This episode is part lesson, part documentary to take a real look into where I’m spending my time as a CEO and the adjustments I’m actively making. There are constant challenges around setting the right priorities, and in this episode, I share what’s working, what isn’t, and where my head is at right now.

Here’s what I cover:

• Deciding whether to prioritize sales or product first
• Why business feels like a game of Settlers of Catan
• The value of having meeting-free days
• How I decide what to cut to stay focused

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Originally from Dubai and raised in Phoenix, Shaun studied Economics & History at Vanderbilt University.

While at Vanderbilt, and after leading United Nations linked projects like Imagine Land 2040, he co-founded Atlog, an AI voice agent for physical retail (starting with furniture) that handles customer service and collections calls.

In 2025, Atlog was accepted into Y Combinator’s first spring (“X25”) cohort; the team graduated right as Shaun was completing his degree at Vanderbilt.

Shaun is on a mission to bring helpful AI into real-world commerce and make technology serve outdated industries.

Shaun is only 22 years old.

Contact info:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karakkattu/

Website: https://www.atlog.ai/

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Originally from New Jersey, Jake earned a B.A. in Economics (with a minor in Computer Science) from Vanderbilt University.

As COVID-19 shut the world down and his work environment changed, he saved up a six-month nest egg to go all-in on his startup, Pepper—a social-cooking app he co-founded with childhood friend in September 2021.

What began as a group-chat experiment sharing homemade meals has grown into a community of over 1 million home cooks worldwide, with Pepper featured on Fox’s Food Stars and At 27 years old, Jake was named to Forbes 30 Under 30.

He’s on a mission to improve cooking experiences by bringing social media–style engagement to real-world food sharing.

Jake is only 28 years old.

Contact info:

Website: https://www.peppertheapp.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakearonskind/

Find Built From Scratch updates on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.