The Knowledge Society: Recent Episodes
The Knowledge Society
A conversation between TKS alum Isabella Grandić (2018) and Luke Piette (2017) about life, growth, education, and community. They dive into:
- The value (and challenges) of taking an unconventional path
- Luke's experience founding Edyfi, an alternative to university for exceptional young outliers that scaled to 5 locations, 100+ community members,~$400K in revenue
- What it means to have high standards, raising your bar, and surrounding yourself with like-minded ambitious people
Making It Real is a podcast by The Knowledge Society (TKS) where host Isabella Grandić catches up with alumni all over the world to talk about life after TKS.
A conversation between TKS alum Isabella Grandić (2018-2020) and Shagun Maheshwari (2017-2019) about solving the world's biggest problems, going to college, and being confident in your decisions. They dive into:
- Leaning in to being an outsider
- Shagun's experience founding Voltx (raised pre-seed of $1M), a machine learning platform to accelerate battery testing and materials discovery for EV OEM's and manufactures.
- Being confident taking big risks and leaps of faith
Making It Real is a podcast by The Knowledge Society (TKS) where host Isabella Grandić catches up with alumni all over the world to talk about life after TKS.
A special Season 1 finale edition of the Making It Real Podcast with TKS Founder, Nadeem Nathoo. Nadeem and Isabella sit down to chat about the value of early exposure to emerging technologies, life after TKS, identifying the world’s biggest problems, and frameworks for intentionally viewing the world and yourself. They dive into:
- Global inflection points, examining your continually evolving perspective on the world, and Nadeem’s bullish stance on innovation, leapfrogging, and talent growth in the MENA region and the UAE
- Creating your own opportunities by pursuing interesting and untapped ways to add value and impact
- Frameworks for developing wisdom (the thoughtful implication of knowledge + experiences/data) at a young age
- The why behind Nadeem’s “Do It For The Experience” motto, having courage, and seeking an intentional, frictionless state in life
Making It Real is a podcast by The Knowledge Society (TKS) where host Isabella Grandić catches up with alumni from all over the world to talk about life after TKS. This episode was edited by TKS alum, Rachel Lee.
A conversation between TKS alum Isabella Grandić and Sofia Sanchez about doing things that scare you, building things you're proud of, and biological technology for human and planetary health They dive into:
- Sustainable textiles and Sofia’s experience developing better engineering tools for plants at Stanford’s Brophy lab
- The scary decision to leave college and take a gap year, joining the 776 Fellowship, and weighing the pros and cons of taking a traditional academic pathway
- Why lab-grown cotton is worth working on and why skepticism can be valuable as a forcing function to better explain disruptive technologies and answer tough questions through results
- Having a self-awareness and growth mindset to drive personal development and confidence
Making It Real is a podcast by The Knowledge Society (TKS) where host Isabella Grandić catches up with alumni from all over the world to talk about life after TKS. This episode was edited by TKS alum, Rachel Lee.
A conversation between TKS alum Isabella Grandić and Urszula (Ula) Solarz about identifying and leading from your core values, the problematic use of the term “girl boss”, creating valuable content, and getting comfortable taking things off your to-do list. They dive into:
- Ula’s experience as a writer studying Economics and Computer Science at Yale and interning at Accordion, a private equity-focused financial and technology consulting firm
- How to develop valuable content by being conscious of the ratio between information consumption vs production and not always publishing everything you write
- Understanding complex systems and networks by knowing the basics, breaking things down into smaller parts, and understanding how they combine to form a whole
- Examining the core features of your identity, connecting on an authentic level, and removing “transactional” from your vocabulary
Making It Real is a podcast by The Knowledge Society (TKS) where host Isabella Grandić catches up with alumni from all over the world to talk about life after TKS. This episode was edited by TKS alum, Rachel Lee.
