October 2023 Updates
Speaking on entrepreneurship, a trip to Montreal, and better relationships
You’re receiving this monthly newsletter because you’ve been a valuable part of my life in some shape or form (or I’d like for you to be 🙂). See this video for context.
Let’s catch up sometime :)
What I’ve been up to 🌱
I had my first (and hopefully my last) set of midterms. I’m wrapping up my last two courses of my undergrad while balancing that out with working. I’ve definitely had to make some changes and reprioritize certain aspects of my life, but am nearly done!
Was invited to speak at the Laidlaw Scholar’s Conference in Toronto on entrepreneurship with several 2022 and 2023 Laidlaw Scholars. Great to meet such incredible minds from across North America and Europe, and share some ideas on turning research-driven approaches into tangible products and services, and on the 0→1 stage as a young founder. Many thanks to Niall, Princess, and Shraddha for the invite.
Travelled to Montreal for the last week of October! It was beautiful checking out Old Montreal and the Old Port and checking out several small businesses. Thank you to Ying and Brandon for hosting me, for the late-night talks, and for all of the great memories :)
What I’ve been thinking/learning about 💭
At the beginning of the month, I struggled with burnout from meeting 5-6 new people a week. This typically meant my evenings were spent at events, at people’s homes, or hosting a few gatherings. Yes, the extrovert in me was super energized meeting and learning from everyone, but I realized that I was lacking in a critically important relationship: the one with myself. I’ve then since recalibrated - scaling down the frequency of my weekly commitments and spending a lot more alone time.
The above did lead to a lot of reflection on relationships. I shared the below tweet on what I’ve observed through the several types of conversations I’ve had with people, and better ways to continue building these relationships. More to come, but would love to jam with anyone who’s felt this deeply as well :)
Lmk if you are (or know someone who is) working on or thinking about the above!
Personal asks 🙏
Would love to chat with you (or someone you know) who’s super intentional about building and maintaining relationships.
Anyone building AI products and and experience with AutoGen and/or multi-conversational agents? Would love to have a quick chat.
What’s next for me ⚡️
About the beta test PokerGPT, the AI poker coach that I’ve been working on with the team at Onova. Super close to launching this out to the world!
Trying to solve this relationship problem? Or at least validating if it is enough of a problem that people want it to be solved. Welcoming any thoughts here :)
Avoiding the sickness that usually comes around for me this time of year.
Thanks for reading this month’s update. Would love to hear how I can help you this month (maybe I can make some intros, work through some thoughts with you, or otherwise). See you next month 👋
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Love this write-up Brandon! So true that we need to protect our energy and have time for ourselves as well!
The relationships that aren't: 1. transactional, 2. proximal, or 3. activational — definitely are the ones that hit the deepest, and transcend both distance and time! 💙