Gen ZEO Playbook

How to Break Into Gaming x Brands x Venture With Zero Credentials | Jordan Baker

He ran away at 14, dropped out of high school, and became a Forbes 30 Under 30 founder building inside Roblox, Fortnite & Minecraft for Walmart and Tencent. 
Jordan Baker (co-founder of Event Games & Venture Partner at 161 Ventures) breaks down exactly how he turned a love for gaming into award-winning brand campaigns, and how YOU can break into the gaming industry without a degree or connections.
In this episode you'll learn:→ How brands like Walmart activate inside gaming worlds (Roblox, Fortnite, Minecraft)→ The biggest mistakes traditional marketers make in gaming→ What a 12-month apprenticeship looks like to break into gaming & venture→ Why building games just for money is risky, and where the real opportunity is→ How to position yourself as the bridge between brands and gaming culture
Whether you want to launch a gaming startup, land brand deals, or just turn your obsession into a career, this episode is your playbook.
Chapters:00:00 – Intro & Jordan's story01:38 – From dropout to Forbes 30 Under 3003:45 – How he found his path through gaming communities06:00 – What brands get wrong about gaming activations13:00 – Breaking down the Walmart & Tencent campaigns21:00 – How to break in without credentials or connections27:40 – Should you build a game, agency, or join a studio?31:08 – The next wave of gaming founders33:12 – Outro
Subscribe for more playbooks at the intersection of gaming, brands, AI & Gen Z entrepreneurship: https://www.youtube.com/@GenZEOPlaybook 
gaming industry careers, Roblox brand activation, Forbes 30 under 30, gaming startup, Gen Z entrepreneur, gaming marketing, Fortnite brands, creator economy, startup podcast, how to break into gaming

A 31-Year-Old Millionaire Told Me Why I’ll Be Broke at 25 (Unless I Do This)

Most people will tell you to "work hard" and "stay consistent." Alexy Joven gives you something better: a literal Monday-to-Sunday playbook for not being broke by 25, built specifically for a 16-year-old with 5 to 10 hours a week, no network, and no clients.Alexy is 31, runs Modjo (a growth collective working with 70+ B2B and prosumer companies), builds AI-powered sales systems from scratch, and is loudly vocal on LinkedIn about calling out fake growth content that gets engagement but produces zero real revenue. In this episode, he sits down with Rayyan (your 16-year-old host) and does something most guests won't: he actually looks at the real situation, the real hours, the real skill set, and gives a real plan.
No motivational poster energy. Just the playbook.Get the playbook here: https://mailchi.mp/0c686602a684/alexyjoven 
What we cover in this episode:00:00 - Why having a following but no money at 25 is the nightmare02:24 - What Alexy was actually doing at 16 (hint: Call of Duty)05:26 - The exact week-by-week plan for a teenager with 5 hours and no network06:59 - The Roger Federer vs Tiger Woods framework (from the book "Range") and why curiosity beats specialization early on09:10 - How to use AI the right way vs. how most teenagers are using it wrong14:25 - Claude Code + Cursor: why you should learn to code with AI instead of just prompting agents15:29 - Why chasing AI tools before building substance will get you replaced faster than you think21:07 - How to become an AI architect in your niche and why that is the real edge24:31 - Should you go to university? Alexy's honest take29:30 - What "cope" looks like vs. what actual traction looks like on day 3030:50 - Fear is the compass: how to use fear to make decisions35:14 - The one thing that separates teenagers who make it from those stuck with a great Notion doc and zero dollars38:11 - How Alexy trained his subconscious through book annotation, repetition, and note rewrites41:01 - The full 3-phase starter playbook: Week 1, Weeks 2 to 4, and Months 2 to 344:25 - If Alexy were 16 again, the very first thing he would do46:24 - Book recommendations: How to Win Friends and Influence People, Principles by Ray Dalio, The 80/20 Principle, Range
Tools mentioned:
Perplexity (for research and finding real people in your city)Cursor (for learning to code with AI properly)Claude / Claude Code (for technical building)
Books mentioned:
Range by David EpsteinHow to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale CarnegiePrinciples by Ray DalioThe 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch
If you are a teenager, or in your early 20s, and you are trying to figure out what to actually build before you are forced to, this episode is for you.Subscribe to the Gen ZEO Playbook podcast for honest conversations about building something real, early.