A conversation between TKS alum Isabella Grandić and Michael Trinh about questioning assumptions, biotechnology, and focusing on the journey. They dive into:
- Michael’s experience as a fourth-year student at the University of Toronto in Immunology and Genetics, plans to start a Ph.D. and work as a molecular engineer at MIT
- The importance of questioning assumptions in scientific fields and focusing on the journey versus the outcome on the pathway to building a therapy that approaches cancer in a novel way
- Links between the immune system and longevity
- Shrinking social circles, being courageous, and finding groups of people you can be yourself with
- Michael’s involvement with Nucleate, the decentralization of biotechnology through communities, and emerging tech and innovation hubs
Making It Real is a podcast by The Knowledge Society (TKS) where host Isabella Grandić catches up with alumni from all over the world to talk about life after TKS. This episode was edited by TKS alum, Rachel Lee.
A conversation between TKS alum Isabella Grandić and Jesse Pound about community, travel, global impact, and root cause analysis. They dive into:
- Jesse’s experience as a mechanical engineering student at Queen’s and as a founder working on Vunatec, a transparent, inclusive and efficient ecosystem based in Kenya that works as a digitized value chain from farm to market to payment to eliminate post-harvest loss.
- The value of taking gap years (or semesters), optimizing for finding the best communities, becoming friends with likeminded people, and pursuing projects that move you toward your ultimate vision and goal in life
- Understanding how to get to the root cause of problems and breaking them down into manageable solutions
- Global food systems, regenerative agriculture and the potential for its exponential impact on climate
Making It Real is a podcast by The Knowledge Society (TKS) where host Isabella Grandić catches up with alumni from all over the world to talk about life after TKS. This episode was edited by TKS alum, Rachel Lee.
A conversation between TKS alum Isabella Grandić and Cassia Attard about authenticity, sustainable impact, and life after TKS. They dive into:
- Cassia’s experience in studying sustainability at McGill University and her work at EFAD, a UN agency focused specifically on rural people lifting rural people out of poverty through agricultural interventions
- Long-term personal growth through consistency over intensity
- The establishment of National Parks and nature and wilderness as a construct in sustainability academia
- Developing self-awareness and finding spaces and groups of people where you can be authentic
Making It Real is a podcast by The Knowledge Society (TKS) where host Isabella Grandić catches up with alumni all over the world to talk about life after TKS. This episode was edited by TKS alum, Rachel Lee.
A conversation between TKS alum Isabella Grandić and Jack Ceroni about mathematics, mindsets, and life after TKS. They dive into:
- Jack’s experiences working on projects at MIT, Xanadu, and U of T, and the behind-the-scenes experiences of both startup and academic settings
- Planting seeds by engaging mentors and industry experts from a place of genuine curiosity and a growth mindset when you’re young
- Self-reflection, self-discovery, and adapting to new situations
- Staying open to new experiences and not over-optimizing as a teen
Making It Real is a podcast by The Knowledge Society (TKS) where host Isabella Grandić catches up with alumni all over the world to talk about life after TKS. This episode was edited by TKS alum, Rachel Lee.
A conversation between TKS alum Isabella Grandić and Ayaan Esmail about creating impact and value, mental health, and joyful fulfilment. They dive into:
- Working on International healthcare initiatives in Africa
- The impact your community has on your mental health and the importance of seeking out a kind, ambitious, and authentic friend group
- Ayaan’s work on building a wearable fall-prevention device for seniors
- Closing the gap between where you say you are and where you aspire to be
Making It Real is a podcast by The Knowledge Society (TKS) where host Isabella Grandić catches up with alumni all over the world to talk about life after TKS. This episode was edited by TKS alum, Rachel Lee.
A conversation between TKS alum Isabella Grandić and Adam Majmudar about building habits, taking the unconventional path, and optimizing for purpose. They dive into:
- Taking the unconventional path, seeking out unique experiences, and gap years
- Adam's experience as a Founding Engineer at thirdweb, a venture-backed web3 company with a $160M valuation
- Having an abundance mindset and seeing multiple pathways to your goals
- Information diets and building purposeful and productive habits
Making It Real is a podcast by The Knowledge Society (TKS) where host Isabella Grandić catches up with alumni all over the world to talk about life after TKS. This episode was edited by TKS alum, Rachel Lee.
