Meeting Title: BraveForge AI x GSV Ventures Intro Call Date: 2025-11-05 Meeting participants: Sevara Tadzhibaeva, Robert Tseng
WEBVTT
1 00:01:17.110 ⇒ 00:01:18.450 Robert Tseng: Hello!
2 00:01:20.030 ⇒ 00:01:21.120 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Hello!
3 00:01:22.330 ⇒ 00:01:26.489 Robert Tseng: Hi, is it, Savara? How do I pronounce your name?
4 00:01:26.680 ⇒ 00:01:28.420 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Yes, that’s correct, Sivara.
5 00:01:28.750 ⇒ 00:01:29.630 Robert Tseng: Savannah.
6 00:01:29.630 ⇒ 00:01:30.899 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Is it Robert, or…
7 00:01:30.900 ⇒ 00:01:32.809 Robert Tseng: Yes, yes, Robert, yeah.
8 00:01:32.810 ⇒ 00:01:34.150 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: this year.
9 00:01:34.680 ⇒ 00:01:35.360 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Yeah.
10 00:01:35.360 ⇒ 00:01:42.549 Robert Tseng: Yeah, good to meet you. Yeah, so you said you went to school with, Sezim, and…
11 00:01:42.710 ⇒ 00:01:44.499 Robert Tseng: And Malika?
12 00:01:45.240 ⇒ 00:02:00.780 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Yeah, this is him, we went to university, undergrad together. My guys, we did, like, she’s also a friend, we did, like, an exchange year in the US back into… back in high school.
13 00:02:01.150 ⇒ 00:02:01.750 Robert Tseng: Okay.
14 00:02:01.930 ⇒ 00:02:03.269 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: 10 years ago.
15 00:02:03.270 ⇒ 00:02:04.730 Robert Tseng: You did… you did Flex?
16 00:02:05.220 ⇒ 00:02:06.960 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Yes! Yeah, yeah, yeah.
17 00:02:07.620 ⇒ 00:02:11.809 Robert Tseng: Okay, cool. Yeah, I mean, I… I guess I know them because…
18 00:02:11.990 ⇒ 00:02:18.990 Robert Tseng: I mean, I first went to Kyrgyzstan, like, around 10 years ago, so… but, I’ve been… I’ve been there many times since.
19 00:02:19.560 ⇒ 00:02:21.000 Robert Tseng: Yeah.
20 00:02:21.000 ⇒ 00:02:21.560 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Oh, come.
21 00:02:21.560 ⇒ 00:02:30.810 Robert Tseng: in September. I guess at first, I was there, it was, like, through my university. We were doing… we were, like, teaching English,
22 00:02:31.000 ⇒ 00:02:34.710 Robert Tseng: like, I don’t know, we’re just volunteering, like, in the summer, and then…
23 00:02:34.710 ⇒ 00:02:36.499 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: S-Corp, or something else?
24 00:02:36.840 ⇒ 00:02:48.940 Robert Tseng: It wasn’t through Peace Corps, but something, like, adjacent to Peace Corps. They, like, do English camps, and also, like, at the time, it was, like, coding boot camps,
25 00:02:49.190 ⇒ 00:02:52.669 Robert Tseng: Yeah, it was, like, a wide range of things, but…
26 00:02:52.670 ⇒ 00:02:54.309 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Marxism in high school?
27 00:02:54.760 ⇒ 00:02:58.070 Robert Tseng: No, no, I met… I messaged him here in New York.
28 00:02:58.070 ⇒ 00:02:59.570 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Oh, okay, okay.
29 00:02:59.570 ⇒ 00:03:01.980 Robert Tseng: I met,
30 00:03:02.160 ⇒ 00:03:08.870 Robert Tseng: I met some other folks that introduced me to Malika. I met her first, and then she connected me to Sazeem, so…
31 00:03:09.890 ⇒ 00:03:10.230 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: That’s.
32 00:03:10.230 ⇒ 00:03:12.220 Robert Tseng: Yeah, I think,
33 00:03:12.840 ⇒ 00:03:22.590 Robert Tseng: Yeah, it was crazy, like, a lot of the folks… people that I met are… I mean, Kyrgyzstan is still such a young country, like, I feel like… I think I learned this time that, like.
34 00:03:23.170 ⇒ 00:03:26.999 Robert Tseng: What is it, like, 80% of the people are under the age of 35?
35 00:03:27.280 ⇒ 00:03:38.650 Robert Tseng: So it’s… it’s cool seeing how, like, the people I met 10 years ago, like, everyone’s grown up and, like, running… they’re running the show there, you know? So it’s, like, it’s very cool to see,
36 00:03:38.840 ⇒ 00:03:41.109 Robert Tseng: you know, unlike here in America, like.
37 00:03:41.230 ⇒ 00:03:58.810 Robert Tseng: I don’t know, being in your early 30s doesn’t really mean anything. You’re probably mid-career, probably still pretty early, too. As you can see, everyone in office is, like, over 60 or 70, so it’s just, like, a very, very different dynamic. I love the energy there, so, yeah, I go back there almost every year.
