995: Empowering YOUTH to transform education with technology and AI w/ Jacob Heldt

WEBVTT

00:00:00.059 --> 00:00:01.004
Hey, what is up?

00:00:01.004 --> 00:00:04.310
Welcome to this episode of the Entrepreneur to Entrepreneur podcast.

00:00:04.310 --> 00:00:12.446
As always, I'm your host, brian Lofermento, and we have got an incredible young entrepreneur here in today's episode.

00:00:12.446 --> 00:00:40.509
This is someone whose knowledge and vision goes far beyond his years, because he is someone who takes a view of the way technology and AI is today and pictures it being the roadmap to a better world, especially with regards to the world of education, which is something that, no matter how old we are, the world of education impacts the world that we live in, and today's guest is going to be, for a long time, a central figure in so many innovations within that world.

00:00:40.509 --> 00:00:42.006
So let me tell you all about him.

00:00:42.006 --> 00:00:43.284
His name is Jacob Heldt.

00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:49.476
Jacob is a high school student with a strong passion for technology and its potential benefit to society.

00:00:49.476 --> 00:00:54.890
He has worked on numerous coding projects, particularly in the field of artificial intelligence.

00:00:54.890 --> 00:01:04.489
For example, he and a friend developed a detector for AI generated images, which earned them the Young Talent Award at the German Federal Competition of AI.

00:01:04.489 --> 00:01:11.109
Additionally, jacob has been involved in several research projects aimed at addressing important societal challenges.

00:01:11.109 --> 00:01:14.930
Currently, he is on a mission to improve education through technology.

00:01:14.930 --> 00:01:16.260
He founded his company.

00:01:16.260 --> 00:01:18.507
I'm so excited for all of us to hear about it today.

00:01:18.507 --> 00:01:27.108
He founded his company, studycrew, which is an online learning platform designed to make education more accessible, more collaborative and more engaging.

00:01:27.108 --> 00:01:37.132
The first version of Study Crew will allow students to join groups with like-minded peers from around the world to master school subjects and explore topics beyond the classroom.

00:01:37.132 --> 00:01:48.030
This volunteer-driven, open-source initiative is primarily led by high school students from diverse backgrounds with the common conviction that collaboration can make learning more fun and effective.

00:01:48.090 --> 00:01:49.412
This is all in line.

00:01:49.412 --> 00:01:53.308
One of our founding principles is that a rising tide lifts all boats.

00:01:53.308 --> 00:02:04.465
You're going to hear that theme so much in what Jacob is going to share with us in his vision of how he can revolutionize and innovate the world of education, so I'm not going to say anything else.

00:02:04.465 --> 00:02:07.489
Let's dive straight into my interview with Jacob Helt.

00:02:07.489 --> 00:02:14.102
All right, jacob, I'm so excited that you're here with us today.

00:02:14.102 --> 00:02:15.024
First things first.

00:02:15.024 --> 00:02:17.969
Welcome to the show, hello.

00:02:17.990 --> 00:02:19.233
Brian, thank you for having me.

00:02:19.780 --> 00:02:20.001
Heck.

00:02:20.001 --> 00:02:25.121
Yes, jacob, I think the work that you're doing I said it in the intro it is far beyond your years.

00:02:25.121 --> 00:02:28.108
I'm excited to get inside that entrepreneurial mind of yours.

00:02:28.108 --> 00:02:31.201
But before we get there, take us beyond the bio.

00:02:31.201 --> 00:02:32.085
Who's Jacob?

00:02:32.085 --> 00:02:34.651
How'd you start doing all this stuff at such a young age?

00:02:36.640 --> 00:02:48.596
Yeah, so I am a high school student, currently a junior at the German International School, the Hague, and, as you mentioned, I'm very passionate about technology and education.

00:02:48.596 --> 00:03:14.800
So I've been getting into programming, like about two and a half years ago, just working on projects that you know excite me, and I've been especially working on research in AI kind of over the last few months, especially working on research in AI kind of over the last few months, and I'm just fascinated by the tremendous potential of this technology to help society, and it continues to be one of my passions to work in this field.

00:03:14.800 --> 00:03:19.872
And then, a few months ago, I've been getting more into entrepreneurship as well.

00:03:19.872 --> 00:03:34.908
As you mentioned, I've started StudyCrew and as a student, I'm personally very exposed to the problems of traditional education, especially the lack of engagement and accessibility, and so I'm very motivated to change that with Study Crew.

00:03:34.908 --> 00:03:42.713
And then, besides this kind of research and entrepreneurial stuff, I also like to do sports.

00:03:42.713 --> 00:03:48.308
I've been playing soccer for about like seven years and I also started training jujitsu a few months ago.

00:03:49.719 --> 00:03:50.461
Very cool, jacob.

00:03:50.461 --> 00:03:53.330
I love that, especially because I'm sure you're well aware that.

00:03:53.330 --> 00:04:01.163
But older generations, we always look at education today and we think, gosh, technology has changed it, not always for the better.

00:04:01.163 --> 00:04:03.469
Ai is going to disrupt it in so many ways.

00:04:03.469 --> 00:04:09.990
When I was a high school student, I didn't have the option of having AI to help me brainstorm, help me draft outlines.

