Build in public, fail in public: what it’s like to be a foun

Build in public, fail in public: what it’s like to be a founder under 20 right now

What happened

Arlan Rakhmetzhanov is 19 years old.
Arlan Rakhmetzhanov started coding at 15.
Arlan Rakhmetzhanov received an angel check for his first company at age 17.
Arlan Rakhmetzhanov's company Nozomio is YC-backed.
Nozomio is an API index for AI agents.
Nozomio has raised more than $6 million in funding to date.
Pranjali Awasthi is 19 years old.
Pranjali Awasthi dropped out of high school to launch an AI startup.
Pranjali Awasthi attended Georgia Tech before dropping out.
Pranjali Awasthi launched Slashy, a YC-backed startup.
Slashy bills itself as the 'Cursor for emails' and helps consumers manage their email inboxes.
Pranjali Awasthi announced she is building a new startup currently in stealth.
Ashley Smith is a general partner at the early-stage firm Vermilion.
Ashley Smith stated that investors look to founders based on 'GitHub activity, open-source contributions, communities they've already built, and familiarity with all the latest tools in AI.'
A 'meaningful' share of Ashley Smith's portfolio consists of companies founded by those under 30, with a handful even younger than 21.
Aidan Guo is 20 years old.
Aidan Guo is co-founder of the AI desktop assistant startup Attention Engineering.
Attention Engineering has raised around $1.6 million in funding to date.
Roy Lee is the founder of Cluely and is around age 22.
Cluely initially promised to help students cheat on exams.
Cluely raised $20 million.
Cluely is now more of a note-taking tool.
Timothy Chen is an investor at Essence Ventures.

Nozomio has raised more than $6 million in funding to date. ($6 million)
Attention Engineering has raised around $1.6 million in funding to date. ($1.6 million)
Cluely raised $20 million. ($20 million)