Edition 10: Humans of Build Club

An inside peak inside the arena, spotlighting builders turning their dreams into reality.

Humans of Build Club

[Edition #10] Interview with Ethan Trang, with Rebecca & Annie.

Welcome to the 10th edition of the Humans of Build Club newsletter, a series spotlighting the authentic human story of ambitious AI builders 🚀👩‍💻⚙️ Sign up for new stories!

This week, we’re chatting with Ethan Trang, co-founder of DoryAI (getdoryai.com), an educational tool that allows you to create flashcards, quizzes, and notes from anything.

How did it all start? What was the beginning of your entrepreneurial journey like?

Last December, last year I connected with Pete on LinkedIn, who I would later be cofounders with, and saw his experience as a tech startup founder at the same age as me.

After previously doing an internship in AI engineering, I found my skills quite applicable to his project. In February this year, I officially joined the team and together we pivoted to our current venture which we've been doing for the past 10 weeks.

What inspires you as an entrepreneur?

My main goal to start entrepreneurship was the invaluable learning curve. I found that in a corporate setting, like during my internship, my learning would be more structured but in a sense, gradual.

In the chaos of building a startup, you put on many hats: developer, marketer, manager, creator, etc. I believe getting started in a project is the best way to create opportunity for rapid growth.

How do you acquire your technical expertise for the projects you work on?

Despite my relevant internship experience, there was so much I didn't know coming in. Instead of leaning on previous experience, I chose to bet on my ability to learn quickly and it's a trait I admire in other incredible entrepreneurs.

But more instrumental was connecting with mentors, because while you can eventually solve a problem with enough time, a mentor can point you in the right direction initially and save you lots of time.

Tap into experience of someone who's done it for a few months, years, or even decades more than you.

Find mentors and keep them close.

Can you recommend any books, podcasts, links that have helped you on your builder journey?

📘 Book - Never Split The Difference, Chris Voss - learn how to negotiate, period.

🎙️ Podcast - The Game, Alex Hormozi - learn business and the entrepreneurial mindset

What are you most excited about right now?

Startup growth and personal growth.

We're aiming to onboard a massive number of users in the coming weeks, raise funding, and also convert on our existing freemium users as well.

And on this journey, we'll develop the traits we'll need to succeed while we build, and meet incredible people and having amazing conversations along the way.

What are you building right now?

Pete and I are building DoryAI (getdoryai.com), an educational tool that allows you to create flashcards, quizzes, and notes from anything.

Easily upload videos, files, and websites to start studying and also integrate with your favorite study apps like Quizlet, Kahoot, and Anki.

Do you have an ask for people reading this post?

I learned to try and always deliver value upfront to everyone. It's a great feeling receiving value from other people, such as when mentors teach you something you don't know. So being generous with knowledge is definitely something I'm a huge advocate for.

You can stay up to date with Ethan Trang’s builder journey by following their LinkedIn here.

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