00:04:09.990 --> 00:04:20.048
None of those things existed, jacob, and as someone who loves technology, I can't help but shake my head when older people say, oh, it's not going to be beneficial for these students.

00:04:20.048 --> 00:04:24.148
Talk to me about your view of it as a student, as someone who's in it.

00:04:24.148 --> 00:04:27.545
Talk to me about your view of it as a student, as someone who's in it.

00:04:27.545 --> 00:04:30.552
When people say that ai and technology as a whole is hindering the educational system, you see opportunities.

00:04:30.612 --> 00:04:40.201
I'd love to hear your perspective on it um I, I believe that you know, ai is a tool that can be used in many ways.

00:04:40.201 --> 00:04:56.449
I think that some of the uses are beneficial, some of them might not be beneficial, but I think that in general, you know, ai and other technologies have huge potential to improve education if we use them in a responsible way.

00:04:56.449 --> 00:04:58.773
I don't think that everything should be done by AI.

00:04:58.773 --> 00:05:04.644
Students have to learn critical thinking, writing by themselves, so AI can do everything.

00:05:04.644 --> 00:05:29.446
But I think if we could use AI as a tool to help us and not make it work, just replace us instead of us, but if we use it to augment our own thinking and our own ideas, I think we will be able to achieve a lot more effective learning, and also learning to use these tools right and learning about the limitations, which will be crucial for the future.

00:05:30.326 --> 00:05:36.990
Yeah, and even extrapolating this way broader than just the use of AI, when we talk about the larger technological landscape.

00:05:36.990 --> 00:05:40.812
What I really love is that in many ways, technology has driven us apart.

00:05:40.812 --> 00:05:50.845
We can sit on our couches and scroll through social media, and it's a very isolated experience, but, jacob, you and especially with what you're doing with StudyCrew you see the opportunity to bring people together.

00:05:50.845 --> 00:06:00.944
Talk to us about that phase one, because I do want to talk about your growth plans and the phases that you picture, but talk to us about that first phase of bringing people together thanks to technology.

00:06:03.427 --> 00:06:13.769
So with learning um, I believe that learning together can make education much more engaging and learning things in general.

00:06:13.769 --> 00:06:15.478
It doesn't have to be limited to school.

00:06:15.478 --> 00:06:19.791
But, for example, when I started game development, you know my first.

00:06:19.791 --> 00:06:22.079
You know how I got into programming.

00:06:22.079 --> 00:06:30.451
It was very frustrating doing it alone, just running into errors again and again, but learning it together with a friend, even though he was like an expert at it.

00:06:30.451 --> 00:06:33.026
We just learned it together and that made it much more fun.

00:06:33.026 --> 00:06:35.908
We were able to push through and learn much better.

00:06:35.908 --> 00:06:57.149
That way and I think this applies to many school subjects as well If you have a community that supports you, responds to your questions and shares valuable online resources with you, that can greatly make learning more effective and fun at the same time, and so I think that online, this is possible.

00:06:57.980 --> 00:07:08.841
It remains a challenge to keep it moderated on topic, but we can achieve this using new technologies like ai, content moderation, um and we.

00:07:08.841 --> 00:07:10.706
We want to build online learning spaces.

00:07:10.706 --> 00:07:22.153
For example, in our basic version, students can join study groups to talk about topics they're passionate about with other students have the same passion of suits from all around the world, and they can chat.

00:07:22.153 --> 00:07:33.550
They can ask questions, get answers from other students or maybe also educators who join that group as well as share valuable online resources, and then we look forward to integrating more features in the future.

00:07:34.312 --> 00:07:41.081
Yeah, jacob, it's really cool to hear about your views on this, Because what I think about, obviously, I view so much of life through the lens of entrepreneurship.

00:07:41.081 --> 00:07:51.923
I started my first business when I was 19 years old and ever since then I've really seen the power of entrepreneurship, of business, of having that impact and reaching people and positively serving them.

00:07:51.923 --> 00:08:01.843
I'm curious to hear where, along the lines, you realized wait, let's not just have this be something that I tinker with, let's not just have this be something that I develop new skills with.

00:08:01.843 --> 00:08:06.675
But I want to create a brand, a company of study crew, and I want to actually put it out into the world.

00:08:06.675 --> 00:08:08.658
Do you have entrepreneurs in the family?

00:08:08.658 --> 00:08:10.324
Did you take an entrepreneurship class?

00:08:10.324 --> 00:08:15.565
Where, along the way, did you decide that entrepreneurship is the vehicle through which you can change the world?

00:08:17.591 --> 00:08:42.580
So, yeah, study crew, it's a volunteer driven initiative, so we're not like a for-profit company, and my passion for this entrepreneurship is that I've worked, like, on a lot of technical projects, you know, figuring out the technical details, but I think to really, you know, for the world to benefit from these projects, entrepreneurship is necessary.

00:08:42.580 --> 00:08:48.303
It's necessary to build a team that can work on this together to market it as well.

00:08:48.303 --> 00:09:03.347
And that's kind of how I got into entrepreneurship, I'd say, to really realize all the programming ideas I have and solve problems with them, bringing them into production and making them available to other people.