38 00:03:59.110 ⇒ 00:04:03.800 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Yeah. Yeah, I think I saw you,
39 00:04:04.500 ⇒ 00:04:08.640 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: I saw you in… so there’s a high technology park, right?
40 00:04:09.060 ⇒ 00:04:20.899 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Yeah, yeah. So they do a different kind of… and I… I think I know a girl, who was trying to build her thing, I think her name is Aijan, so I just… we follow each other, and…
41 00:04:20.899 ⇒ 00:04:40.509 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: you… I think I just saw you there, like, I don’t know, maybe you were involved in some… so I connected, I was like, hmm, interesting, like, because I know a lot of people from U.S. came to support, like, those kind of startups, and, even I know we…
42 00:04:40.800 ⇒ 00:04:49.820 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: I have, like, a friend at MIT who’s a visiting scholar. His name is Shamir. Maybe you have heard about him. He,
43 00:04:50.580 ⇒ 00:04:53.040 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: He kind of bridges, like, a…
44 00:04:53.610 ⇒ 00:04:59.209 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: he, like, connects MIT to Central Asia, I would say, in short, like, he does different kind of,
45 00:04:59.210 ⇒ 00:05:11.119 Robert Tseng: projects, and works with, IT parks in the region to connect them, and bring their people, do the training on different kind of, like, entrepreneurship, and, like.
46 00:05:11.320 ⇒ 00:05:22.050 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Yeah. So, yeah, I think that’s how I, saw your page, so I was like, oh, let’s connect, like, so yeah, I remember it clearly, like, I saw you in one of those comments, like, in,
47 00:05:22.050 ⇒ 00:05:22.680 Robert Tseng: Sure.
48 00:05:22.680 ⇒ 00:05:23.140 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: I think.
49 00:05:23.140 ⇒ 00:05:33.230 Robert Tseng: Yeah, I think I know what you’re talking about. Ijana was, yeah, she’s been working on a startup, like, it’s been cool seeing her launch that product. So it’s probably her. She works for the high-tech park, too.
50 00:05:34.480 ⇒ 00:05:44.270 Robert Tseng: Okay, so that’s… that’s cool. I… I… I learned that the high-tech park had a connection to MIT recently when I went back. I didn’t know who it was. I guess it must be…
51 00:05:44.270 ⇒ 00:05:45.150 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: to stand.
52 00:05:45.600 ⇒ 00:05:47.400 Robert Tseng: Oh yeah, I was there in September, yeah.
53 00:05:47.570 ⇒ 00:05:52.100 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Oh, really? Oh, that’s so cool! Just for the visit, or…
54 00:05:52.100 ⇒ 00:05:57.840 Robert Tseng: Yeah, that was just for a visit. I hadn’t gone in a couple years, but like I said, I try to go back every year.
55 00:05:57.840 ⇒ 00:06:02.830 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: That’s cool, but, if I may ask, are you from the U.S, or…
56 00:06:03.320 ⇒ 00:06:14.480 Robert Tseng: Yes, I grew up in the States. My family’s from Taiwan. Yeah, there’s actually a few… there are some Taiwanese people, in Tokmok, for some reason.
57 00:06:15.660 ⇒ 00:06:16.820 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Talk mock.
58 00:06:16.990 ⇒ 00:06:20.160 Robert Tseng: Yeah, there’s a university there, IAC.
59 00:06:20.160 ⇒ 00:06:21.569 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Ieca, yes.
60 00:06:21.570 ⇒ 00:06:21.900 Robert Tseng: Yeah.
61 00:06:21.900 ⇒ 00:06:24.229 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Oh, that’s so cool.
62 00:06:24.230 ⇒ 00:06:24.989 Robert Tseng: Yeah, it was started by.
63 00:06:24.990 ⇒ 00:06:34.510 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: You’re like one of us. You know you have places. That’s cool. Yeah. Grew up, like, not in Bishkek, but Toktogul, if you have, if you.
64 00:06:34.510 ⇒ 00:06:36.010 Robert Tseng: Oh, yeah, okay.
65 00:06:36.010 ⇒ 00:06:44.020 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Okay, so I grew up in the village, and then I moved to Bishkek when I did my undergrad at AECA, probably.
66 00:06:44.540 ⇒ 00:06:48.190 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Who, but, yeah.
67 00:06:48.190 ⇒ 00:06:49.549 Robert Tseng: Yeah, very cool.
68 00:06:49.910 ⇒ 00:06:55.260 Robert Tseng: And what… I guess what brought… you know, you live in Boston now. Yeah, tell me a bit more about what you… what you’re up to.
69 00:06:55.470 ⇒ 00:07:06.869 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Yeah, I’m in Boston. I did, I was working at the intersection of ed tech, and I also was, helping to manage an educational project which was focused on,
70 00:07:07.640 ⇒ 00:07:14.969 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: providing scholarships to people who want to study business and IT in the region at AEC and Chemap University in Kazakhstan, so I was…
71 00:07:15.320 ⇒ 00:07:33.729 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: always in the intersection between ed tech, education, and I have… I have studied business in AACA. So, after working, at Almate, Uzbekistan, and Bishkek, I work… started working at… for the EdTech company in Chicago.
