At the end of every year, I will write a summary of some lessons that I learned along the way. If any of this resonates with you—whether you're a founder, a student, or someone simply interested in the world of tech—feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn. There, you'll find more details about my ventures, the progress I've made, and the lessons I've gained along the way.
1. Turn ideas into reality—or don't waste time and get straight to business.
My first unsuccessful startup, DresserAI, never moved beyond the ideation stage. It was an AI-powered stylist that cataloged your wardrobe and suggested outfits based on your location and the weather. Through that experience, I learned that having an idea alone won't secure funding or investment.
For over three months, my team and I focused on customer development and refining our pitch deck, but all our effort led nowhere. During that period, we convinced ourselves we were making progress, but in reality, we spent countless hours brainstorming new features and imagining what the app could look like without ever actually building it. These unfocused efforts created confusion and uncertainty. We didn't know our next move and somehow hoped someone would just hand us $50,000.
Lesson learned: this approach will never work. If you want to build something people want, start creating it. Test your hypotheses, develop an MVP, and avoid getting lost in endless ideas and possibilities that never materialize into real, tangible products.
Now, at Nozomio, I focus on building and iterating as much as possible, without dwelling too long on "what if this won't work." I'm not Google or NVIDIA yet, so there isn't much to worry about if something accidentally breaks. That's what differentiates startups from established big tech companies—their ability to move fast and break things.
2. Learn how to code—or at least find someone who can and start building.
Our execution strategy suffered because, although we had great vision, product management, marketing, and finance teams, we had no one to actually build the product. We relied on the idea of getting early VC funding and then hiring an agency to handle the development, but no one would pay attention to us without something tangible. All we had was a mediocre pitch deck and a long-term vision, which simply wasn't enough.
That's when I realized that instead of seeking someone to build everything for us, I could just become that person. I've never regretted it. Coding might be one of the most entertaining inventions of humanity—you can create literally anything you want. And with the rise of AI, you don't even need a huge team of developers. All you need is yourself and good old ChatGPT (that's still not enough, and you'd need to spend years mastering programming).
3. The importance of momentum.
Once you gain momentum, you can go into "beast mode" for days or even weeks (even without a lot of expertise in the domain). When I first got hooked on coding, I skipped some basics—which I now regret, hence why I'm taking Harvard's CS50 now—and went straight into building apps.
Somehow, it worked out. In just 3–4 months, I launched four different iOS apps and an AI SaaS product. Together, they got more than 70,000 visits and 6,000 downloads, and even hit #10 on the Kazakh App Store for several days.
Seeing this traction, even if it wasn't massive and didn't yield much revenue, still made me proud. Sure, I could have followed a more traditional path, learning systematically and improving gradually. But I've always been impatient, and this "experience" proves you don't need a wealth of knowledge to create something useful. You just have to start, put in the countless hours, and eventually figure things out—crappy first versions included.
After those initial apps, I went on to launch an edutech startup called Hanlan Tech, which specializes in creating apps designed to help students on their path to college.
4. When searching for ideas, look in areas where you have some expertise.
In one of Paul Graham[1]'s essays, How to Get Startup Ideas, I came across a quote that caught my attention: "When searching for ideas, look in areas where you have some expertise." It sounds simple, even obvious, yet many people overlook it.
I've been there myself, trying to go into fields like quantum physics or blockchain—areas where I was completely dumb. To launch a successful startup, you need at least some foundational knowledge in the domain you're tackling.
Elon Musk didn't just decide one day to build rockets; he spent years teaching himself aerospace engineering, destroying books on physics, rocket design, and the underlying science. Having a base level of expertise isn't just helpful—it's often a prerequisite for creating something that people want.
5. Please, take care of your health.
It might sound ridiculous or even absurd coming from a 17-year-old, but trust me, health is everything. Since I'm still in high school (junior year), I have to manage AP classes and other schoolwork. Because of this, I often skipped meals—sometimes forgetting to eat entirely—just because I wanted to "code that feature" or "fix this bug ASAP."
That turned out badly. I won't go into details, but let's just say I'm dealing with issues related to iron and other nutrient deficiency.
As I write this, I'm on vacation, trying to recover, find balance, and truly enjoy the Christmas holidays. I'm thankful I realized the importance of my health before it was too late. Now I can commit some time to recovery while still doing the things I love.
Startups will take a lot of time (70-80 hours a week), and the stress can easily lead to health problems if you're not careful. Once you understand how crucial it is to keep yourself in good shape, you'll be 5x more productive—and far less likely to die before 30 haha!
If you're interested in joining our team, we're currently hiring engineers, curriculum developers, and marketing specialists. Next year will be even better! Email me at arlan@hanlantech.net.