I Gave Claude My Problem. Replit Built the App. Here's Exactly How.

In this episode, I break down the exact system I use as a 16-year-old to turn real problems into live apps, no engineering degree, no senior dev, no local setup required using Claude and Replit.
The framework is simple: one AI to write the plan, one AI to build it.
Get the playbook here: https://mailchi.mp/ec81b997fbb6/replit 
If you are between 16 and 22 and sitting on ideas you have never shipped, this episode is your starting point.
After watching, pick one problem you face, write a one-page PRD in Claude, and build a V1 in Replit. If you ship something, tag the GenZEO Playbook or DM me. I will feature the best ones in a follow-up episode.
 
Find Rayyan: 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UC_YveALQKZud6U6wycjqi_w  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19Ens04rVPTbIla73sVxPL Apple Podcasts:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gen-zeo-playbook/id1843665900 LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/rayyan-s-ali/   Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/rayyan_ali_api/ Newsletter:https://substack.com/@genzeoplaybook 

This AI Builder Saw What BIG Tech Is Hiding From You

At 17, Gabriel Dalton has already pitched a $2.4 billion cooling solution to Microsoft, proposed a 70% automation fix to IKEA, got the City of Vancouver to proclaim an entire Sustainable Technology Week in his honor, won the Youth Impact & Innovation Award, and delivered a TEDx talk on digital sustainability, all before graduating high school.
👉🏽 Get Gabriel's playbook here: https://mailchi.mp/ab0b403b45c8/gabrieldalton 
This one is for every young person who thinks they're too young, too busy, or not ready yet.
Disclaimer: References to working alongside Microsoft and IKEA relate to student consulting projects only, and do not imply direct employment, contracting, or formal affiliation with either organization.
 
Find Rayyan: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UC_YveALQKZud6U6wycjqi_w  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19Ens04rVPTbIla73sVxPL Apple Podcasts:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gen-zeo-playbook/id1843665900 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rayyan-s-ali/  Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/rayyanali_api/Newsletter:https://substack.com/@aiparentinginstitute
 
Gabriel Dalton:
LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabrieldalton/ 
Oasis of Change, Inc.https://www.linkedin.com/company/oasisofchange/
Chapters:0:00 — Intro1:09 — Gabriel joins the show1:16 — Pitching Microsoft & IKEA at 172:14 — AI tool + Map of Consciousness3:10 — Born on a boat in Vancouver4:13 — Plastic Bank & regenerative capitalism6:22 — How digital sustainability started7:38 — Mentoring youth on phone policy9:48 — His 24-hour day & burnout10:52 — TCS & becoming a national coach12:46 — His TEDx talk14:08 — Monthly newsletter strategy16:19 — Handling feedback17:33 — Youth Impact & Innovation Award18:28 — 958% tree growth & 1M tree goal19:22 — Advocating for youth at BC's AI Council20:47 — Sustainable Technology Week21:55 — Outro

Obese Kid Who Built an AI Fitness Coach & Now It's Used by 100,000 People

Most AI products are just API keys with a subscription tag. Amol Kankane, founder of Reshape, saw that trap early and built something different: an AI fitness coach that processes your photos, voice notes, and real-life data to build a system around the person you actually are.
Get Amol's playbook: https://mailchi.mp/f6aaf26df3a5/amol 
In this episode, Amol breaks down what it actually takes to build a consumer AI app that retains users past week one, why fitness is a systems problem not a motivation problem, and the exact onboarding logic he used to go from 3% week-one retention to 10,000 weekly visitors.If you're building in AI right now, this one's a playbook, not a pep talk.
What we cover:- Why most AI fitness apps are glorified wrappers (and how to avoid building one)- The "ship on day zero" rule and what it actually does for your product- Reshape's 48-hour onboarding architecture and the activation moment that changed everything- Hard retention benchmarks for consumer AI apps (and what failure actually looks like)- Pricing mistakes founders make and why Amol dropped his monthly price to double growth- The behavior change gap: what users say they want vs. what they actually do- Where Reshape is headed in 3-5 years (the real version, not the investor pitch)
Subscribe to the Gen ZEO Playbook Podcast for weekly conversations with founders who are building before they have permission to.
 
