Zion Zhang CoFounder Ponder

Zion Zhang CoFounder Ponder Sponsors Salalabs - North America Salalabs specializes in delivering IoT, AI, and Machine Learning to streamline operations and drive innovation. Save up to 70 percent on development costs and 32 percent on time with Salalabs.  For more info, email contact@salalabs.com or reach out to Jason Cavness Go to www.thejasoncavnessexperience.com for the podcast on your favorite platforms Zion’s Bio Zion is an 18 y/o founder. He is building Ponder: help youth build real-world skills by working on projects guided by AI simulation of their future selves. He believes education in 2035 will be radically different, and we are already seeing signals with AI and homeschooling. He started Ponder to accelerate this transformation.  We talk about the following and other items Zion's Background and Ponder's Origin  Learning and Self-Teaching Purpose and Vision for Ponder Parental Support and Future Plans  Cold Emailing and Networking Building a Technical Co-Founder Relationship  Generational Differences in Learning Homeschooling and Public Education The Role of AI in Education Department of Education and Education Reform Education Funding and Inequality School Choice and AI in Education College Education and Its Purpose Challenges in Education and Ponder's Vision Navigating Investor Relations and Company Goals Executing Ponder's Vision Future of Education and Personal Growth Zion’s Social Media Z ion’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zion-zhang-984345262/ Ponder Website: https://ponder.school/ Zion’s X: https://x.com/ZheyunZhangJ Zion’s Advice I want to talk more about the idea of agency. I believe agency is going to become increasingly important in the next couple of decades AND especially in education. To me, agency is about disagreeability in a positive sense—meaning the willingness to challenge assumptions andcombined with clear, critical thinking, and the ability to take action. And honestly, agency is something that most people aren’t talking about enough, even though it’s had a huge impact on my own life. For example, when I was 17, someone told me I should go to a networking event.  The very next day, without overthinking it, I just went. I didn’t really know how networking was “supposed” to work, and I was definitely a little socially awkward. I was super direct, like, “Hey, what’s your LinkedIn? What do you do?” I was trying really hard to have meaningful conversations, even though I didn’t quite know how to go about it. At the time, I thought something was wrong with me because I would always just do the thing I wanted to do, even if the outcome wasn’t perfect. I often made mistakes or didn’t get the result I hoped for right away.  But later, I realized that this was actually an example of agency in action just taking initiative and figuring things out through experience. Now, when I catch myself overthinking or procrastinating, I recognize that as a signal of low agency. Instead of getting stuck in my head, I remind myself: just go do it. That’s how you build high agency, by acting, learning, and repeating the cycle.  Early Pricing with CavnessHR As a subscriber to the The Jason Cavness Experience newsletter, you have the chance to lock in early, discounted pricing before our official launch. Pricing Tiers: 1 to 10 employees: Freemium plan available, or upgrade for just $59/month 11 to 19 employees: $99/month 20 to 34 employees: $199/month 35 to 49 employees: $299/month Sign up now to lock in your rate and simplify your HR before we go public! Schedule time to talk about your HR challenges: Book a Meeting with CavnessHR