00:09:04.210 --> 00:09:05.472
Yes, that right there.

00:09:05.472 --> 00:09:12.687
That's the entrepreneurial spirit, and clearly you have that in your DNA because so much of your approach is rooted in collaboration.

00:09:12.687 --> 00:09:17.111
So talk to us about the open source and the volunteer driven initiative behind it.

00:09:17.111 --> 00:09:25.133
I'd love to hear about how you formulated that strategy of rolling this out strategy of rolling this out.

00:09:25.173 --> 00:09:33.337
So open source that, you know, was very con, uh, a decision we made which I think has a lot of benefits in education.

00:09:33.337 --> 00:09:49.024
So open source, your concept, is that, you know, we, our team, defines the things that we want to work on, we put them online, um, and then anyone, any programmer, can contribute to our code base and we just approve their code.

00:09:49.024 --> 00:09:51.169
And that has a few benefits.

00:09:51.169 --> 00:10:05.961
We have a lot of people looking for our code, right, they can't just edit it and do whatever they want because we approve it, but they look at it and they can offer their suggestions, and that way we get many different viewpoints, perspectives on how we can make it better.

00:10:06.643 --> 00:10:07.424
Uh, that's one thing.

00:10:07.424 --> 00:10:08.768
Then the scale as well.

00:10:08.768 --> 00:10:18.945
It's much easier to scale a project if you have many contributors to an open source repo than if you just, you know, sit alone in front of your computer and try to code it all by yourself.

00:10:18.945 --> 00:10:28.042
So open source can help improve quality as well as the speed at which we can develop, and that's why we made that decision.

00:10:28.042 --> 00:10:36.489
And then the volunteer driven aspect is just that we're really on a mission to make educational accessible and not on a mission to make profit.

00:10:37.210 --> 00:10:45.583
Uh, and that's you know why we decided to keep this volunteer driven yeah, and for listeners who are tuning in, that maybe this is a different type of model.

00:10:45.583 --> 00:10:48.169
It's something that we've all seen as consumers.

00:10:48.169 --> 00:10:49.393
Just think about Wikipedia.

00:10:49.393 --> 00:11:00.884
It's something that, when you talk about scalability, wikipedia is a resource that every single one of us with the internet uses in order to research things and serve as a springboard, and that's because it is community driven.

00:11:00.884 --> 00:11:03.711
It's got people all over the world sharing their intelligence.

00:11:03.711 --> 00:11:09.179
So, jacob, huge kudos to you for identifying and recognizing this model and really leveraging it for your success.

00:11:09.179 --> 00:11:11.746
It begs the question how do you reach these people?

00:11:11.746 --> 00:11:16.831
Obviously, you've got people who are helping with the actual coding and development of the platform.

00:11:16.831 --> 00:11:21.345
You've got real life students who are actually looking to be in study groups together.

00:11:21.345 --> 00:11:24.971
What's that rollout plan to start reaching more and more people as well?

00:11:33.500 --> 00:11:35.927
so, um, for marketing plan, first of all, we want to build, you know, a good platform, and we made progress with that.

00:11:35.927 --> 00:11:37.751
We haven't published it yet, uh, but we want to do that soon.

00:11:37.751 --> 00:11:42.407
And then we want to reach students through social media, for example.

00:11:42.407 --> 00:11:51.586
So that's that's kind of a classic thing posting on Instagram, linkedin and so on, but then also, you know, reaching out to individual students, asking them hey, do you want to try this?

00:11:51.586 --> 00:12:00.927
And then we hope that they recommend it to their friends, because this is something that should be used in a community with others, and so that's something we want to encourage as well.

00:12:00.927 --> 00:12:11.317
Besides, social media, kind of, you know, just classical word of mouth um, students recommending study crew to other students yeah, it makes sense and so much of it is.

00:12:11.337 --> 00:12:26.966
The snowball effect is that once people find something that works and it benefits from even more students being on your platform, and I think that it's really cool, because not only does it grow with the user base that grows, but you, j Jacob, you've put together a growth plan that I think is so impressive.

00:12:26.966 --> 00:12:28.225
It's far beyond your years.

00:12:28.225 --> 00:12:29.249
It's right on your website.

00:12:29.249 --> 00:12:31.467
We'll talk about your link at the end of today's episode.

00:12:31.467 --> 00:12:33.027
It's studycrewworld.

00:12:33.027 --> 00:12:35.148
We'll talk all about your website at the end.

00:12:35.148 --> 00:12:39.589
But when it comes to your feature set, I love how you've got stage one, the foundational phase.

00:12:39.589 --> 00:12:46.926
Here's the things that we're rolling out study groups, tutoring, learning paths.

00:12:46.926 --> 00:12:47.989
Stage two, you've got the expansion phase.

00:12:47.989 --> 00:12:48.932
Stage three, you've got futuristic learning.

00:12:48.951 --> 00:13:11.246
Jacob, you can talk about all of these features far better than I can talk to us about that vision that you have for the growth of study crew so right now, we're putting all our focus on stage one, um, and building the core features, especially study groups, and then, you know, the features in stage two and stage three.

