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Passion to Action with Hubble Bubble | Jevin Zac

31m 35s

Passion to Action with Hubble Bubble | Jevin Zac

Javin Zach, founder of Huffle Bubble, shares his journey from a struggling student to an entrepreneur. Growing up as a "loser kid" in a wealthy school in India and Bahrain, he felt out of place and poor. A turning point came when he won a nationwide contest to make the longest call, securing a Blackberry smartphone despite his father's skepticism. This success taught him to trust himself and ignore negative opinions. He later created Huffle Bubble, a platform described as "Tinder for academia," which aligns students' passions and skills with degree programs and universities. The mission stems from his own lack of guidance, aiming to help underprivileged students find their unique path and achieve their dream careers. Javin highlights communication as vital for founders, noting that business relationships require genuine connection, like personal ones. He adapts his pitch to different audiences—for example, framing the problem as dropout risk in the UK versus wasted time and money in India, where cultural pressures prevent quitting. This audience awareness, combined with self-belief, has helped him win competitions like Scot Edge and secure investment. Ultimately, Javin believes that everyone is unique and capable, and Huffle Bubble exists to give them the belief and tools to succeed.

Transcription

6484 Words, 33812 Characters

English
[Music] So, today on the Path for Potential Podcast, we're excited to welcome Javin Zach. Javin, welcome to the podcast. Thank you. A former master's student at the University of Dundee and founder of Huffle Bubble, a mission-driven business that helps international students align their passion with a degree. I think that as a tender for academia, I've heard you say that out of which, Javin is one, the prestigious Scottish edge competition and secure significant investment to bring his vision to life. With background in entrepreneurship and the drive to make a real impact, Javin is here to share a story with us. So, Javin, I have a question for you. How did we get here? In the podcast. Take me back to the start. I can see me on a hell of a journey. All right. I mean, that's a very long story. Do you want it very long? Okay, where do I start? I mean, the start of Huffle Bubble, how do you Huffle Bubble start? I would say, I mean, kind of start with the dream. I mean, it's not cliche because I didn't realize I have any purpose because I was looking at my mates in high school. I was the loser kid and I was like, I'm a c'mon, nobody want to be like me. You know, what's cool about me? And colours want to talk to me. No money, a broke. My friends are hanging out. We're in fun. And I was like, what's the point of living like this? So, I was like, okay, I was put in a school because I couldn't get an admission in any other school. So, the school, which was quite expensive, made my parents a force to send me there because no other schools were willing to give me any admissions. So, the problem with that was I was all rich kids all that. So, I was a poor one. Now, and the problem with that was, again, I was the old one up. Everybody was this whole fancy lifestyle. My parents bought of them I working, still struggled to put me to school, to school. And yeah, so I put them in that situation. Yeah, so you don't really feel like fit there? Exactly. I didn't, I never thought, no, I didn't, I didn't feel like I was fitting in. And so, I realized one thing. I mean, I asked them, how did you, I mean, how are you having so much of money? I mean, I mean, I asked them, what are your parents? I was like, oh, I have my, one of my parents has a business. I was like, oh, also, what about your other parent? No, no, they're just nothing. I was like, oh, so one person is doing a business and they have more money. And then my both my parents were working. I was like, how does that work? I mean, the person should work. Yeah, that doesn't make sense. And it took people working, should make more money. I want the person working. Yeah. So I was like, okay, that is another. So I mean, I found the pattern throughout because most of the students in my school were coming from a business background. Yeah. I was like, so what's the point of being like my parent, nothing, take nothing, but then I was like, they are struggling for themselves. For a while, these my friends are having fun, their parents are having fun going out, movies, eight binners. I never got taken to any dinner or movies with my family. They couldn't afford it, they couldn't afford it. So I was like, okay, I want to change my life. That's where I started. That's where the dream started. Yeah. And that was back in 2009. I was in GCSE, year 10. Yeah, so year 10, I had the dream of want to be a businessman. And you grew up in India, right? No, not really. So, okay. So