72 00:07:34.140 ⇒ 00:07:35.669 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: And,
73 00:07:36.390 ⇒ 00:07:53.970 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: I was working and traveling back and forth, and then I was, like, I graduated my undergrad in 2020, then I decided to do my master’s, 5 years… 4 years later, and applied. I wanted to focus on education,
74 00:07:53.970 ⇒ 00:07:57.860 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: and technology intersection, so I can do my own,
75 00:07:58.100 ⇒ 00:08:09.360 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: a tech project, so I came and I applied. I, I got into Harvard Graduate School of Education. I graduated, like, this May, actually.
76 00:08:09.360 ⇒ 00:08:10.569 Robert Tseng: Oh, wow, congrats.
77 00:08:10.860 ⇒ 00:08:17.820 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Thank you. And, it was tough times, because, at the time, Harvard was,
78 00:08:17.820 ⇒ 00:08:39.659 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Yeah. Yeah, a lot of things, were happening, but we made it and graduated. So, yeah, I was supposed to stay at Harvard, work for the engineering school, they were developing an educational project, but I got, I got to go to this, ASU GSV summit, if you have heard it,
79 00:08:39.659 ⇒ 00:08:55.520 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: I guess one of the top places people go to explore AI in education, generally education investments, and so on. So, so I ended up meeting Deborah Kwaza, who is the founder of GSV Ventures. It’s a global Silicon Valley Ventures.
80 00:08:55.520 ⇒ 00:08:56.130 Robert Tseng: Yeah.
81 00:08:56.130 ⇒ 00:09:07.739 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: And they invest in ad tech, like ClassDojo, Coursera, and so on, Turnitin, and so on. So they’ve been doing it for more than, I guess, 15 years, and…
82 00:09:08.440 ⇒ 00:09:26.399 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: I got to meet her there, and we kind of connected, and I got a job offer, after my graduation and started working as, so GSV Ventures is, like, an investment firm which invests early-stage ed tech startups, so specifically ed tech only.
83 00:09:26.400 ⇒ 00:09:38.280 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: And they, they have this two annual large events called ASU GSV Summit. They, why ASV GSV? It’s because they partner with Arizona State University.
84 00:09:38.280 ⇒ 00:09:39.539 Robert Tseng: Yeah, I’ve heard of it.
85 00:09:39.540 ⇒ 00:09:40.070 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Yeah, yeah.
86 00:09:40.070 ⇒ 00:09:42.009 Robert Tseng: Conferences in San Diego, or something like that.
87 00:09:42.010 ⇒ 00:09:42.600 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
88 00:09:42.940 ⇒ 00:09:50.479 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Marco, who, president of, Arizona State University. So, they’ve been doing it for more than 15 years.
89 00:09:50.480 ⇒ 00:09:51.140 Robert Tseng: Mmm.
90 00:09:51.140 ⇒ 00:10:05.600 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: 2024, they’ve, or, they started doing AI in Education conference, which they called AI Show, because it was in response to the rapid,
91 00:10:06.330 ⇒ 00:10:25.619 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: influence of AI in education and everything happening, so… and it’s been, like, two years they’ve been doing… so I was hired for the AI show, to, curate the content for the AI show. So we’ve worked with different kind of, we’ve worked with different kind of, like,
92 00:10:26.160 ⇒ 00:10:45.659 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: ed tech leaders, like, because it’s hand-curated, it’s not… people… people cannot just apply to speak or present, it’s, super… I think it’s, because, GSV, ASU GSV has, like, such a long-lasting brand, and they hand-curate everything. And,
93 00:10:45.660 ⇒ 00:11:05.130 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: But, it was, one month ago, they… Deborah Kwasza, because she’s been working a long time, she decided to sell two events to the large, ed tech firm, which is in UK, called Hive. If you have heard Bat Show in, Asia, London, have you heard?
94 00:11:05.390 ⇒ 00:11:06.110 Robert Tseng: Yeah.
95 00:11:06.110 ⇒ 00:11:12.460 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Okay, so you know. Okay, cool. So they acquired ASU GSV2 events.
96 00:11:13.230 ⇒ 00:11:15.440 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Months ago, so now it’s like…
97 00:11:15.440 ⇒ 00:11:16.939 Robert Tseng: A month ago, okay.
98 00:11:16.940 ⇒ 00:11:19.070 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Yeah, so… Yeah.
99 00:11:19.470 ⇒ 00:11:32.839 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Yeah, so they’re gonna rebrand things, but the GSV Venture stays the same, but, the two large events, AI show and, things like that, the summit,
100 00:11:33.070 ⇒ 00:11:35.550 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Will be,
101 00:11:35.690 ⇒ 00:11:43.990 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: So, yeah, so I was working on that space, but on the side, I still, work on my own at tech.
102 00:11:44.230 ⇒ 00:11:58.540 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: project, we… me and Shamili Brigimov, who is, a Kyrgyz citizen, but he works at MIT, I told you, Visiting Scholar. He works in partnership with, IT Park, Azizabeth.
103 00:11:58.540 ⇒ 00:11:58.889 Robert Tseng: Thank you.