00:13:11.246 --> 00:13:23.011
What we have here are ideas right, both second ideas that we think could be cool, could help a lot of students, but ultimately what we implement depends on the user feedback we get.

00:13:23.011 --> 00:13:37.129
We actually, you know, once we have our initial platform, we are already doing this, talking to students and interviewing them, but we want to do this even more and, based on that, we'll implement some of the ideas of Stage 2 and Stage 3.

00:13:37.129 --> 00:13:44.847
But yeah, for the concrete features for example, in Stage 2, we want to improve the groups.

00:13:44.847 --> 00:13:48.072
We also want to integrate learning paths.

00:13:48.533 --> 00:13:56.860
So, instead of creating our own content, we will curate the existing online content in an organized way and build stuff around it with set groups.

00:13:56.860 --> 00:14:04.264
So that's, you know, the ideas we have for later stages, but those depend on the user feedback we get and we're not fixed right now.

00:14:04.264 --> 00:14:04.706
On.

00:14:04.706 --> 00:14:18.006
We will implement exactly this, but right now we're focusing on stage one and then, once we get user feedback, we will roll out more features with inspiration from the ideas we have for stage two and stage three yeah, I really appreciate those insights, jacob.

00:14:18.027 --> 00:14:23.809
I think it shows how intentional you are about rolling this out in service of students, which is obviously one of the roots behind your initiative.

00:14:23.809 --> 00:14:34.873
I want to ask you because, when you talk about the curriculum and the roadmap and the development, rolling this out in service of students, which is obviously one of the roots behind your initiative I want to ask you because, when you talk about the curriculum and the roadmap and the development plans, where do you picture study crew fitting in with the broader educational and academic world?

00:14:34.873 --> 00:14:48.149
Do you picture having educators involved in the development of these types of features and the way that you serve students, or is it something that you want to do in conjunction with academic institutions, or do you really picture it being that student driven?

00:14:48.149 --> 00:14:53.508
Let's do this together and figure it out based on all of our collective knowledge and our collective learnings.

00:14:54.028 --> 00:15:04.129
Walk us down that road path of what you're thinking I think initially it will be primarily students supporting other students in study groups.

00:15:04.129 --> 00:15:15.022
You know there are other platforms like Google Classroom, where teachers, you know, post stuff, post assignments and some students can view those.

00:15:15.022 --> 00:15:20.386
But we really want to enable students to learn in a collaborative way, together to support each other.

00:15:20.386 --> 00:15:22.989
So that's, you know, the primary purpose of Study Crew.

00:15:22.989 --> 00:15:34.131
Once we roll out more features, it's totally possible that you know it might be useful for academic institutions to use Study Crew as well, and then we would reach out to them.

00:15:34.131 --> 00:15:38.605
But our primary focus remains, you know that, student-to-student connection.

00:15:39.307 --> 00:15:58.822
Yeah, I really like how much that is rooted in your approach and your strategy and your decision which, jacob, underneath all of this, I think that one thing is abundantly clear to all of us here today, which is you love learning, whether we're talking about jujitsu that you're taking up, or whether we're talking about the fact that you clearly have a lot of skills as a programmer.

00:15:58.822 --> 00:16:05.125
Talk to us about your learning style, because you're not just coming on this episode talking about the business that you're building.

00:16:05.125 --> 00:16:08.591
're actually still a student, which huge kudos to you.

00:16:08.591 --> 00:16:13.350
I think you might be the youngest guest we've ever had on in the show's history, jacob, so we really appreciate that.

00:16:13.350 --> 00:16:17.720
Talk to us about the learning style that you have, especially with regards to programming.

00:16:17.720 --> 00:16:20.182
How did you start building these skills and using them?

00:16:22.746 --> 00:16:29.035
so with programming, you know, um, I just thought it would be cool to build video games.

00:16:29.035 --> 00:16:38.432
I know that doesn't sound very, you know, you know, inspiring, but I just thought it would be cool to develop these things and so I just learned how to develop them.

00:16:38.432 --> 00:16:47.255
And once I got kind of more into video game development, I saw over all these other cool things I could do with programming and I just learned those.

00:16:47.255 --> 00:16:55.682
I think what's really important for me in learning is that I don't just watch tutorials of other people do something, but just try to develop something myself.

00:16:55.682 --> 00:16:59.251
That's what I did with programming, you know, just trying out projects.

00:16:59.320 --> 00:17:11.451
You know, having errors it won't work all the time, but I personally at least learn better this way than by just watching other people do stuff With.

00:17:11.451 --> 00:17:13.721
You know other things like jujitsu.

00:17:13.721 --> 00:17:22.084
I approach them maybe a bit differently because there's just so much to learn, so many strategic moves that I have to take in.

00:17:22.084 --> 00:17:33.030
But yeah, I really try to approach it with a growth mindset, learning about everything I can and then trying it out as soon as possible to improve myself.

00:17:33.732 --> 00:17:36.358
Yeah, Jacob, you're using some of my favorite terms.

00:17:36.358 --> 00:17:39.734
In the world of entrepreneurship, we use the word growth mindset.