this is a long list. I mean, again, I'll just, I'll just bring you that. Yeah. So I grew up, I was born in India. My, my mom was in Bahrain, working. My mom shortly left to Bahrain. So I was with my aunt living in India for my early nursery at primary school. And my parents took me back to Bahrain. And I did my med primary, maybe if you call it, my year four to year seven, you know, year six, three years. So, but my, I didn't like living with my parents for that because they were very strict like education education studies study. Of course. So then my parents asked me to go back to India to look after your grandparents and you get study from there. I was like, I need to go out and go out and go out and I don't want to be with, you know, and I don't want to get beaten up by you guys. I would rather be in India. So they sent me back to India. But I was doing well because nobody was friendly. I mean, yeah, my, my grandmom was looking at me if I'm studying. But she wasn't really knowing if I'm actually studying and for sitting in front of a book. Yeah. So I was, I was not performing or I was failing and I was failing. And we're going to come to that way. Yeah. So the then my parents like, no, coming back with us because it's high time in high school in blah, blah. So they take, took me back to Bahrain from high school. And that's where, yeah, this whole thing. Yeah, exactly. So take, take me through that. So you kind of, you have this dream, you have this idea, you almost see that as possible because you see other people's parents have done it and you see other people talking about it. So from there, take, take me forward. So, okay, I didn't know it was possible at that point. It was more like a dream, let's say, an ordinary person, let's say it was maybe Lord middle class owning a, even a middle class owning a Lamborghini Ferrari, Porsche, would be unrealistic, non-realistic dream. Isn't it? It was more like that. It's going to be an unrealistic dream. It's never about happened. You know, it's not going to happen, but you could dream, normally stop being you from dreaming. Take me to, to start a hub of, that's where I'm interested. Okay. So there are a lot of incidents which made me feel like I could do it. But like I told earlier, I never knew, I never knew this was repossum small, like an unrealistic dream. The only just, yeah, a guy who's sleeping and dreaming about it. That's what I felt. Now, why I felt this was possible is because maybe my, the incidents in my life which gave me the belief that, oh, if I could do that, and people said that I couldn't do it, but I did it. And I was like, oh, you know, why don't I try it? Because people were saying, seven, there's no coin trying. Not going to do it. You're going to, you're not going to be there. Or, you know, going to be there. You're going to do that. But when I tried to do it and it worked out, I'm not saying everything worked out, but some instances, incidents worked out. So that gave me the courage to kind of, okay, but you know, there are small incidents I could, I could tell you those incidents because those are what kind of shaped me up to, to get to that point. Yeah. And like, I think what you're kind of talking about now is, is that self belief for no one else, you know, believing you, and you know, when I saw it as possible. And maybe because they've not done it. Yeah, exactly. You just believe in yourself. Just try it. How would you know if you don't try, you know, just go and try it. And like, for example, it was a competition. And when I was in Bahrain, it was to win a smartphone. I was like, okay, I'll just take part in it. Yeah. Okay, it's a long story. I'll just cut it short. Yeah. I didn't know that, you know, I thought, come on, everybody would be doing what I'm doing. Because I had a cheeky idea. Yeah. So I thought, come on, I'm this normal guy. And it's a nationwide contest. It's a behind wide, it's not like, only this small group, the whole country can take part. And there's one winner. So I invested when I was in year 11, which is close to higher, so the next year below higher. So year 11, I invested about 10 pounds, which is a lot of money for India's thousand rupees plus. Well, to do something, the cheeky stuff for this stuff. So they're winning the smartphone. So it's basically make this longest call and win a smartphone. That was the contest. Make a longest call and win a smartphone. So I invested about 1000 rupees or 10 pounds. And I was doing something that cheeky stuff. My dad was watching me. It was like, "Javit, what the hell are you doing?" You are the dumbest kid I've ever seen. He said, "You're the stupidest kid." That's what he said. I've ever seen what the hell are you doing? Just, you do think you're gonna get, you're gonna be like, you're gonna win some smartphone by doing some stupid stuff. I was like, "Oh, am I stupid?" I'm like, "Okay, that's a little okay fine." I was like, "It's