104 00:11:58.890 ⇒ 00:12:07.769 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: and so on. They recently had, like, a bootcamp held in MIT and brought people from Kyrgyzstan to participate.
105 00:12:08.260 ⇒ 00:12:08.810 Robert Tseng: Mmm.
106 00:12:08.810 ⇒ 00:12:15.630 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: people specifically focused on research R&D and, like, research-backed startups.
107 00:12:15.630 ⇒ 00:12:16.200 Robert Tseng: Yeah.
108 00:12:16.200 ⇒ 00:12:27.160 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: And, so we, me and him, are working on the educational project, which involves, AI literacy in the region in Central Asia, so…
109 00:12:27.510 ⇒ 00:12:36.319 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: if you have… if you have… probably you know MIT has Day of AI, curriculum,
110 00:12:36.570 ⇒ 00:12:40.270 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: that they developed for K-12.
111 00:12:40.580 ⇒ 00:12:50.149 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: The schools, and they partner with, so we are trying to partner with them to translate, adapt, and.
112 00:12:50.190 ⇒ 00:12:53.509 Robert Tseng: and bring it to Central Asia, and… Oh.
113 00:12:53.510 ⇒ 00:12:55.709 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: and do the AI literacy in schools.
114 00:12:56.080 ⇒ 00:12:56.560 Robert Tseng: Yeah.
115 00:12:56.560 ⇒ 00:13:01.469 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: So, that’s something, and, yeah, so…
116 00:13:01.700 ⇒ 00:13:19.469 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: these are the things that I’m most interested, like, around EdTech. I wanna definitely do something that connects, like, to Central Asia, for sure. Because, as you know, probably, as you also said, it’s not much to innovate in the US.
117 00:13:20.100 ⇒ 00:13:32.229 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: while I think we as people who come from region and saw firsthand, like, the influence of education, how it can change people’s lives in there, especially, right, in Central Asia.
118 00:13:32.230 ⇒ 00:13:40.370 Robert Tseng: So, we still have our full, I guess, focus, no matter where we are, like, on the region, and it is…
119 00:13:40.370 ⇒ 00:13:45.769 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: recently pretty good, getting a lot of attention on the global map.
120 00:13:46.890 ⇒ 00:13:52.419 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: might not be a scalable, thing, but still, impactful, I would say.
121 00:13:52.420 ⇒ 00:13:52.970 Robert Tseng: Yeah.
122 00:13:54.620 ⇒ 00:14:10.179 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Yeah, these are the things that, but, I should tell you that I recently resigned ASU GSV because they are discontinued AI Show because of the acquisition. They’re no longer gonna have AI Show, it’s gonna be only Summit. So,
123 00:14:10.190 ⇒ 00:14:25.999 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: But again, Summit also, gonna be rebranded to… in the 2027. So I’m fully focused on the EdTech project that me and Shamil are developing right now, and we are meeting MIT folks to,
124 00:14:26.480 ⇒ 00:14:28.219 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Partner with them on that.
125 00:14:28.850 ⇒ 00:14:29.630 Robert Tseng: I see.
126 00:14:29.810 ⇒ 00:14:31.900 Robert Tseng: Wow, no, that’s… that’s awesome.
127 00:14:31.900 ⇒ 00:14:35.760 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Yeah, I’m sorry, I feel like I took a lot of time of meeting you’re sharing, but.
128 00:14:35.760 ⇒ 00:14:44.110 Robert Tseng: No, all good, this is just, like, an intro call, like, I, yeah, I just wanted to get to know you, yeah, I mean, I was, like, looking some stuff up as you were talking.
129 00:14:44.250 ⇒ 00:14:50.059 Robert Tseng: Yeah, I guess I actually know somebody else that was part of the ASU GSV Summit, but I didn’t.
130 00:14:50.060 ⇒ 00:14:50.849 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: You know?
131 00:14:50.850 ⇒ 00:14:52.080 Robert Tseng: Sarah, Kim?
132 00:14:52.080 ⇒ 00:14:56.469 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Oh my god, she’s… she’s the best! I still talk to her!
133 00:14:56.470 ⇒ 00:14:57.140 Robert Tseng: Oh, no way.
134 00:14:58.250 ⇒ 00:15:03.180 Robert Tseng: Oh, long story, but, when she was an undergrad,
135 00:15:03.180 ⇒ 00:15:03.750 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Then first.
136 00:15:03.750 ⇒ 00:15:08.390 Robert Tseng: Gee, But she actually lived in LA during the pandemic, yeah.
137 00:15:08.540 ⇒ 00:15:13.489 Robert Tseng: Yeah, she lived across… we were neighbors. She lived across the hall from me, we were on the same floor, yeah.
138 00:15:13.600 ⇒ 00:15:15.429 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: You went to the same school.
139 00:15:15.430 ⇒ 00:15:22.509 Robert Tseng: No, she was going to Stanford, but she was living next to USC, and I was still living around there, in LA, so…
140 00:15:22.510 ⇒ 00:15:24.430 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: you still California.
141 00:15:24.430 ⇒ 00:15:28.490 Robert Tseng: Yeah, I should reach out to her. It’s been many years. Yeah, I mean…
142 00:15:28.490 ⇒ 00:15:28.990 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: that.