Find Rayyan: 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@genzeoplaybook  
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19Ens04rVPTbIla73sVxPL?si=96d802812f384582  
Apple Podcasts:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ai-parenting-institute-podcast/id1843665900 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rayyan-s-ali/  
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/rayyanali_api/
Newsletter:https://substack.com/@aiparentinginstitute
Amol:
Amol’s LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/amol-kankane/  
Reshape website:https://reshapeapp.ai/  

This Is Why Smart Teens Don’t Reach the Top 1%

Revan built a company that generated over a billion views working with names like Mr. Beast, Jake Paul, Noah Lyles, and Zach Matthews, and now he's turning everything he learned into Jamie, an AI built specifically for the creator economy.
Get the playbook of Revan's roadmap: https://mailchi.mp/50e04199cee6/revan 
In this episode, Rayyan sits down with Raven to break down exactly how he got in the room with creators that 99% of people can't even get a reply from, what actually makes content go viral (hint: it's not what you think), and how he's using data to make virality a repeatable science.
What we cover:- How Revan landed Mr. Beast through a USC Olympians party (no portfolio, no pitch deck)- Why polarizing creators consistently outperform likeable ones- The Purple Cow theory Mr. Beast swears by, and why it works- Creativity vs data: which one actually wins in 2025- Quality vs quantity: the real answer depending on your stage- What Jamie does that ChatGPT and general AI tools can't- How to provide value before you've earned the right to ask for anything- Why Raven followed up 19 times on one deal over 9 months (and closed it)- The single smartest move a 20-year-old can make right now to break into the creator economy
Chapters:0:00 - Intro1:47 - Revan's background2:04 - Getting in the room with Mr. Beast & Jake Paul3:06 - The USC Olympians party story5:16 - Working with Zach Matthews (Zachary Fick)9:31 - Creativity vs data: which wins?10:26 - Mr. Beast's Purple Cow theory15:59 - The campaign he thought would flop (hit 2.4M views)21:43 - What is Jamie AI?27:05 - How Jamie beats human strategists and ChatGPT29:45 - Smartest move a 20-year-old can make right now33:38 - Biggest mistake in year one35:31 - Quality vs quantity: the real answer39:04 - The real Gen Z advantage40:36 - Outro
If you're building in the creator economy in 2026, this is your playbook.
Subscribe to the Gen ZEO Playbook wherever you listen to podcasts.

She Dropped Out at 21, Made Candy in Her Kitchen, and Sold for $360M

She was 21, broke, and had no food science degree. So she ordered a gummy bear mold off Amazon, taught herself food science from Google, and took out $105,000 in personal debt. Four years later: $360 million exit. Only $3 million raised. This is the story of Tara Bosch and how she built SmartSweets from a basement apartment to a category-defining brand, with zero investors, zero connections, and zero credentials. In this episode:
How she validated the idea before raising a single dollar
The exact cold outreach framework that got her into 450 Whole Foods locations
Why being underestimated was actually her biggest advantage
The 3 lessons that actually matter: radical value proposition, cold outreach, and learning by doing
 
Find Rayyan: 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GenZEOPlaybook 
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19Ens04rVPTbIla73sVxPL?si=96d802812f384582  
 
Apple Podcasts:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ai-parenting-institute-podcast/id1843665900 
 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rayyan-s-ali/  
 
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/rayyanali_api/ Newsletter:https://substack.com/@aiparentinginstitute

Nobody Cares About Your Product (But They'll Care About You)

What if content was the most powerful business asset you weren't using?
Kathy Wang, co-founder of Press Club, did something most ambitious professionals won't: she quit her $200k a year job, with nothing lined up, and bet everything on building in public. Before she ever launched a product, she had already built an audience of 10,000 people. And when she finally posted about Press Club, one LinkedIn post brought in 60 qualified leads.
In this episode of the GenZEO Playbook, Kathy breaks down exactly how she did it and more importantly, how you can use the same playbook to grow your startup, personal brand, or creator business.
 