fine, man." And I was like, "Okay, screw it." I just submitted the screenshots of my longest call. I was like, "Come on, just got to be one other person was gonna do the exact record." So they announced the winner and that was me. I was like, "No, come on, no, no, no, no, no." I was like, "Oh, my fish." So that made me believe, "Okay, you know, I'm not so stupid, but there's one more thing." I told you about an unrealistic dream. So back in my school, all of these rich kids, especially their Arabs, they had blackberry phones. Blackberry back then was "D" shit. D shit, blackberry. It's not even like iPhones now. No. And then. I remember. Year 4, year 5. The primary school kids were hanging around blackberry on their linear. And I was like, "Come on, I was carrying a Nokia 11 break." Yeah, the break phones. And even the display was stuck with their heavy quick. And the buttons were not even there. So I had to use a compass and pencil to click on it. So my friends were having all these later gadgets. Arabs were having those. Blackberry. So I had a dream. One day, touch a blackberry. I mean, just touch a blackberry. But I wanted to touch and feel it. And the smartphone that I won was a blackberry. Okay. You know, so I did something cheeky. My dad called me stupid. But I'm not stupid because I just won that competition. I hold Bahrain and I won a smartphone. And that photo is still there on the official page, Facebook page. So that made me. If you told me, "Why did you believe?" Right, up until that point I was a total failure. I get a lot of sorry to tell that. But this kind of gave me that, "Oh, it's possible." The dream. You know, it's possible. Maybe I shouldn't listen to everyone. free ones opinion. - Yeah. - Maybe you can listen to yourself and believe in yourself and just try to go for it. - So what's gonna happen? - Tiny risk and that's, yeah. - Wow, wow, that's more of a shouldn't have anything. But okay, so take me to Dundee. You came to Dundee, talk me through Hababubble. Like for the listeners, what is Hababubble? I give a brief description in the intro, but what is Hababubble? - No, okay. If I call it, if I say it in the elevator pitch strategy, it's a Tinder, like you said, it's a Tinder for academia. And why I say that is because we are literally matching someone's passion, interest, character skills to a degree program. Could be masters or bachelor's. And then match that with the best university possible. Now, that's Hababubble, but it's more than that for me because it's more like some support I wish I had back when I was younger to guide myself in the right way. So I know a lot of people have dreams coming from horrible backgrounds, and the privileged, all of that. But all of them have their dreams, all of them have all of them are unique. Everybody is special. Everybody, I wouldn't say, you know, not even one person is special. It isn't special. Everybody is unique. They have their own because their circumstances, surrounding the way they grew up, you're gonna shape them into something unique. Everybody is. So they are uniqueness and a passion with their surroundings, like how they acquired that. They can be, and their dream as well, can be achieved because I'm a living example of that. So I was like, I wanna make people that's underprivileged, that feels like everything is going against them. I wanna make them feel like you can achieve your dream career. And that's not by following someone else's word. It's within you. You have to listen to yourself. You have to ask yourself some questions and get the answer from you. What's good for you? So Hababubble is more like finding yourself. - Wow. - That's how I would, I wanna help these people out of the privilege, find themselves, help them to get to that dream career. If that makes sense. - Yeah, I can't give them the opportunities that you wish you had. - Yeah, that guidance. - Yes. - I wish I could have had, but I wouldn't complain because I am doing, but you know one thing which I feel, what I had for me, even though everything was going against me, was that self-belief. Like you said, was there, but a lot of people won't have, it's a mental thing, isn't it? So some, most of them, or some of them, won't have the self-belief, because everything is going against them. I had a thing, do what I literally, literally, it was for me, do what I, so I like it just, can self- or do something about it. And I chose the other one, do something about it. And I'm here now. - That's what you did. - So, but a lot of people, we're not end up dying, but it's more like comfort zone. They don't wanna take that dual stuff. They're like more the, or, period, you know, like, I just do that. - Do everyone else don't decide me? - I'm never really a monk to anything, I never really believe that you can be a person. - Yeah, because they are putting themselves down, because maybe everything was going against them. So, because I had the self-belief, I was able to do it, but a lot of people don't have the self-belief, so I wanna give them the, that belief, you know, I wanna guide them, hey, listen, it's possible. And this is why it's possible, give them the facts around it. So Hubble Bubble is more like helping such people. And the future, I don't know, a special thing, but I don't know. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, 100%. I love how it relates to your story and your journey. And how it is so mission-lab, we were talking the other day, and you were saying, it doesn't feel like work, 'cause I just, I love what I do, and I love helping people. And it kind of helps with the resilience kind of factor of starting a business, 'cause it can be tough. Yeah, it can be a lonely. - Yeah, so, I wanna slowly move on and talk about pitching and communication in business, because you've successfully pitched your business in competitions like Scotch Edge, and one significant investment for your business, which has allowed you to help more people, definitely grow your channels, bring awareness about what you're doing. So I wanna talk to you about the importance of communicating your idea in business as a founder, my just communication skills in general, 'cause I feel like communication is something that you're doing with. - I have a really good answer to that. - Okay. - Okay. So I know my dad's friend, who is, so again, my dad's in all the day, like a lower middle class, if you compare. But I've seen his friends who's been in the same bachelor's degree, studied with him, doing like other VPs or directors and stuff like that. I was like, you guys study the same thing. How did you and that was a normal employee, and how did they get to that level? And I was like, that uncle, he comes in fancy cars and stuff. How did he become that? In what my dad said, he can talk. That's why he can talk to me. I was like, what does that mean? (laughing) - You know, he can talk every one of the parties. - He was like, what does that mean? - Well, I didn't realize that, but he's a gentleman he can talk. That's what he said. I didn't really know anything. - Yeah. - I understand that I'm a meaningful person. - So yeah. - And again, I didn't understand what it meant, but like you mentioned now, the only thing maybe going for me or something I realized was, like you just said, communicating, I think because someone has to connect with you, you have to make them, oh, make them like you, but it's more like, because a business does not happen if that person does not like you. You know, you're personally connecting with that. So if you don't know how to, I don't know if you don't know how to make someone like you, you're not gonna create a link there. It's like a girlfriend, a boyfriend, isn't it? If you want a girlfriend, you need to make that person like you. - Of course. - So it's the same thing. I mean, if you make that girlfriend like it, that girl like you, you're gonna have a strong relationships. - Of course. - A person's gonna be the similar thing in a business. You have to make that other person like you, but it's not like faking it. - No, it's genuine. - It's like, yeah, understand them or just talking in such a way, I don't know how to explain. - Yeah, you, but like it makes perfect sense. Like no one's gonna go into business together if they don't like you. - Yeah, like each other. - Yeah, so it's almost seems so simple but so. - Yeah, I don't know how to, how did I acquire that skill? I have no idea. But maybe it's the do-or-die thing. It was like, I have to do it. - Yeah. - Or honestly, I can't answer. - Yeah. - Because I don't know how to answer that. - In terms of pitching in front of judges. Cause you've won significant investment. - I won the Conway to Best Picture Award as well. - So best of the choreographers. - Yeah, so talk to me about that and obviously communicate in business and day to day compared to in front of a big time investors. - So I mean, what I learned about pitching in general I guess from elevator and center for entrepreneurship and I'd be extra-digit programs attended was. I mean, like I don't have to describe what elevator pitches but it's that one chance for you to communicate what you're doing. So the audience I didn't find the fear. I mean, you read the audience first, what are they? Who are they? And talk about your idea and business. And what do you want? So if it's investors, what do they want? As in why they're sitting here and listening to me and then tail in my picture round there. - Wow. - And just shoot it out to them. So again, am I digressing? I mean, no, like it is more like all I did was, I just understood, obviously I took a lot of training, but I just understood the audience. Okay, this is why they're here sitting in front of me listening to me. And okay, so I'll give you an example. If I'm gonna describe my business to British person or develop countries from somewhere from the other