online lately. Layoffs at Microsoft. Mass firings at Google. Tech bros crying on TikTok. Itās wild out there. Even if youāre not job-hunting yet, youāre probably wondering:āIf adults with fancy titles and degrees are getting kicked outā¦ what chance do I have?ā Real talk? Iāve had that thought too. But here's the thing: you donāt need to wait until you're 30 and stressed to start building a safety net. Thereās a smarter way to play the game now ā especially...
12 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 3 min read
Youāre a teen trying to start something this summer... maybe a design hustle, a content page, a community project. So you reach out to people.Clients. Mentors. Collabs.But no one replies to your DMs. Why? Because youāre asking for trust without proof. And thatās the trap: āYou need experience to get experience."But no one wants to be your first ātest run. Got a burning question? Iām all ears. Stuck on a startup idea? Wondering how to use AI without sounding like a robot? Trying to figure out...
19 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 2 min read
When ChatGPT launched in late 2022, the world flipped. Headlines screamed about job loss, teachers feared mass cheating, and everyone wondered: Will AI replace us? But like most big questions in life, the answer is: it depends. Every tech breakthrough has had its skeptics, abusers, and superusers. Even 2,500 years ago, Socrates was worried about people relying on writing instead of their memories. Fast-forward to now? Weāre not banning writingāweāre just learning how to use it better. Same...
26 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 3 min read
Most people get risk completely backwards. They take big risks for tiny rewards. They blow $100K+ on degrees they never use.They max out credit cards starting businesses they donāt understand.They āplay it safeā and wake up at 40 stuck, broke, and full of regret. Thatās not smart. Thatās gambling.Worseāit's gambling with no upside. Iāve been thinking a lot about this since reading Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke.Her whole thesis? Make decisions like a poker playerābased on odds, not...
about 1 month agoĀ ā¢Ā 2 min read
So you want to do research and work at the forefront of innovation? Not the āGoogle whatās the fastest animalā kind of research.Iām talking about real-world stuffālabs, published papers, building tech that actually helps people. I get this question all the time from ambitious teens:How do I break into research?How do I get to the forefront of innovation?Where do I start? After todayās story, you might stop picturing research as something only professors in white coats doāand start realizing...
about 1 month agoĀ ā¢Ā 3 min read
I recently had a LinkedIn conversation with my friend Brendon, whoās a Senior Economist at Indeed. He shared a graph thatās been sitting with me ever since. It shows the unemployment rate among recent grads under 25 who are no longer in school. The story it tells is stark: Youth joblessness nearly doubled in 2 yearsāand the worst may be yet to come. In just two years, weāve gone from the lowest youth unemployment rate in decades to one of the highestāand thatās before any major external...
about 2 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 1 min read
I didnāt fully understand the power of thinking across borders until I moved to Vietnam. It wasnāt just the language or the food or the hustle of scooters dodging through Hanoi streets. It was the realization that while the West was chasing prestige, buzzwords, and ādisruptionsā ā people in emerging markets were building fast, adapting faster, and solving problems that actually mattered. I met local leaders who bootstrapped businesses with no safety net.Youth more globally aware than many...
about 2 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 2 min read
Letās get one thing straight: The modern school system wasnāt built to unlock your creativity. It was built to make you obedient. Designed during the Industrial Revolution, and heavily influenced by powerful figures like John D. Rockefeller ā who once said āI donāt want a nation of thinkers; I want a nation of workersā ā school was built to train you to follow instructions, not ask questions. To memorize, not imagine. To comply, not create. Rockefeller didnāt want poets or philosophers.He...
2 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 2 min read
When I was working in Silicon Valley, I met a senior PM whoād been at Microsoft for a decade. Top 1% earner. Smart, respected, killer resume. But hereās the wild partā He was still living paycheck to paycheck. Why? Because he played the wrong game. But FIRST If you are new, welcome to OCEās weekly newsletter curated for the ambitious youthā¦here are some articles you missed from previous weeks: š Forget Goal-Setting, Hereās What Actually Works Read More ā šØ Best tools for building your passion...
2 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 3 min read