143 00:15:29.570 ⇒ 00:15:41.769 Robert Tseng: She, like, she left LA on bad terms, I’m not gonna… so I don’t know if she still thinks fondly of her time there, so I’m a little bit cautious, but I… I’ll reach out and see how…
144 00:15:41.770 ⇒ 00:15:54.549 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Oh my god! But she’s the sweetest, and definitely, she’s been in… with GSV much longer than I. I joined only, like, summertime, and she’s been, like, I think for almost a year, maybe?
145 00:15:54.990 ⇒ 00:16:04.089 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Closer, and, definitely, she is there, still, she’s on the Summit team, though. She was not a part of AI Show that day.
146 00:16:04.730 ⇒ 00:16:13.600 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Yeah, so they, she’s still there, definitely. Okay. I talked to her, even, like, I think 2 days ago, I talked to her.
147 00:16:13.600 ⇒ 00:16:16.100 Robert Tseng: Yeah, small world, yeah.
148 00:16:16.100 ⇒ 00:16:17.160 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Yeah.
149 00:16:17.910 ⇒ 00:16:18.400 Robert Tseng: Okay.
150 00:16:18.400 ⇒ 00:16:27.079 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: So, tell me about what you do, like, I remember… I was trying to look it up, but I thought this is… I didn’t know it was ed tech-focused or not.
151 00:16:27.080 ⇒ 00:16:34.820 Robert Tseng: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, I run BraveForge AI. We’re, like, a data and AI consultancy.
152 00:16:35.220 ⇒ 00:16:39.909 Robert Tseng: I guess my background’s in data engineering and analytics, and so…
153 00:16:40.100 ⇒ 00:16:53.819 Robert Tseng: We started off by working with startups, helping them to set up their data stack. So, helping all the different tools, all the data land in a single place, usually a data warehouse, and then be able to build out reporting infrastructure for them.
154 00:16:53.910 ⇒ 00:17:02.059 Robert Tseng: The AI piece has kind of been added, obviously, the past couple years. I think I view AI as an extension of data… data work.
155 00:17:02.130 ⇒ 00:17:15.549 Robert Tseng: If your data’s in a good place, then you can actually use these AI tools. So we build things like chatbots, co-pilots, internal automation, and so, yeah, kind of half our business is in AI, now half our businesses doing traditional data work.
156 00:17:15.660 ⇒ 00:17:32.720 Robert Tseng: Yeah, I… my team’s, like, about 20 people. My business partner and I are kind of… we work remotely. I’m in New York, he’s in Austin. Yeah, I think we’re always exploring new verticals. I would say half our business is probably consumer product goods, just because that’s my background.
157 00:17:32.890 ⇒ 00:17:36.230 Robert Tseng: And then we also work with a lot of software tools.
158 00:17:36.290 ⇒ 00:17:43.720 Robert Tseng: a lot of AI-native software companies are kind of… post-Series A is kind of like our sweet spot, because that’s when
159 00:17:43.720 ⇒ 00:17:56.820 Robert Tseng: people have enough funding, and, like, they want to actually build out some of this technical infrastructure. And I guess EdTech is always something that’s been on my mind that, like, I’d like to kind of break into, if we can, for our team.
160 00:17:56.820 ⇒ 00:18:04.370 Robert Tseng: But for now, I would say CPG, healthcare, like, healthcare software, like, health tech is, is, is big for us.
161 00:18:04.370 ⇒ 00:18:15.489 Robert Tseng: And then also, like, we’ve been doing some work on… with, like, other, like, real estate and, like, legal tech kind of related work, too. So,
162 00:18:15.490 ⇒ 00:18:28.369 Robert Tseng: But yeah, I think when I went to Kyrgyzstan, I met a lot of founders. A lot of them are focused on education. So, I mean, I’d love to connect you to them. There’s some local Kyrgyz people who are building some cool products that can make intros if you’re interested.
163 00:18:28.390 ⇒ 00:18:42.740 Robert Tseng: But yeah, I think, EdTech is something that I’d like to see my… my team kind of, like, enter into at some point. Yeah, so I think that would be great to kind of meet more folks in… in… kind of in that industry.
164 00:18:43.420 ⇒ 00:18:48.160 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: That’s… that’s amazing, and so you said… so it’s a consulting firm?
165 00:18:48.160 ⇒ 00:18:48.610 Robert Tseng: Yeah.
166 00:18:48.610 ⇒ 00:19:02.319 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: to do is consulting, and when you say you want to enter the EdTech space, do you mean, like, consulting for the ad tech companies, or do you mean, like, you have the educational branch where you’ll educate certain companies?
167 00:19:02.500 ⇒ 00:19:15.929 Robert Tseng: I think working with ed tech companies, I mean, I think we understand, like, pretty much, like, any software product, like, we work with, you know, a bunch of apps and software companies, so I think it’s just a matter of, like, positioning
168 00:19:15.990 ⇒ 00:19:29.230 Robert Tseng: like, how we can support specifically in the tech companies, I think they’ll probably need a lot of the same… same things that we do for other brands, which is why we’re kind of industry agnostic. But yeah, I’ve yet to work with, like, a…
169 00:19:29.460 ⇒ 00:19:37.979 Robert Tseng: within ed tech company yet. I mean, we’ve worked with a couple, like, early on, but it’s not, like, something I’ve consistently spent much… put a lot of my attention into.
