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Gen Z Is Skipping the 9-to-5 and Cashing In

For most kids, a side hustle means mowing lawns for pocket money. For Chase Gallagher (pictured above), it meant building a $1.5 million landscaping business… before he could even drive.

There is a growing wave of Gen Z entrepreneurs — born between 1997 and 2012 — who aren’t waiting for a diploma to start making money.

Take Cal AI, for example, which I just downloaded a few days ago to track my calories. Snap a picture of your meal, and the app instantly estimates calories and macros.

It’s pulled in 5M+ downloads and $2M in revenue last month, but here’s the thing: it wasn’t built by a big tech firm. It was created by two 18-year-olds. 😎

A Fortune article by Orianna Rosa Royle highlights how Gen Z is skipping the traditional career path, turning side gigs into six-figure businesses while their peers are still in school.

Here’s the story:

• Gen Z isn’t buying into the corporate dream. They’ve seen their parents struggle with layoffs, burnout, and jobs that barely keep up with the cost of living. Stability in a traditional 9-to-5 is no longer a guarantee, so they’re looking for another way.

• Tech has made entrepreneurship more accessible than ever. With nothing more than a phone and an internet connection, young people are launching Etsy shops, reselling sneakers, trading stocks, or building entire brands on TikTok. Now with AI writing the code for them too, the barriers to entry are even lower, and the potential for success is massive.

• The numbers back it up. On LinkedIn, “founder” is the second-fastest-growing job title among Gen Z. Nearly 2 out of 3 say they already have a side gig or plan to start one soon.

Why it matters: Big companies can’t afford to ignore this shift. Gen Z isn’t waiting around for their next promotion—with more and more Gen Zs turning “founders,“ traditional employers risk losing an entire generation to independent ventures and freelancing.

To attract young talent in the modern age, businesses need to rethink what they offer. Competitive salaries aren’t enough; Gen Z values flexibility, autonomy, and purpose-driven work.

I often hear people say Gen Z is lazy and doesn’t want to work, but I don’t see it that way. They’re willing to work hard, as long as they’re given the flexibility to do it on their own terms. 🤗

Insilico Medicine Secures $110M to Speed Up AI Drug Discovery

Biotech company Insilico Medicine is using AI to rethink drug discovery. Now, with a fresh $110 million in funding pushing its valuation past $1 billion, the startup is considering a Hong Kong IPO.

Developing a new drug is notoriously slow and expensive—it can take over a decade and billions of dollars before a single treatment reaches patients. Insilico wants to change that with AI, making the process faster, cheaper, and more precise.

• At the core of Insilico’s approach is Pharma.AI, which analyzes vast biological datasets and predict which molecules are most likely to work, reducing the need for excessive trial and error.

• Insilico is already delivering results—its leading drug candidate, Rentosertib, for a serious lung disease, reached early clinical trials in just 2.5 years, a process that normally takes up to six.

• The company is making big deals by licensing its AI-generated drugs to pharmaceutical giants like Sanofi and Fosun Pharma, securing $3.5 billion in contract value.

The startup’s pipeline now includes 30 drug candidates, with 10 receiving clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to proceed with human trials.

Beyond discovery, Insilico is using AI to speed up lab work. The company is testing humanoid robots in its China lab to automate repetitive tasks, collect data, and reduce human error, all in an attempt to speed up research.

If Insilico succeeds, it could reshape the entire drug discovery process. By combining AI, real drug candidates, and even lab robots, the company is tackling the whole process, not just one piece of it. Faster, cheaper, and maybe even better—this could be a glimpse of how future drugs come to life.

Who’s The Better Manager: Moms or MBAs?

Think about the best manager you've ever had. Were they great because of what they learned in business school—or because they understood people, priorities, and how to keep everything running smoothly under pressure?

According to Indian billionaire and founder Manoj Bhargava, the toughest management challenges don’t come with just a corporate title. They happen in everyday life, where the stakes are much more real and daunting.

In line with that logic, Bhargava believes that the best place to learn management isn’t a classroom… it’s your mom.

Bhargava explained that moms juggle budgets, resolve conflicts, and manage “employees” they can’t fire (aka their kids). While MBAs focus on strategy and theory, moms make tough decisions in real time, with real consequences.

It’s a compelling argument. But does experience alone build great leaders, or do MBAs still offer something essential? What do you think?

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