Shows
TKS: The Karnjanaprakorn Show#40 - Safwaan Kay: AI Agents, Open Source Software, and AmbitionSafwaan Kay is working on a new (stealth) startup. He was previously at Founders, Inc.
LINKS
Safwaan's X: https://x.com/safwaankay
I’m rich and have no idea what to do with my life: https://vinay.sh/i-am-rich-and-have-no-idea-what-to-do-with-my-life/
HOST
Michael Karnjanaprakorn: https://mikekarnj.com/
CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction
03:31 Post Exit Founder Essay
20:18 Open Source
29:47 AI Agents
46:56 Ambition
2025-01-3048 minTKS: The Karnjanaprakorn Show#22: Safwaan Kay - AI Hardware, Polyamory, and Buying Internet BrandsIn this episode, we bring back Safwaan Kay to discuss trends in technology, culture, and business. We cover polyamory, AI wearables, and buying iconic internet brands.
GUEST
Safwaan Kay invests and incubates in emerging tech at Founders, Inc.
PODCAST
The Karnjanaprakorn Show is where I explore ideas across life, startups, and technology. As the former founder of Skillshare, I am now following my curiosity as I figure out my next thing. This show follows that journey, exploring topics like longevity, emerging technologies, living a fulfilling...
2024-03-1938 minTKS: The Karnjanaprakorn ShowAI Friends, Longevity Clinics & Living near Friends w/ Safwaan KayEpisode #8: In this special edition of the show, we host our very first live episode with Safwaan Kay. We talk about what 20 year olds in SF and what 40 year olds are into right now.
CHAPTERS
00:00 - Introduction
01:23 - AI Friends
11:32 - Longevity Clinics
26:12 - Choosing Where to Live
CONNECT
Subscribe to Michael’s newsletter
Watch on Youtube
Learn more about Michael
2023-12-1239 min
Creator-Led Brands with Safwaan KayBuilding A $100M Portfolio of Creator-Led BrandsHunter is the founder & CEO of Assembly, a holding company of creator-led businesses. And every month for the rest of the year, he's launching a new business with a creator.
In this video, he breaks down:
-His newest agency, HeyFriends! with Ali Abdaal
-Why he partners with creators
-How he thinks about moats (& building the machine of Assembly)
TIME STAMPS
00:00:00 - Introduction
00:00:50 - Announcing HeyFriends! and the partnership with Ali Abdaal
00:01:21 - HeyFriends as...
2023-07-3147 min
Creator-Led Brands with Safwaan KayThe Neuron: The Economics of Industry NewslettersPete Huang and Noah Edelman are the brains behind the Neuron, a daily AI newsletter.
They've grown to over 100, 000 subscribers and have readers from Salesforce, Microsoft, Apple, and more. In this episode, they share
- how they grew their email list to 100, 000 subscribers with 90, 000 of those being organic
- how they're planning to monetize beyond ad sponsorships
- and the economics of newsletter businesses
TIME STAMPS:
0:00 - Intro
01:03 - The importance of brand in the post-AI world
02:48...
2023-07-2543 min
Creator-Led Brands with Safwaan KayGreg Isenberg: Turning 300k Followers into an 8 Figure HoldCoGreg Isenberg uses 300, 000 Twitter followers to start an agency.
Now, his agency is a cash-flowing engine that allows him to incubate and invest in multiple businesses for his personal holding company.
In this video, we cover how he uses his audience to start an agency, the first thing you should do when you start a personal holding company, and how he works on so many different things without getting distracted.
TIME STAMPS
0:00 - Intro
0:26 - The personal holding company thesis
1:05 - The opportunities of product studios
1:20 - What does the McKinsey for Community look like?
1:55 - Greg talks about...
2023-07-1712 min
Creator-Led Brands with Safwaan KayGreg Isenberg: Building the Y Combinator for CreatorsGreg Isenberg breaks down why he's partnering with creators to launch products, how he's doing this, and why now is exactly the right time to do it.
TIME STAMPS:
TIME STAMPS
0:00 - Intro
0:30 - Relationship between Mr. Beast and Night Ventures
0:56 - Greg shares reasons for focusing on creators building audiences
1:26 - Greg explains the moment in time for creators
2:05 - Challenges faced by creators
3:27 - Greg predicts the future of creators like Mr. Beast
5:20...
2023-07-1714 min
Creator-Led Brands with Safwaan KayHow Creators Can Take It to the Next Level (Advice from Talent Managers)Cole and Cody are the founders of Up North, a talent management company for creators.
We talk about how they signed their first clients, how they operate, to what they’re looking for in creators they work with.
We also discuss the challenges of working with creators, partnering with creators to start businesses and more.
0:00 - Introduction
0:40 - Starting to manage talent
1:45 - Understanding individual goals
4:55 - Challenges of managing content creators
5:40 - Being a therapist or manager
10:00 - Looking for talent and coll...
2023-07-1033 min
Creator-Led Brands with Safwaan KayMegan Lightcap: How to Invest in CreatorsIn this video, Megan Lightcap, an investor at Slow Ventures, discusses the concept of investing in creators. She explores the idea of borrowing against future equity and how it can be a valuable opportunity for creators. Megan addresses common misconceptions about owning a piece of the creator and explains the structure of deals with creators, including the use of holding companies. She shares insights on the different types of investments in creators and the stages of raising capital for them. Megan also highlights the potential outcomes and liquidity for investments in creators. Lastly, she discusses the need for a...