A conversation between TKS alum Isabella Grandić and Alishba Imran about staying grounded, curious, grateful, and ambitious. They dive into:
- Identifying problems you’re excited to work on
- Alishba's experience interning at Tesla and seeking hands-on mentorship from industry experts
- Having a framework for why you do things and staying grounded by comparing yourself to your past self (vs other people), and practicing gratitude
Making It Real is a podcast by The Knowledge Society (TKS) where host Isabella Grandić catches up with alumni all over the world to talk about life after TKS. This episode was edited by TKS alum, Rachel Lee.
Ben Nashman is a TKS Alumni and the CEO of Synex Medical. Synex is a medical device company that is building a technology to measure blood metabolites, like glucose levels, non-invasively. Ben shares his journey starting Synex as a teenager, raising money, building a team, and much more.
We don't hold back in this episode. Agosh opens up and talks about his story struggling with mental health during university. We discuss his learnings and he gives advice that he wish he had earlier. This is an incredibly important topic with lots of gems in this episode.
Time in an interesting concept. In this episode Navid shares his thoughts on time, including how he spends his "currency of time" and how he thinks about the concepts of the past and future in relation to the present moment.
In this episode, Soumiya Sivasathiyanathan (TKS Ottawa) interviews Gina Cody. Gina Cody, MEng 81, PhD 89, is the first woman ever to be awarded a PhD in building engineering at Concordia. On September 24, 2018, Cody made a $15 million gift to Concordia's Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science. In recognition of her generosity and tremendous professional accomplishments, the faculty was renamed the Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science. It became the first engineering faculty in Canada named after a woman and one of the first of its kind in the world. Cody was the executive chair and principal shareholder of CCI Group Inc., a Toronto-based engineering consulting firm. She retired and sold her shares in 2016. In 2010, she was named one of Canada’s Top Women Entrepreneurs by Profit magazine.
In this episode, Navid and Nadim Nasser (aka 2Nadiem) share their perspective on the Kibera slum. This podcast should help give you perspective for the Kidogo challenge, as well as understand the world better.
Riya Mehta interviews Viola Melis in Barcelona, Spain. Viola uses machine learning and data science to help Typeform solve big data problems including pricing and marketing insights. She talks about qualities she values when hiring and more.
Learn about Nadim's background building a billion-dollar university in Central Asia, and hear about why we call him 2Nadiem. This is a fun and real conversation about life, purpose, and nicknames... haha.
Ian talks about TKS Ottawa and his view on fulfilment, potential, and his role as a TKS Director.
People ask me all the time, "how can I be doing TKS better?" Instead of focusing on the little things you can do, I wanted to share 3 foundational traits that all high performing TKS students have. If you can master these traits, you will crush it in TKS and in life. If you identified any weak traits you want to train, I highly recommend writing down action items after listening to this episode.
Erica and I met at a coffee shop and talked about her life growing up as a driven kid. She has such awesome things to say so we recorded some stuff for you all. Enjoy!
In this episode, Navid sits down with Cate Rung, the founder of www.pngme.com. Cate talks about what she's working on and her experience as a female starting a company.
Isabella and Alishba recorded this podcast to give you advice after being in your shoes just a year before. Since then, they have been invited to speak at conferences around the world and have worked with transformative companies working on amazing innovations in blockchain, cellular agriculture, and artificial intelligence. This conversation is very relatable since it comes from a student perspective.
If you follow the advice I give you in this episode, you will increase your productivity by 10x.
Lock that monkey up! Stop doing things for instant gratification, and start doing things that invest in your future self.
I interview Isabella on how sending out personal newsletters helped her create relationships with some of the most legit people in the world. We talk about why newsletters are important, pro tips, and the type of value you can expect. We also talk about what you shouldn't do in newsletters and how some people have the wrong mindset about them.