👉🏽 Download your playbook here: https://mailchi.mp/00ee7115a148/kathywang 
 
We get into:- Why distribution is becoming more valuable than the product itself- How Cathy built 10,000 followers in 6 months by posting every single day on LinkedIn- The real reason staying in a "safe" corporate job can be riskier than quitting- How to write cold emails and LinkedIn outreach that actually get responses- What most founders get completely wrong when trying to earn attention- Why Gen Z is rejecting the traditional career ladder and what they're doing instead- How AI is changing what it means to build a product in 2025- The LinkedIn Premium hack that saved Kathy hundreds of dollars- Why Kathy believes being "cringe" is the actual cost of success
Whether you're a Gen Z founder, a student building your personal brand, or someone thinking about making the leap, this episode will show you how to use content as your biggest unfair advantage.
 
Find Rayyan:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GenZEOPlaybook   
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19Ens04rVPTbIla73sVxPL?si=96d802812f384582   
Apple Podcasts:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ai-parenting-institute-podcast/id1843665900  
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rayyan-s-ali/   
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/rayyanali_api/  
Newsletter:https://substack.com/@aiparentinginstitute 
Find Kathy:
LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathytwang/  
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kwangarooo/  
Press Club: https://www.pressclub.app/  
 
Subscribe to GenZEO Playbook for weekly conversations with the next generation of founders and creators.

He Turned 1,000 Rejections Into A Product That Makes Any Resume Land (Here's How)

He sent over 1,000 resumes. Got zero replies. Then added ONE line to his CV, and got a call the next day.
 
That moment turned into NovoResume, a platform now used by 18 million people to actually get hired.
 
In this episode, Andrei breaks down:
→ Why your AI-generated resume is getting you silently rejected
→ The 6-second rule that decides if recruiters keep reading or move on
→ Why the job market doesn't reward effort, it rewards relevance
→ How he turned a personal career hack into a global product
→ The 3-part career capital playbook for Gen Z founders
→ Why boring problems make the most profitable startups
→ What ChatGPT gets dangerously wrong about resumes (live breakdown)
 
If you're a Gen Z founder, student, or job seeker trying to stand out in the AI era, this episode is your playbook.
 
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Intro 01:24 - Andre's story: 1,000 rejections in Denmark 03:30 - The one skill that changed everything 05:15 - What moving countries teaches you about resourcefulness 07:08 - The closest he came to giving up 09:10 - What actually changed in his resume 11:25 - Live ChatGPT resume breakdown 14:40 - What Nova Resume does differently 16:02 - How to divide roles in a founding team 17:30 - Why boring problems = profitable startups 19:16 - The 3-part Gen Z career capital playbook 22:49 - The pattern of people who consistently get hired 23:45 - The hidden danger of AI-generated resumes Find Rayyan: YouTube:    / @genzeoplaybook   Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19Ens04...
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
LinkedIn:   / rayyan-s-ali  
Instagram:   / rayyanali_api  
Newsletter: https://substack.com/@aiparentinginst...
Andrei’s: LinkedIn:   / andrei-kurtuy  
Website: https://andreikurtuy.com/
Novoresume: https://novoresume.com/
GenZEO Podcast: Where the next gen learns to win. Subscribe for weekly episodes with founders, builders & operators.

OpenClaw Changed My Entire Life at 16 & It'll Change Yours Too (Full Guide)

Get the FREE playbook: https://mailchi.mp/b1c28a2b6af3/br5gmwjfk8 
I'm 16. And while I sleep, an AI agent is managing my calendar, researching my podcast guests, writing my emails, and building content, all for free.
That agent is called OpenClaw. And in this video, I'm giving you the full guide to set it up yourself, no coding experience needed.
Unlike ChatGPT or Gemini, OpenClaw doesn't just answer questions. It actually DOES things. In the background. On your computer. Through your phone.
OpenClaw: https://openclaw.ai Anthropic API (Claude): https://anthropic.com 
If you're a student, freelancer, content creator, small business owner, or just someone who wants more hours in their day, this is for you.
Subscribe to https://www.youtube.com/@GenZEOPlaybook → we don't wait for the future. We build it.
 
Find Rayyan: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GenZEOPlaybook    Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19Ens04..Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast..LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rayyan-s-ali/ Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/genzeoplaybook/ Newsletter: https://substack.com/@genzeoplaybook