2023-06-2640 min
Creator-Led Brands with Safwaan KayAndrew Kirby: Helping Creators Make More Money, for FREEAndrew is helping creators with 100k+ followers make more money (for free). If you'd like his help, fill out this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScfpBebrCXO6fIx1kNEFOVI5hLgf1tZzrdBYewcXIa_PyqFAA/viewform
Andrew Kirby is a Youtuber who helps businesses make more content and creators make more money. In this interview, Andrew talks about how he helped Hamza increase his income from $20,000 a month to $200,000 a month. We also discuss the importance of intrinsic motivation, focus, and leveraging internet tools to create value and achieve success. We also talked about how...
2023-06-1932 min
Creator-Led Brands with Safwaan KaySean O'Malley's $100M Business of Putting People to SleepWe analyze @SugaSeanUFC 's UFC career and how he can grow his business to $100M.
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Intro
1:30 Who is Sean O'Malley
4:00 Money or GOAT Status?
7:40 Crawl
9:08 Walk
11:30 Run
2023-06-1313 min
Creator-Led Brands with Safwaan KayZawwar Khan: The #1 mistake creators make when launching a creator-led brandZawwar Khan, CEO of Rel Brands explains:
-The #1 mistake creators make when launching a brand (Ani Energy & Sway House)
-How to make $1 million dollars in 24 months (as a creator)
-The 3 paths to launching a brand
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 The #1 mistake creators make when launching a brand
1:47 How to make $1 million dollars in 24 months (as a creator)
4:35 The 3 paths to launching a brand
2023-06-0506 min
Creator-Led Brands with Safwaan KayZawwar Khan: 3 Frameworks for Launching a Business (as a Creator)In this video, Zawwar Khan walks us through 3 frameworks for launching a business as a creator:
0:00 Repertoire Categories
3:54 Middle America Male Hobbies
4:56 3 Types of Creators (Lifestyle, Idea-based, Expert)
2023-06-0509 min
Creator-Led Brands with Safwaan KayZawwar Khan: 3 Under the Radar Creator Businesses Making MillionsZawwar Khan tells us about 3 creator businesses making millions:
0:00 Hairitage by Mindy McKnight
4:17 Divi by Dani Austin
7:28 Screwdriver by Linus Tech Tips
2023-06-0509 min
Creator-Led Brands with Safwaan KayThomas Frank: Why more likes doesn't mean more moneyIn this video, we sit down with Thomas Frank to talk about:
-Why he gave up his 3m+ subscriber youtube channel to focus on Notion
-What he thinks about our billion dollar ideas
-How he thinks about wealth & spending his time
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
0:29 Why Notion
3:13 The business of selling templates
6:28 How he’s thinking about his old channel
9:24 What he thinks of our billion dollar ideas
12:41 “Rich Academic”
14:37 “FIWOOT”
DISCLAIMER: THIS IS NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE.
2023-05-2915 min
Creator-Led Brands with Safwaan KayThomas Frank & The Rise of B2B CreatorsIn this video, we talk about:
-Why Thomasfrank ignoring his 3m+ subscriber channel was the right move
-3 ways Thomas Frank could become a unicorn creator
-The rise of the B2B creators
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Intro
0:37 Why Notion is a valuable niche
1:04 Who is Thomas Frank?
3:50 The future of Notion
4:17 The rise of B2B influencers
5:40 3 ideas for Thomas Frank
8:45 Billion dollar companies built on Salesforce
11:05 Financially Independent, Work on Our Own Terms (FIWOOT)
13:33 Interview with Thomas Frank
DISCLAIMER: THIS IS NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE
2023-05-2913 min
Creator-Led Brands with Safwaan KayThe Business of Ali AbdaalIn this video we breakdown:
-How Ali Abdaal (@aliabdaal ) 10x his revenue from PTYA, his cohort-based course
-The economics of book publishing
-Mistakes he could've avoided when launching his stationery brand
-And how he can hire any CEO of his choosing
DISCLAIMER: THIS IS NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE.
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 - Intro
0:28 - Ali Abdaal’s revenue sources
1:20 - Part-time Youtuber Academy, Ali’s high-end course
2:03 - Framework: Pricing against the demand curve
3:29 - Fr...
2023-05-2223 min
Creator-Led Brands with Safwaan KayEmma Chamberlain's Billion Dollar Opportunity: Gen Z OprahIn this video, we brainstorm ways that Emma (@emmachamberlain ) expand her business empire AND solve her burnout problem.
We talk about:
-How Emma could sell Chamberlain Coffee for $500M
-How she could become the Oprah for Gen Z
-The Great VC / DTC Subsidy
DISCLAIMER: NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE
0:00 Intro
0:50 Blazar Capital
2:30 Framework: Why starting businesses with influencers is like lighter fluid
3:30 4 things influencers help with when launching a business
5:35 What Chamberlain Coffee does well
6:46 When does it make sense to raise VC for a company?
7:42 The Great VC / DTC subsidy
2023-05-2228 min