170 00:19:38.320 ⇒ 00:19:39.090 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Yeah.
171 00:19:39.300 ⇒ 00:19:42.830 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: So… so I think,
172 00:19:43.170 ⇒ 00:19:46.199 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Have you been at the summit? GSV Summit, or…
173 00:19:46.200 ⇒ 00:19:51.070 Robert Tseng: I haven’t, yeah. I’ve… I’ve heard of it. Maybe next year, if it’s worth… if it’s worth going to, but…
174 00:19:51.070 ⇒ 00:19:58.200 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: It is worse if you want to meet, like, a tech. Unfortunately, they’re not having AI show,
175 00:19:58.270 ⇒ 00:20:17.649 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: because that’s where your clients are, we invite all the ad tech people in the previous years at AI Show, but, because Summit is, costs, like, 5,000, and not all
176 00:20:17.810 ⇒ 00:20:32.519 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: like, obviously, people can attend, but the AI show was, free of cost for, and for EdTech, they would have, like, boosts and everything. But I think this year, I went to a GSB Summit, and it has very…
177 00:20:32.840 ⇒ 00:20:43.009 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Especially if you’re looking for clients, but also looking for investors. I don’t know if you’re looking for… if you are raising money, or is it, like, self-fund, bootstrapped, or…
178 00:20:43.010 ⇒ 00:20:48.440 Robert Tseng: Yeah, we’re bootstrapped. We don’t really… yeah, we’re not really looking for funding actively right now,
179 00:20:48.740 ⇒ 00:21:05.929 Robert Tseng: Yeah, but I think it’s always good to have an advisor, like, we have, like, some pretty seasoned, healthcare, like, advisors, like, on our… on our board. They help us, kind of, make intros, like, obviously, because healthcare is a more regulated industry, so it helps to have
180 00:21:05.940 ⇒ 00:21:12.820 Robert Tseng: somebody who’s been in the industry for many years to help us, like, make the connection, so I’d be interested in, you know.
181 00:21:12.880 ⇒ 00:21:16.420 Robert Tseng: Basically, people like that on the education side as well.
182 00:21:17.160 ⇒ 00:21:29.170 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Yeah, and, GSV has, this kind of thing. They call it, like, GSV50 Cup. They do, like, a huge, competition, like, before the event.
183 00:21:29.170 ⇒ 00:21:45.519 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: for the ed tech companies to apply, they should be… the requirement they have to have pre-seed A, like the first round, and they… and then they can apply. If they get elected, they get to come and pitch in front of investors at the summit.
184 00:21:45.520 ⇒ 00:21:58.970 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: in San Diego, but, I’m just looking, they post, like, GSV top 50 ad tags, so they get a lot of pull of, like, ad techs, and I’m just thinking potential, like,
185 00:21:59.240 ⇒ 00:22:08.079 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: if you do not… if you don’t follow, maybe you can follow, because they post, like, really up-to-date ad techs that are really, like, doing a good job in the market, and those.
186 00:22:08.080 ⇒ 00:22:08.570 Robert Tseng: Yeah.
187 00:22:08.570 ⇒ 00:22:14.399 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: And especially if they have already raised funds, and that would be some
188 00:22:14.610 ⇒ 00:22:23.950 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: ed tech, companies that you would be interested in, probably, right? To, who have at least… who have some traction and data. Yeah.
189 00:22:24.620 ⇒ 00:22:31.260 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: For sure. So, I’m just looking at their posts, and they… this year, they posted, like,
190 00:22:31.790 ⇒ 00:22:51.689 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: most transformational growth companies in, in ed tech. But another thing is that when I worked at, GSVs, as a huge ed tech, but also workforce space is really, like, receiving a lot of attention right now, because how AI is transforming, like, and it’s… it is connected ed tech.
191 00:22:51.690 ⇒ 00:22:52.240 Robert Tseng: Yeah.
192 00:22:52.240 ⇒ 00:22:53.120 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: It’s like.
193 00:22:53.120 ⇒ 00:22:54.130 Robert Tseng: Workforce learning, yeah.
194 00:22:54.130 ⇒ 00:23:01.829 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Yeah, and it’s, so future of work for future of learning is, kind of interconnected, and they…
195 00:23:01.830 ⇒ 00:23:20.029 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: a lot of companies, also, like, and that space is something that you might want to look, because, I think there are a lot of money being poured into workforce, and how companies are going to be hiring, and how, credentials at the, at the university level, and things are changing for,
196 00:23:20.710 ⇒ 00:23:34.729 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: companies hiring for skills rather than for degrees and things like that, like, a lot of, buzz around workforce happening and, funds. I think a lot of, like,
197 00:23:36.000 ⇒ 00:23:43.869 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: like, startups, when we received also a lot of, like, workforce-related startups, applications, and so people.
198 00:23:43.870 ⇒ 00:23:44.430 Robert Tseng: Oh my god.
