Editor's note: This year we honored some of the brightest young minds in the Bay Area innovation sector as part of our Inno Under 25 feature. Check out all the profiles from this year's honorees here.
Senan Khawaja and Saeed Naeem are trying to disrupt the college-advice industry, which historically puts students with the means to hire private college counselors at an advantage. For their own higher education, the two high school friends found themselves across the globe from their hometown in Pakistan. While studying at Stanford and UC Berkeley, respectively, Khawaja and Naeem teamed up to bring generative AI to the college-counseling industry. Their startup, Kollegio, which launched Aug. 1, provides AI-powered college counseling for free. The services include identifying schools to apply to, brainstorming essay topics, editing personal essays and even evaluating extracurriculars.
What was the most challenging part of the college application process for you?
Khawaja: It was this immense competition, Saeed and I went to a pretty competitive high school in Pakistan and the level of competition in my year was just crazy…It just became this whole thing that consumed our life for a year plus. I want to help people make that experience better for themselves.
Naeem: As an international student – but just as any high school student – it’s really hard to know what colleges to apply to, and that’s something I struggled with. First knowing where exactly I should apply and why. Beyond that, knowing how to position myself as I went through the application process and trying to maximize my chances.
What was it like balancing being a student with launching a startup?
Naeem: It’s hard obviously because you’re trying to manage so much. I think what matters is the conviction and a lot of conviction in the idea really helps you prioritize things easily. I think for me, it was easier because we started working on it right as I was graduating.
Khawaja: School was insane. I did all of senior year while working on Kollegio full time. It was choice, the opportunity cost was massive, but I felt like we were onto something. It’s an opportunity of a lifetime, the AI boom had just come out. Did I have to sacrifice academically, socially? Definitely.
What’s the best piece of advice you have received, or lesson learned while launching Kollegio?
Khawaja: Going to Stanford, the person sitting next to you is probably one of the smartest people in the world or some sort of crazy genius – you would never compete with them academically, its physically impossible – and then on the other side of you is… a prince or a son or daughter of one of the biggest billionaires in the world. In that type of environment, it’s very easy to get lost. One thing that was really valuable, a principle that I try to adhere to is only compare yourself to yourself and compare yourself today to who you were yesterday.
Naeem: Being able to take feedback from anyone – whether its investors or parents or students who use our app or anybody for that matter – I think not taking it personally and turning it into actionable steps is something we’re still learning but definitely gotten better at.
What was it like pass on stable, return internship offers for work and commit to Kollegio?
Naeem: It was a really hard decision, obviously because as an international student I think it matters even more, this sort of decision, because immigration status really ties in...Also, the family structure and being from Pakistan as an international student, there’s a lot of pressure on us in addition to what a normal UC Berkeley graduate or Stanford graduate would sort of face. I think that really made the decision harder. I was lucky enough to have family and friends that really supported me, who really pushed me to believe in myself and I think that helped make the decision easier. What was also important was I really enjoyed working in this space and this domain.
Khawaja: I interned at the World Bank and that’s where I was looking to return, and it’s a beautiful, 10,000-person office in DC. Its considered prestigious in a lot of academic circles. But I was talking with my mentor there and she’s a senior economist PhD from Brown – very, very smart, accomplished woman — and I was telling her about how Saeed and I had this idea and maybe I could try tacking it and (asked) how she felt...She told me straight up, and I also saw it a little bit, that the impact that these large organizations have, it’s very slow…having the opportunity to tackle it from the private sector lens is just the opportunity of a lifetime...We get to shape the vision and right now we have 7,000 users, we’re in 140 countries and this is not a level of impact I would have working at an entry level job at the world bank, that’s for sure.
About Khawaja
Age: 22
Education: Stanford, class of 2024
Residence: Palo Alto
Role: CEO, co-founder
Company: Kollegio
About Naeem
Age: 23
Education: UC Berkeley, class of 2023
Residence: Berkeley
Role: CTO, co-founder
Company: Kollegio