00:17:39.734 --> 00:17:55.523
That's something that is inherent in all of us as entrepreneurs and you also talked about I think it's important for us to inject it into today's conversation is the fact that just do things and they're not always going to work out, and I'm sure that you found that along the line, even in your entrepreneurial journey up to this point.

00:17:55.523 --> 00:18:08.915
Talk to us about some of those challenges, because it's fun for us to talk about Study Crew and how awesome it is and how intentional and strategic you are about what you're building, but surely along the way you've experienced some setbacks and challenges that you didn't envision.

00:18:11.240 --> 00:18:13.471
Uh, of course, yeah, um.

00:18:13.471 --> 00:18:28.721
So, as a student, um, I think one, one thing you kind of stumble across is you don't have a lot of experience, right, so you, you will do some things, maybe wrong.

00:18:28.721 --> 00:18:30.717
You won't always make the right decisions.

00:18:30.717 --> 00:18:49.040
Maybe I doubt myself sometimes, of course, as I think any student does, but in the end it's important to just push through, you know, according to our mission, and don't be too afraid of failing, but just being committed to what we want to do.

00:18:49.040 --> 00:18:51.698
And you know, that's where I push through.

00:18:51.698 --> 00:18:59.750
There hasn't been like a huge, huge challenge yet, but of course, you know, in the development, technical problems, I also appreciate those.

00:18:59.770 --> 00:19:08.983
Sometimes it's really fun to work with them and try to solve those yeah, and even hearing you talk about that, you say there haven't been any big setbacks yet.

00:19:08.983 --> 00:19:12.917
But I think you already touched on the biggest one that we all face, and that is self self-doubt.

00:19:12.917 --> 00:19:16.057
It's something that creeps in at all stages of the entrepreneurial journey.

00:19:16.057 --> 00:19:22.459
Like I said, similar to you, I started my first business as a teenager, and age was always one of those things for me, jacob.

00:19:22.459 --> 00:19:25.531
I always sat back and I thought will people take me seriously?

00:19:25.531 --> 00:19:27.294
Are they going to realize how young I am?

00:19:27.375 --> 00:19:29.656
It's something that we think about when we're young.

00:19:29.656 --> 00:19:36.085
Talk to me about the way that you've mentally worked out the fact that you are a young entrepreneur.

00:19:36.085 --> 00:19:45.580
I remember the positive side of what I realized is gosh, everybody is willing to help me, since I'm a student starting a business, and that was one big advantage of my age at the time.

00:19:45.580 --> 00:19:59.374
So, jacob, I'd love to hear how you work through that, as you're building something that truly is going to make a big difference in the the world of learning yeah, I think what you said is a very good point, that you can use your age to an advantage.

00:19:59.755 --> 00:20:10.178
You know, um, as a student I work on education, where I can have an insight and then you can emphasize with, with and learning.

00:20:10.178 --> 00:20:18.481
So I try to leverage that in planning features and so on and then reaching out to other people as well to adopt our platform.

00:20:18.481 --> 00:20:28.285
I think to students they often think it's good if you know not some teacher, which can also be beneficial, of course, but if peers build platforms for them.

00:20:28.285 --> 00:20:35.391
So it's more something I try to leverage than you know be be too concerned about.

00:20:36.233 --> 00:20:47.655
Uh, yeah, yeah, and speaking of mindset, obviously one thing that factors into our mindset is the environment that we're in, and that's something that we all get better at dealing with the older and the more experience that we get.

00:20:47.655 --> 00:20:53.621
So, jacob, I'd love to hear some real life insights from you about those around you, whether whether it's teachers, friends, family.

00:20:53.621 --> 00:20:59.617
What sort of feedback or encouragement are you getting along the way, or is everyone tossing even more ideas at you?

00:20:59.617 --> 00:21:01.570
How are you filtering through your environment?

00:21:04.015 --> 00:21:21.192
I try to, you know, take in everything I can from feedback from friends and family and peers both positive feedback, of course, and criticisms to, you know, get better and make study group better, if it's specifically related to that.

00:21:21.192 --> 00:21:26.384
You know, as a student, I think I mainly get positive feedback.

00:21:26.384 --> 00:21:37.065
Of course there's some you know problems, some criticisms, but I take them as feedback, as valuable feedback, especially if they come from good friends.

00:21:37.065 --> 00:21:49.486
I'm not talking about Selly Crew all the time or other projects I'm working on with my friends, but if it comes off, it's mainly perceived as positive.

00:21:50.351 --> 00:21:55.359
Yeah, I love that, especially because it makes me think back to my days as a young entrepreneur.

00:21:55.359 --> 00:21:59.193
As a student, I always had a notebook, jacob, and I was always writing ideas.

00:21:59.193 --> 00:22:01.339
I couldn't stop thinking about my business.

00:22:01.339 --> 00:22:06.761
I'm wondering how your mind works, because clearly you've got the entrepreneurial hustle and DNA inside of you.

00:22:06.761 --> 00:22:18.766
Is this something that, while you're balancing your course load and your hobbies and your friends and your social life, how are you managing to keep that entrepreneurial mind focused and sharp and doing what you should be doing?

00:22:18.766 --> 00:22:21.476
Because, let's face it, you do have other things, as you said.