199 00:23:45.020 ⇒ 00:23:59.559 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: because I think it’s, for EdTech also, like, we see people who started ed tech and started using AI, like, from my observation, they started, like, falling and funds, because,
200 00:24:00.530 ⇒ 00:24:04.029 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Except tutors, except, like, yeah.
201 00:24:04.060 ⇒ 00:24:22.780 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: what else you can do, like, with AI, how you can really focus on personalized learning, other things. So, I think, so workforce would be something that really could, benefit from your consultancy, I think, especially given,
202 00:24:23.370 ⇒ 00:24:37.900 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: data available for companies, and I think that would be something, but for sure, I think, I just have the list, I can forward you, that list of the companies that are really doing a good job in the market, and you can maybe connect them and.
203 00:24:37.900 ⇒ 00:24:38.679 Robert Tseng: Yeah, yeah.
204 00:24:38.680 ⇒ 00:24:51.230 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Like, and for sure, if you can, like, if you have that option, I would suggest to, like, really attend that summit. I’m going myself, I plan to attend if I’m around. Yeah.
205 00:24:51.490 ⇒ 00:25:11.430 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: But last year it was good, like, like, even Coursera founders, there were, like, some cool, cool speakers, like, and, you know that how, White House, Melania Trump announced AI Challenge as well, for, among school kids, so, and…
206 00:25:11.430 ⇒ 00:25:28.139 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: there is, like, also a discussion that the finalists of those, like, EdTech who come up with, startups, the students will be presenting at the summit. So there’s, it’s a place to be if you want to connect to EdTech people, I think, for sure.
207 00:25:28.730 ⇒ 00:25:30.930 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: I can forward that list,
208 00:25:31.400 ⇒ 00:25:38.990 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: And yeah, so any, I’m just thinking how else I can be, like, helpful, if any,
209 00:25:39.360 ⇒ 00:25:41.180 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: From my,
210 00:25:41.340 ⇒ 00:25:51.789 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: observation, short work at the GSV. For sure, like, that… I think that list is something to start just connecting to them, to those companies.
211 00:25:51.790 ⇒ 00:25:52.260 Robert Tseng: Yeah.
212 00:25:52.260 ⇒ 00:25:53.130 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: You know?
213 00:25:53.260 ⇒ 00:25:58.100 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: I’m gonna forward that on LinkedIn to you.
214 00:25:59.570 ⇒ 00:26:01.260 Robert Tseng: Okay, yeah, I would appreciate that.
215 00:26:04.120 ⇒ 00:26:08.260 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: And, yeah, so, but are there any…
216 00:26:08.730 ⇒ 00:26:12.199 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: I guess, like, because you travel to…
217 00:26:12.450 ⇒ 00:26:22.559 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: are there any, like, plans that you want to work, like, on the projects or be involved that, like, work with Central Asia and.
218 00:26:22.560 ⇒ 00:26:23.000 Robert Tseng: Yeah!
219 00:26:23.000 ⇒ 00:26:25.460 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Just, I’m just thinking, like, if,
220 00:26:25.680 ⇒ 00:26:29.439 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Just to, you know, like, if we do, like, a…
221 00:26:29.740 ⇒ 00:26:46.179 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: we… for sure, like, if you do, like, a project in Central Asia and EdTech, and maybe we… because me and Shamila are focusing on ed tech, maybe we need, like, for sure, like, a consultancy on ed tech and things like that. Would you be interested?
222 00:26:46.180 ⇒ 00:26:54.110 Robert Tseng: Yeah, I would be interested. Yeah, I mean, I plan to go back to Central Asia next year as well. I mean, I think,
223 00:26:54.270 ⇒ 00:27:03.119 Robert Tseng: the high-tech park is hosting, kind of like, some AI conference out there for, I think it’s the biggest one in Central Asia, so, my business partner and I have been there.
224 00:27:03.370 ⇒ 00:27:04.710 Robert Tseng: In Kyrgyzstan, yeah.
225 00:27:04.900 ⇒ 00:27:07.239 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Oh, okay, so you know Izisa Bakirov.
226 00:27:07.240 ⇒ 00:27:09.190 Robert Tseng: I do, yeah, I know Aziz, yeah.
227 00:27:09.190 ⇒ 00:27:17.819 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Oh, okay, okay. Yeah. Okay, so there was a… did you… this summer, did you go also, like, to Carissa?
228 00:27:17.820 ⇒ 00:27:22.540 Robert Tseng: I didn’t go in the summer. I know they just hosted that first event, I wasn’t there. I came afterwards in September.
229 00:27:22.540 ⇒ 00:27:24.000 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Oh, okay, okay.
230 00:27:24.000 ⇒ 00:27:27.840 Robert Tseng: I visited Aziz, and he was telling me all the things that he was doing, so…
231 00:27:28.300 ⇒ 00:27:32.860 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: And, and you, you know, as this because you, you support, high-tech as well?
232 00:27:32.860 ⇒ 00:27:42.099 Robert Tseng: Well, yeah, I guess it’s a funny story. His, couple of his early students, like, they ended up… they were really smart. They came and did Flex. I mean, all the flex students are.
