“The ingenious lad who did not get to go to Harvard, who skewered that college’s pretensions with ill-disguised envy as a teenage essayist, and whose thirst for knowledge had made him the best self-taught writer and scientist of his times had for years nurtured the dream of starting a college of his own.” ~ Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
So, just like Benjamin Franklin, I am self-taught at everything I do, and I have a dream to start my college, where there is no place for the privilege, a truly decentralized institution. I believe every human has the potential. The potential is not defined by studying at Harvard, Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge, or even Lambda. Instead, it is determined by the creative confidence built-in by being gritty, ambitious, and conscious.
The trick lies in helping them unleash it. We need to identify them and provide them with the "appropriate" support. We don't give them the resources, but we also believe in them, hence "The Belief Capital."
And Flow is precisely doing that, and that’s why I am backing Harshit Jaiswal, a compassionate builder. I can’t build a college, but I can be a first follower of Harshit and Flow.
Philosophy behind Flow
Flow finds dark talent1/underrepresented/hidden gems, especially men/women coming from small towns and cities, and introduces them to a curated stack of opportunities and learning resources so that they can advance in their careers and life. It helps them unleash it, and the world realizes their true value and potential. Hence, Flow is a geo-telescope for dark talent.
What is Flow? How does Flow do it?
Flow curates learning and opportunities for Dark Talent.
Flow provides the missing interface between skill-building and employability through a light, peer-to-peer, and scalable approach to curation.
In short, what excites me?
Most importantly, the grit, care, and persistence of Harshit, with which he has been building Flow for years. Flow is life and the purpose of existence for Harshit. He is not yet another startup wannabe, building something to make a quick buck, but he is in it for life.
Apart from Harshit as a founder, the following things excite me:
Community and Solid GTM: 15,000+ Super engaging community of dark talent
Access to 100s of tech founders that have raised at least a Series A round from AI, data, crypto space, SaaS, etc.
Access to 1000s of global tech talents known for their contributions to platforms like GitHub, StackOverflow, Dribble, etc.
Competitive Advantage - Flow is in a unique position compared to many other ed-tech, skill, and job discovery platforms, as it’s a curation platform that acts as a bridge between learning and earning.
Human Capital - With a community of 15,000+ users, it’s easy to access human capital for Flow.
Business Model - multi-modal revenue streams based on creating an unbiased system to access learning, opportunities, and communities
Integrating Web3, built by the community, for the community. Flow gives the power and incentives to its community to add value as well as create financial value for itself.
The experiment is on!
If you are an active investor in the space or talent interested in exploring opportunities with Flow, you can refer to the deck to learn more.
Currently, Flow is looking to hire for various key roles - Chief of Staff, Product Developer, and Product Designer. If you feel aligned with the vision and convinced with the thesis, do reach out to Harshit
If you are building a Web3 startup or investing directly in Web3 protocols or startups like Flow, please write to me. I would love to learn more from you and would be happy to help in any way.
"first followers" is founded by Sagar Tandon. You can reach out to me at sagar@firstfollowers.co.
The "first followers" newsletter covers impact investing, venture capital, innovative financing instruments, and venture building.
A dark talent is an underrepresented talent hidden somewhere in a small town or city located in the world waiting to be identified and believed in.
A highly recommended read
Truly a fascinating read and a commendable mission. More power to you!