00:22:23.621 --> 00:22:28.195
Yeah, definitely so I try to be.

00:22:28.195 --> 00:22:31.743
If I do something, I try to be focused on one thing right.

00:22:31.743 --> 00:22:36.513
If I'm in school, I really do focus on school, not on study crew.

00:22:36.513 --> 00:22:48.132
And if I'm working on study crew, I really focus on study crew and not too much on school, um, and I think that's, you know, more healthy also as well from just a mental health perspective.

00:22:48.132 --> 00:23:03.557
Uh, but I I have many ideas when I'm working on study crew and I try to be very focused and that way get multiple things done but not just thinking about all of them at the same time.

00:23:04.640 --> 00:23:09.329
Yeah, yeah, and thinking about all the resources that are available at your fingertips.

00:23:09.329 --> 00:23:12.095
What are some of those trusted resources that you turn to?

00:23:12.095 --> 00:23:15.771
I'm curious to get inside the mind of another entrepreneurial generation.

00:23:15.771 --> 00:23:25.673
For me, it was books back then and a lot of blogs, and then, as my journey continued on YouTube, university became the best school on earth, and it's still a school that I think we all reference.

00:23:25.673 --> 00:23:28.161
But, jacob, what are some of those resources that you turn to?

00:23:30.250 --> 00:23:33.881
I do actually like books, not just on the resources.

00:23:33.881 --> 00:23:36.212
I think that books can sometimes be valuable.

00:23:36.212 --> 00:23:39.439
Uh, I, I just enjoy reading as well.

00:23:39.439 --> 00:23:43.132
Um, besides that, of course, online youtube there's.

00:23:43.132 --> 00:23:45.277
There's so many information online.

00:23:45.277 --> 00:24:02.201
I think it's actually incredible that you know, I have the privilege of you doing everything with the internet, having access to any information in the world, so I try to consume online content.

00:24:02.201 --> 00:24:15.461
I'd say just specific stuff, not just everything, because that can get a lot, but I try to focus on a few things deeply, um, and learn things online.

00:24:15.461 --> 00:24:22.259
There are these coding platforms, which are interactive, which I enjoy for learning coding because you're not just having a tutorial.

00:24:22.259 --> 00:24:26.834
Then youtube, of course, as well, for many different things.

00:24:26.834 --> 00:24:37.636
Um, and then, just, you know, education websites like Khan Academy, also really great resources for learning yeah, huge shout out to Khan Academy.

00:24:37.676 --> 00:24:43.042
The work that they are doing is incredible, and you talk about making these things more accessible for the world.

00:24:43.042 --> 00:24:45.732
I think Khan Academy brought a lot of that stuff mainstream.

00:24:45.732 --> 00:24:50.997
They were one of the earlier players there, so I love the fact that it's making a positive impact in your journey.

00:24:50.997 --> 00:24:52.601
And, and Jacob, you bring up programming.

00:24:52.601 --> 00:25:00.070
I want to ask you just for your opinion Obviously, there's a million right answers to this question what are some of those programming languages that you're focusing on?

00:25:00.070 --> 00:25:06.513
We've had founders come on the show and talk about no code platforms, but I'm curious to hear about the programming side of the world from you.

00:25:08.837 --> 00:25:16.013
So I think that no code platforms can be good, but you should understand the underlying code to work well with them.

00:25:16.013 --> 00:25:24.104
So what I think Python is, you know, a great language that I personally focus on just because it can do so much.

00:25:24.104 --> 00:25:32.096
It can do machine learning, it can do data analysis and you learn really great foundations that you can apply to other programming languages as well.

00:25:32.096 --> 00:25:35.967
But I think in general it's not too much about learning.

00:25:35.967 --> 00:25:39.977
One programming language is during the principles, the algorithms.

00:25:39.977 --> 00:25:45.471
You know the thinking through coding problems, because programming languages will change.

00:25:45.471 --> 00:25:54.247
But if you really learn and understand you the coding processes, then you will be able to work with any programming language very quickly.

00:25:55.255 --> 00:25:56.478
Yeah, really well said.

00:25:56.478 --> 00:26:03.391
The principles, whether we're talking, programming or marketing, all of these things change over time, but the principles remain the same.

00:26:03.391 --> 00:26:06.421
So I love the fact that you highlighted that for all of our listeners.

00:26:06.421 --> 00:26:10.843
And one thing I always like to ask in these episodes, jacob, is about timeline.

00:26:10.843 --> 00:26:19.714
We all view time differently, and you and I have already spoken about some of your expansion plans from a features perspective and how much that's going to be driven by users.

00:26:19.714 --> 00:26:28.162
But let's face it, you are going to be graduating in about a little over a year from now and there's going to be a whole world of opportunities open to you.

00:26:28.162 --> 00:26:30.955
What is that time horizon that you look at?

00:26:30.955 --> 00:26:35.323
Do you look at the future of study Crew and imagine what it'll be five and 10 years from now?

00:26:35.323 --> 00:26:44.557
Do you have a broader scope of what direction you want your life to go in, since you do so many skills and so many different projects and things that you're passionate about?

00:26:44.557 --> 00:26:47.226
I'd love to hear the way that your mind works in that regard.