233 00:27:42.100 ⇒ 00:27:43.230 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: You’re smart.
234 00:27:43.230 ⇒ 00:28:01.530 Robert Tseng: I’ve ended up staying in the States. Like, a couple of them interned for me, and then I kind of helped them, like, find jobs. Like, they work in the Bay… one’s in the Bay Area, one’s in Seattle, they’re at Microsoft and Google now. But yeah, they’re, like, Kirk Kirk is people who are now, like, here, I guess. So, yeah, anyway, like, I’ve… I’ve been following
235 00:28:01.630 ⇒ 00:28:10.660 Robert Tseng: like, 10 years ago, like, High Tech Park was, like, just getting started, like, they weren’t really even… it was just really an idea. They start… I think Aziz just started out with, like, some…
236 00:28:10.990 ⇒ 00:28:19.830 Robert Tseng: he was just, like, training some young kids, really. So, to kind of go from there to, like, what it is now, like, I’ve been… I’ve been seeing his journey over the years, so it’s been really cool.
237 00:28:19.830 ⇒ 00:28:37.769 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Yeah, they focused on ITINA, but now I think they have a focus on creative economy, even, like, education branch, like, research and everything, so, it’s… it’s… I’m happy that… it’s not only also, like, we see Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan is really doing a good job,
238 00:28:38.660 ⇒ 00:28:48.719 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: we hosted at MIT, like, this year in April, like, representatives of IT Parks came from Central Asia to speak at the conference.
239 00:28:48.720 ⇒ 00:28:51.920 Robert Tseng: Wow. If they do that again next time, I would like to go, yeah.
240 00:28:51.920 ⇒ 00:28:59.930 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: You should connect with Shamili Braggimov on LinkedIn. He works closely on those initiatives, and, for sure,
241 00:28:59.930 ⇒ 00:29:22.290 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: He’s, like, in the region, he’s, like, right now bridging, like, that knowledge between, like, MIT and, like, innovation, and, like, he recently hosted, like, IT Part People from Uzbekistan, and did, like, a whole… he does program design, like, for them on innovation, entrepreneurship,
242 00:29:22.640 ⇒ 00:29:31.730 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: things like that. Yeah, so for sure, I will, I hope we get to work in the future in some way,
243 00:29:32.100 ⇒ 00:29:33.410 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: possible.
244 00:29:33.410 ⇒ 00:29:36.360 Robert Tseng: Yeah, stay in touch. I mean, we have a lot of different things to talk about, I feel like.
245 00:29:36.360 ⇒ 00:29:37.130 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Yep.
246 00:29:37.130 ⇒ 00:29:38.770 Robert Tseng: If you could… Yeah, and if you’re in both.
247 00:29:38.770 ⇒ 00:29:44.100 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: For sure, I would love to catch up over coffee.
248 00:29:44.100 ⇒ 00:29:44.450 Robert Tseng: Yeah.
249 00:29:44.450 ⇒ 00:29:48.169 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Sure. Right now, you’re in, Austin, right?
250 00:29:48.170 ⇒ 00:29:57.089 Robert Tseng: I’m in New York. My business partner is in Austin. Yeah, so if you come down, you wanna, you wanna visit Season, we should all get together, and yeah, we could catch up.
251 00:29:57.090 ⇒ 00:30:01.690 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: You said you recently saw her, how is she? Like, I… it’s been a while, I should talk to her.
252 00:30:01.690 ⇒ 00:30:12.550 Robert Tseng: Yeah, she’s doing well. Kind of like you, like, very kind of entrepreneurial, has a passion for kind of connecting. I mean, she wants… she wants to go into product management and fintech, so…
253 00:30:12.550 ⇒ 00:30:27.420 Robert Tseng: Yeah, very bright. I’m actually trying to work with her, so we’ll… we’ll see if she wants to come work with us, but, yeah, I think… I think she’s… she’s very bright, and, yeah, she lives really close to me, so I… I mean, I saw her, like.
254 00:30:27.640 ⇒ 00:30:31.749 Robert Tseng: last week or two weeks ago, yeah. Oh, that’s so cool. Yeah.
255 00:30:32.290 ⇒ 00:30:44.799 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Okay. Yeah. Thank you for your time. Yeah, thanks for your time. I’m sorry I couldn’t be more helpful, but I’m gonna forward that list, but let me know if in any way I can be helpful,
256 00:30:44.940 ⇒ 00:30:51.349 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Would love to. Sure, yeah. Have you been in Kyrgyzstan, and it’s like, you’re one of us!
257 00:30:51.350 ⇒ 00:31:01.089 Robert Tseng: Yeah, it’s great to see all these different… even, like, the connection with Saras, it’s funny. World is small. All right, well, good to meet you, Sabara, and yeah, I guess we’ll be… I’ll be in touch soon.
258 00:31:01.350 ⇒ 00:31:02.790 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Thank you so much. Okay.
259 00:31:02.790 ⇒ 00:31:03.730 Robert Tseng: Alright, good to meet you.
260 00:31:03.730 ⇒ 00:31:04.330 Sevara Tadzhibaeva: Bye.