Are you a Cluely son or Series daughter? Do you prefer humble-bragging on LinkedIn or flex-tweeting on X? Have you made vibe-code a tool that can disrupt an entire industry?
If you understand those buzzwords and references, you are probably deep in the pits of Gen Z techies who are taking the world by storm with their “B2B SaaS” AI startups, self-promotion and their constant need to inform others that they are “locked in.” Unlike their predecessors, they are enjoying what they are doing and are gaining value quickly.
As a generation, we pride ourselves on not taking ourselves – or anything – too seriously. After all, we’re the first generation to be so apathetic that a presidential campaign used singer Charlie XCX’s “Brat” memes to get us to vote. This is how we deal with and live with unprecedented changes in society.
To be unserious is to be liberal and indeed Gen Z, or any wise philosopher could have said to describe this zeitgeist. Our shared love of humor, playfulness and ridiculousness has permeated all aspects of today’s society, from politics to academia. Not having to care about what you do for a living is not a privilege granted to all, but those who have the freedom to do so thrive.
Gone are the days of hypocrites who dropped out of Harvard or MIT, spoke in sign language to express their desire to “change the world” and wore bright shirts, leggings and hoodies. The tech bros and girlies of these funny times are cool, smart and social media-savvy. They are the trappers of thirst. Baddies. While children. Meme lords. It’s amazing, even for the jocks. They are all in the race to build the next tech company to beat the unicorn status.
Stanford, an institution that has encouraged student entrepreneurship for decades, is an incubator for a new generation of technology entrepreneurs who are having CS talks and meetings with their classmates on how to increase the annual recurring revenue (ARR) of the AI learning tool they built together. Stanford students are the subject of memes and criticism about how their association with the school gives them instant credibility and sometimes undeserved hype in technology.
It’s not unusual for me to come across TikToks or Instagram Reels of a Stanford student founder trying to build a technology product that becomes a huge success. They try to channel their inner Steve Jobs, but if he was quirky and unapologetically Gen Z. Recently, I came across a hilarious video taken in a Stanford dorm, he shared about the new history of Michael Ren ’29, a joke about using his roommate’s idea to enter Y Combinator.
I cannot say when this change began. Suddenly, it felt possible to build the hottest tech product while making cringe TikToks roasting yourself and tech culture. We’ve decided together to be authentic and unique in our own building – and we don’t seem to care if potential buyers seem unimportant.
Despite being open and fun, some might argue that it makes tech entrepreneurship seem like a joke. A friend of mine recently told me, “Everybody is building something these days, and it feels like child’s play.” I agree that it seems like some young people start up these days just to show off their intentions or just create content about it.
I’m still looking for them. I think it is good that many young people are starting the journey to bring their business visions to life. Even though I sometimes find their antics a bit silly, I still respect the confidence of these fellow Zoomer-preneurs and their ability to stay true to their dreams publicly.
Jessica Cao ’26, a computer science major at Stanford, has built an Instagram following of more than 30,000 and counting, documenting her journey as a student entrepreneur balancing studies, her life and building a startup. While I don’t know how “building in the crowd” can help, I believe it makes the journey easier and less tiring for young entrepreneurs.
Columbia dropout and creator of the original Cluely virus, Roy Lee, has become popular in the Gen Z tech space due to his cool and polarizing persona. I love that he’s not afraid to speak his mind and show all the idiosyncrasies of being an entrepreneur. He is often the poster boy for this trend and I believe he is playing his cards right. These days, it seems that you need a good amount of his style to build something that becomes valuable.
Not every founder can afford to be “crazy.” Male tech entrepreneurs receive the lion’s share of venture capital (VC) funding. They tend to be taken more by exception, due in part to patriarchal assumptions about competence, while companies founded by women are estimated to receive less than a quarter of VC funding.
Less goes to Black founders, especially Black women, who are underrepresented because of their race, gender and other interrelated factors. Many who are part of underrepresented communities in tech need to be serious enough to develop themselves as the stakes are high for them.
It’s rare to see young Black people start to be supported so quickly. Sean Hargrow and Nathaneo Johnson, both Yale students and co-founders of the fast-rising AI-powered social network platform, Series, are nothing short of inspiring to me. I believe their rise can be attributed to them being a breath of fresh air as they rethink how to connect people in this age of artificial intelligence and the coming epidemic of loneliness. They once referred to their startup as the “anti-Facebook.” This is the beauty of Black and we want to see it.
Honestly, I find the drama and spectacle of this corner of the internet interesting. We are now in a focused economy. Gen Z understands that to be successful and get others to care about whatever you’re working on, you need to capture their attention. However, professional businesses are as annoying as possible to keep their name and their startup on everyone’s lips.
All of this is similar to the real show that is eaten in moderation, or junk food for the brain that can lead to cognitive decline if eaten in excess. Even Series started a reality show where they had their students in the Hamptons house doing problems involving AI “social development.” Technocapitalism never fails to transcend itself.
I am from Lagos, Nigeria, where tech innovation is growing and startup culture is still niche. I often felt tech was not for me. I believed that a smart and carefree African boy like me wouldn’t fit in this far away world of geeks who seem to have been breathing from the stomach. Now that everything is cleared up, I feel a sense of belonging because we are all trying to do something amazing with our skills and the resources we have.
Gen Z tech entrepreneurs are proving that following the old, rigid playbook isn’t necessary. They are mixing traditional methods with their own wild ones. At Stanford, I believe there should be support for students who have unconventional ways of doing business.
The “irrelevant” kids are here to stay and will build technologies that can change the world. They will cook up niche memes that require “elite football knowledge” to be understood while building the next Google. Stanford needs to invest in helping these first-time students succeed in a focus economy where a good product and great relationships alone are no longer enough.
#Gen #entrepreneurs #dont #care