country, compared to people from India and Nigeria, it'll be two different things. I'll tell you what, if I'm pitching it to you, I would pitch Hubble-Bubbles. I wanna help students from doing a degree than ending up after a year later, or it's not for me. So they drop out, right? So that's how I would pitch to you. You would be like, oh yeah, that makes sense. By from pitching it to Indians, you know? They wouldn't know anything about dropping out because people don't drop out in India. Okay. So it's more like, do you wanna waste all your money time doing a degree that you don't like, completing it, and then ending up with a job you don't like? Because that's the mentality of India. They are full, they're not gonna drop out if they don't like it because that much pressure or that much investment is going into it. The whole family selling the house and all of that. So if I sell them dropping, there's no dropping out cents in Indian. So they're forced to continue because I've invested so much time, money, my parents invested their house. So I have to do the job because I need a job and then continue to do the job and they die. You know, you know, you hear? Yeah, of course. So that's how I can relate. So yeah, know your audience. Yeah. Make a very good mark there. I think you have to be a founder. You are essentially. But knowing your audience is so important and tailoring that message to your audience so that they can feel you that they're listening. Yes, and they take action and invest in your business. Exactly. Yeah. You kinda answer my next question. Yeah, I know I was gonna talk about like the most important skill for founders or people to have, I guess. I have a couple of other important skills. I'm gonna say most important, but there are few of them in the studio. One of my recently learned is founders should believe, obviously, believe themselves. Absolutely. Not with a, you know, you should back it up with market research and stuff like that. But in general, you should believe in yourself. You should be really taking business all about risk. Right. You should be, you know, take calculated risk. But it's also the first point to believe in yourself because things were more often than not go according to plan. So as a founder, you shouldn't be demotivated. Because if you are, because you are the founder, it's your baby. Your staff are gonna look at you. I'm gonna reflect on the leader. You understand? I'm not calling myself a leader, but you can kind of say, "You are." Yeah, but I have to be. So if they feel I am demotivated by something that's happening, they know, shit, he doesn't believe that we can win this battle. Oh my f**k, I should maybe get out of this boat because it's sinking. So you should give them that, you know, that believe you should know that I'm gonna come out of this. Because you have in the past. Yes. So just, I would say, believe in yourself. Yes. And taking the risk in both for it. Yes. And showing that, like reflecting that, I don't know. So, or I don't, I don't call myself a leader. I don't like it on a 10-Z time, but that order that I also believed, he can do it. He can do it. Okay. I'll stick with him. It's not going to sink. He's going to get this cute. If that, it does. And I guess my follow-up question to that is, how do you stay so positive and so morbid all the time? Like, obviously, you have to have, you have to be resilient because this isn't a marriage question. This is your mission is, you know, tell millions of people with this business. So it's going to be a long journey. How does the how these stay resilient? Because there's going to be lonely days. There's going to be days where you're not morbid. How do you, is it because it's a purpose-driven business? I would never say I was ever not motivated any day because I don't know. Maybe I'm lying to myself, but I can't think of a day because I can't think of a day. But it's 100%. So it's more like for me, it's a do-it-I-think. I wouldn't rather want to do anything. I would have this to myself. Honestly, I would, why would I not live like this? I mean, if I'm not living, if I'm working for someone else, I did work for someone else. I was happy with it. But I knew that's not what I would do. Long run. I wanted to get out of it as soon as I found an opportunity. And I did. So what keeps me going is, obviously, this is my, I felt this is my purpose. This is my purpose. Just go for it. I mean, if you don't do this, what else is there to do, Jepin? And the other thing is, it's more like, do you like what you're doing, you know? I love what I'm doing. This is work. What I'm doing is work, isn't it? And job is going to allow me to come and sit in front of a podcast and talk to you and the union stuff. So, but it's work. I think it's if you term it. Critically, yeah. Yeah, it is technically worse. But do I enjoy it? 100%. You're always smiling. Yeah, 100%. I enjoy it. So, it's, it's our everyday is going to be different. Every day's unique. I'm, everything that I do is something that I love to do. So there's no reason for me to not like what I'm doing because I love doing it anyway. Even if some people says, Jepin, you should slow down and take a break because you get burned out. No, it's not working. 