00:26:49.496 --> 00:26:59.996
So for me personally, I think that I do think long term and very short term at the same time.

00:26:59.996 --> 00:27:02.982
I don't think I have a specific time horizon.

00:27:02.982 --> 00:27:46.077
I'm not like in 30 years I'm going to accomplish this and then I'm done, but I'm just trying to have a meaningful impact over the course of my life, and so I'm learning stuff right now, really focusing on investing myself and improving for a long time horizon, but then I'm also trying to make a positive impact now with research projects, with programing, with study through, and so, on the one hand, that now perspective, for which I also learn a lot for the future, right, but just trying out things, uh but then also really investing myself, taking the time to learn, um, to learn about concepts, learn about skills and apply that in the longterm.

00:27:46.840 --> 00:27:55.176
Yeah, I really appreciate that answer because I think that in business school, I heard all these professors talk about those five or 10 or sometimes 30-year plans.

00:27:55.176 --> 00:28:06.421
I love that you called that out, and I think we all saw in the year 2020 how quickly the world can change, and then, even just on a more micro level, technology is changing at a faster rate than it ever has before.

00:28:06.421 --> 00:28:15.406
Obviously, openai brought AI more mainstream, into the hands of much more people, but so many things are going gonna change between now and even 10 years from now.

00:28:15.406 --> 00:28:18.980
So, jacob, it's really cool to hear your grounded approach to that.

00:28:19.423 --> 00:28:34.343
While we've got you here, I have to ask you about all these awards that you're winning, because obviously we think the world of you, jacob, here behind the scenes at the Entrepreneur to Entrepreneur podcast, you're clearly very passionate and very talented and so impact-driven that we admire all the things you're doing.

00:28:34.343 --> 00:28:36.807
What do these competitions look like for you?

00:28:36.807 --> 00:28:42.703
I'd love to hear some real life insights into how those are structured, how you're winning so many of these awards, jacob.

00:28:42.703 --> 00:28:44.040
What's the secrets behind that?

00:28:48.376 --> 00:28:52.247
I don't just do competitions for the sake of a competition.

00:28:52.247 --> 00:29:07.204
I'm more good project based, like what project would be cool, something I'm genuinely passionate about, and then, you know, I can present it at a competition as well, kind of as a bonus next to the main reward of just doing the project.

00:29:07.204 --> 00:29:18.330
Um, and I think that that actually helps with the competition, because I'm just very passionate about what I'm doing.

00:29:18.330 --> 00:29:27.941
I am generally fascinated by the topics I work on that I choose to work on for this, and that way I think I'm getting good results.

00:29:27.941 --> 00:29:35.596
You know, if I'm actually very invested into what I'm doing and I really enjoy doing it as well and not just for the sake of a competition.

00:29:36.459 --> 00:29:44.143
Yeah, really well said and important for us to consider always doing things as ends in themselves, not just means to an end.

00:29:44.143 --> 00:29:51.457
So much of what you've shared with us today is about being present and really saying this is what I'm doing, this is what I'm going to put my 100% behind.

00:29:51.457 --> 00:29:56.557
So I think it reveals so much about your attitude, Jacob, and something that is a key to your success.

00:29:56.557 --> 00:30:06.528
I want to ask you about your academic future, because I know the world has changed in a lot of ways since I was graduating high school all the way back in the mid 2000s.

00:30:06.528 --> 00:30:09.509
What does your future look like inside the classroom, Jacob?

00:30:09.509 --> 00:30:11.817
Is university something that's appealing to you right now?

00:30:11.817 --> 00:30:15.346
Obviously, you've got real life businesses and projects that you're working on.

00:30:15.346 --> 00:30:16.630
Do you picture taking?

00:30:16.630 --> 00:30:17.653
Maybe a sabbatical?

00:30:17.792 --> 00:30:26.387
give us some insights there I luckily have two more years to go, uh, so I can still think a bit more about it.

00:30:26.387 --> 00:30:45.502
Um, I do think that university going to university could be valuable, Especially because you know you can take more risks in entrepreneurship-based projects, for example, if you know you have a university degree and if you fail you can still do something else.

00:30:45.502 --> 00:30:52.747
So that's one of my would be one of my main motivations, besides also learning a lot in university.

00:30:52.747 --> 00:30:58.559
So those are my current plans, but I don't have to be honest, I don't even know exactly what I will study.

00:30:58.559 --> 00:31:08.088
So I'm just embracing the two more years I have, experimenting with different things and then deciding what to do in my academic future.

00:31:08.894 --> 00:31:13.665
Yes, I love hearing the fact that you view time as your advantage there.

00:31:13.665 --> 00:31:19.662
So a lot of people feel a lot of pressure from so many different angles, but huge kudos to you once again for your attitude.

00:31:19.662 --> 00:31:22.965
Again, the word I'm going to keep using about you, jacob, is grounded.

00:31:22.965 --> 00:31:38.557
You're just so grounded in your approach and that's why, at the top of this episode, I said you're experienced far beyond just your years, and I think that that's something that the entire community of our worldwide listeners is going to immediately notice about the way that you show up here today and the way that you show up in your work.

