Uploaded December 2025 | Updated September 2026, 4 hours ago
Taking the leap into entrepreneurship doesn’t have to be reckless. Shaw Talebi's story is the blueprint for doing it safely.
He gave himself oxygen: 12 months of runway. That alone turned a “risky jump” into a reversible experiment. Worst-case scenario? He could return to a data science job with ease because he had built real, in-demand skills. Best-case scenario? He finds something that works before the money runs out.
And he did. One month before hitting zero, he launched his first AI cohort and made 10K. That was the signal. From there, he doubled down.
The lesson is simple: build skills the industry wants, and entrepreneurship becomes low-risk. You’re never stuck. You’re exploring with a safety net. That’s why at Towards AI, and why Shaw teaches as well, we focus on giving people the foundational skills that make them employable and able to experiment with building. When you have valuable skills, opportunity becomes optionality.
I’m Louis-François, PhD dropout, now CTO & co-founder at Towards AI. Follow me to learn more about AI 🚀
#entrepreneurship #founderlife #careertransition #ai #indiehacker
Taking the leap into entrepreneurship doesn’t have to be reckless. Shaw Talebi's story is the blueprint for doing it safely.
He gave himself oxygen: 12 months of runway. That alone turned a “risky jump” into a reversible experiment. Worst-case scenario? He could return to a data science job with ease because he had built real, in-demand skills. Best-case scenario? He finds something that works before the money runs out.
And he did. One month before hitting zero, he launched his first AI cohort and made 10K. That was the signal. From there, he doubled down.
The lesson is simple: build skills the industry wants, and entrepreneurship becomes low-risk. You’re never stuck. You’re exploring with a safety net. That’s why at Towards AI, and why Shaw teaches as well, we focus on giving people the foundational skills that make them employable and able to experiment with building. When you have valuable skills, opportunity becomes optionality.
I’m Louis-François, PhD dropout, now CTO & co-founder at Towards AI. Follow me to learn more about AI 🚀
#entrepreneurship #founderlife #careertransition #ai #indiehacker