In this episode, I cover how to to make a significant impact in the flight against climate change. I cover the issues that stem from climate change, data and statistics on climate change, and 4 ways you can solve climate change. If you're passionate about climate change, listen to this episode.
This is a special episode. Flawnson and Agosh met in TKS and became best friends. They went to the University of Waterloo together, but took very different paths. One went down the path of nanotechnology, and the other pursued startups and AI. Listen to learn more!
Mayank is in his second year of TKS, but is going to Disrupt (the third year program) . In this podcast, he talks about his journey building technology in Brain-Computer Interfaces and other projects in TKS. Reach out to Mayank after you listen to his podcast!
Alishba is in her second year of TKS (Activate). In this podcast, she talks about what she wishes she knew before starting TKS. Tune in to hear about why she thinks building relationships in TKS is super important, and to follow the process!
About Alishba:
Alishba a 16-year-old Blockchain, Machine Learning developer & researcher from The Knowledge Society. She was the winner of the Enterprise Youth Blockchain Innovator Award, and she is passionate about leveraging these technologies to solve important issues in sustainability, pharmaceuticals, and finance. At just 15, she's worked with Hyperledger to create HonestBlocks which using Blockchain helps people in developing countries manage their healthcare records and track their products like counterfeit medicine. Alishba has also developed various Machine Learning algorithms studying various factors within our DNA to diagnose Malaria and Pneumonia at a 95% accuracy rate. She has worked with Vestergaard in Switzerland to consult them with Blockchain integration in their supply chain, inventory management & she recently won a full scholarship to be in Japan this October attending DevCon, one of the largest Blockchain gatherings in the world. Over this past year, Alishba has spoken at some of the world’s most innovative conferences like Google Think Telecom, Global Revolution, Consensys in New York, and she will later be speaking at Microsoft TruffleCon in Seattle. Throughout her journey, she has been supported by some very innovative companies like Google, Microsoft, and TD!
Izzy was invited to speak at a huge Microsoft conference in Las Vegas. She crushed it and got a standing ovation! She learned a ton from this experience and wanted to share her knowledge with everyone, especially what she learned from meeting Satya.
In this episode, Cherry Rose interviews me (Navid) on my "lows" during my startup days. But the thing is, I never had huge lows. I think partly because I'm lucky, and partly because I'm intentional. Listen to hear how I incorporate philosophy into entrepreneurship to avoid low mental states.
Jerry Qu, a young leader from the Toronto TKS program, built a machine learning based webapp that summarized any research paper on the internet.
As a result, Jerry was recognized as one of CES' Young Innovators to Watch 2019.
Join host Christopher Di Grazia and Jerry as they talk his winning project, Backen, and Jerry's plans heading to Las Vegas.
Tanisha Bassan, a young entrepreneur from the Toronto TKS program, was recognized as one of CES' Young Innovators to Watch 2019.
No small feat.
Join host Christopher Di Grazia and Tanisha as they discuss her amazing journey from middle school student to CES speaker, and her expectations heading into the worlds largest consumer electronics show.
14 year old Sabarish talks about his predictions for virtual and augmented reality while discussing the current state of these technologies. He also mentions his experience working with Microsoft, the Thiel Fellowship, and Udacity.
Ayleen Farnood, 14 years old, talks about how we can link humans and machines using our brain waves, aka, Brain-Machine Interfaces. She talks about the implications of this new technology and how it will change the world in healthcare and other areas.
Brianna Gopaul, 14 years old, talks about her journey researching quantum computing and quantum key distribution, and how these new technologies will impact the world.
Rikard Saqe, 16 years old, discusses his views on multiple cryptocurrencies including Ethereum, RaiBlocks, IOTA, and Bitcoin. He has built an ERC20 token on the Ethereum blockchain and encourages others to learn about building blockchain applications to solve problems in various industries.