00:31:38.616 --> 00:31:42.846
So, jacob, I always love asking this question at the end of every episode.

00:31:42.846 --> 00:31:48.996
I have no direction or no idea what direction guests are going to take this in, and that is your one best piece of advice.

00:31:48.996 --> 00:32:06.229
Knowing that you are very young in your entrepreneurial journey, I'm going to call out because I know you're too humble to do it for yourself that you are experimenting, and I think that that is something that puts you at an advantage over a lot of people who just wait on the sidelines or maybe they have ideas, but they don't actually take action on them.

00:32:06.229 --> 00:32:11.762
So you've got a unique vantage point, jacob, to impart some knowledge and advice on our listeners here today.

00:32:11.762 --> 00:32:14.669
What's that one piece of advice that you want to leave them with?

00:32:17.215 --> 00:32:27.364
So I don't think I have specific business advice, but for young people, I'd say that we should be more bold in pursuing our passions.

00:32:27.364 --> 00:32:37.662
I think that so many young people have tremendous potential but they don't realize it because of convention, you know, and the expectations of other people.

00:32:37.662 --> 00:33:01.356
And I really believe that if we unleash that potential, if we unleash those passions and are more bold and ambitious in what we do, we, you know, as teenagers, can solve some of the biggest issues of our time that we're particularly affected by, like education, climate change and many of the other problems.

00:33:01.376 --> 00:33:04.163
Yes, absolutely Good advice and, Jacob, I'm going to extrapolate that because it doesn't only apply to young people.

00:33:04.163 --> 00:33:10.896
I think that that's an inspiring and motivating message for all people, especially whether you're a entrepreneur or an entrepreneur.

00:33:10.896 --> 00:33:15.223
I think that it goes beyond just business as well, that all of us can make a difference.

00:33:15.223 --> 00:33:30.656
It's easy to feel like one of you know seven and a half billion people on this planet, but I think that you're living proof about the fact that if we take action and we bring people together, the sum of our efforts goes far beyond just us being one person on this planet for a short amount of time.

00:33:30.656 --> 00:33:34.424
So, Jacob, I really appreciate that advice and those insights from you.

00:33:34.424 --> 00:33:43.344
You've got to drop the links on us for listeners who want to either check out the amazing work that you're doing or they want to be part of it and your open source initiative that supports it.

00:33:43.344 --> 00:33:45.060
Where should listeners go from here?

00:33:45.060 --> 00:33:46.340
Where can they find you online?

00:33:48.096 --> 00:33:54.676
Yes, so you can find me online on my website, jacobhealthcom, or my LinkedIn profile.

00:33:54.676 --> 00:33:56.318
You know, just jacobhealth on LinkedIn.

00:33:56.318 --> 00:34:03.326
And then Study Crew is at studycrewworld online and we also have a LinkedIn page that you can check out.

00:34:04.166 --> 00:34:19.358
Yes, listeners, and you already know the drill, we are making it as easy as possible for you to find Jacob's websites, his LinkedIn profiles, down below in the show notes.

00:34:19.358 --> 00:34:21.224
You can click right on through, no matter where it is that you're tuning into today's episode.

00:34:21.224 --> 00:34:30.661
If you want to reach out, if you want to be part of the amazing journey that Jacob is on with Study Crew, truly changing the way that students around the world can collaborate and learn together such an incredible mission, then definitely check out the links in the show notes.

00:34:30.661 --> 00:34:36.541
Otherwise, jacob, on behalf of myself and all the listeners worldwide, thanks so much for coming on the show today.

00:34:38.065 --> 00:34:39.027
Thank you very much, Brian.

00:34:39.876 --> 00:34:45.438
Hey, it's Brian here, and thanks for tuning in to yet another episode of the Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur podcast.

00:34:45.438 --> 00:34:49.375
If you haven't checked us out online, there's so much good stuff there.

00:34:49.375 --> 00:34:58.630
Check out the show's website and all the show notes that we talked about in today's episode at thewantrepreneurshowcom, and I just want to give a shout out to our amazing guests.

00:34:58.630 --> 00:35:07.425
There's a reason why we are ad free and have produced so many incredible episodes five days a week for you, and it's because our guests step up to the plate.

00:35:07.485 --> 00:35:09.478
These are not sponsored episodes.

00:35:09.478 --> 00:35:11.081
These are not infomercials.

00:35:11.081 --> 00:35:14.568
Our guests help us cover the costs of our productions.

00:35:14.568 --> 00:35:25.501
They so deeply believe in the power of getting their message out in front of you, awesome wantrepreneurs and entrepreneurs, that they contribute to help us make these productions possible.

00:35:25.501 --> 00:35:34.003
So thank you to not only today's guests, but all of our guests in general, and I just wanna invite you check out our website because you can send us a voicemail there.

00:35:34.003 --> 00:35:35.340
We also have live chat.

00:35:35.340 --> 00:35:39.965
If you want to interact directly with me, go to thewantrepreneurshowcom.

00:35:39.965 --> 00:35:41.367
Initiate a live chat.

00:35:41.367 --> 00:35:50.815
It's for real me, and I'm excited because I'll see you, as always every Monday, wednesday, friday, saturday and Sunday here on the Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur podcast.