24/7. I do have my lazy breaks. Of course. I don't know what to do. But it's more like, maybe the reason, when I tell them I haven't burned out yet, you know, people say that, Jepin, you're going to be burned out soon and you're going to be, you know, in deep shit. But what I felt was people get burned out because they're doing things they're forced to do and they don't like to do it. That's when they're like, I can't, I'm done with this because why I have a night, but I'm doing this for the last three years. I've not yet burned out. But I felt it was, it's not like I'm forced to do it. You know, it's like me playing FIFA for a couple of years and being that top. You know, I'm not going to be burned out playing FIFA because I love doing it. No. So you understand? So there's nothing stopping me. If anything is going to demote you to it, me that's because I'm not alive. That's why I'm not going to. Yeah. No, yeah, because you found your, you found your partner's purpose and then your business is technically helping other people find out. Exactly. But it's not like you're doing this for the fancy cars and houses which are coming. Of course, I want my fancy cars. Yeah. Every mod does. So sort of excited. But it's driven by more than that. And that's going to help you. I hope you keep going. So where do you see how blah, blah, blah going in the next three years? Like obviously you won significant investment. You've taken it to a good stage. You have massive awareness about what you're doing and you're helping so many people each and every day. Where do you see how blah, blah, blah going? What was the next stage for? So in three years, you mean? In the next stage, I would say again, my end goal is not, okay, as Hubble, we do admission support, passion, matching and all of that stuff. But that's not really my end goal. But the next stage is, because of how do I am helping international students from certain markets like India, Middle East, Asian, other Asian countries, maybe Eastern Europeans that took to a little extent and a couple of British students as well. But I want to obviously expand, grow to capture the American US market. So for Americans, British education is cheaper, less duration. And obviously it's English speaking and it's equal quality of embedded sometimes. So that's the market I want to capture. So what I'm trying to say is the next stage is for me not just capture the Asian market, it's also capture the other markets, but that's just the next stage. Yeah, there's next stage. But why I feel I don't want to end with that is because I'm still limited by who I can help. I'm only helping students want to study abroad. Not helping students want to study in the country, Tunisia. Okay, I see. So a feedback or not a feedback. So when I was doing the Scottish edge pitch, a higher student, high school students were sitting and watching it. The talk tour, the talk tour of mile. So they were like, "Javin, why don't you do it for us?" And the easy question was, I'm not able to make any money because there's no revenue for helping you right now. So I need to survive first. Of course. To help you guys. So that's why I'm not able to help local students study locally. But I feel guilty. So you can try and say, "I want to help you too." But I can only do so much. So my next stage after that is help any student find their purpose in life, their passion and life. It doesn't have to be a university degree. It's not a university degree. No, there's loads of paths. You can online, apprenticeship, internship. So that's probably maybe my end goal. You could call it, help anybody. Give them that tailored, curated, the best of our abilities, that path, if you want to become that, there's a decent possible thing to follow. Not necessarily university degree, but could be anything. That's the stage after the next. Yeah. I think it's just one thing I'm taking from this podcast. It's think big. You know, you have a big world omniscience. I want to just to help everyone, you know, live a life that they deserve it, I guess. And help facilitate that. I want to finish off with one question. We could talk all day. I might have to end up making this podcast a little longer. I'm sorry. No, because I have so many questions for you. And it's great just to hear about your journey, where you're being, where you're starting, and where you're going. So we really could talk all day. But I want to finish off with one question. If you could go back in time and spend 30 seconds with 20-year-old Javin. What would you tell him? I would just keep doing what you're doing, man. It's going to get there. I honestly wouldn't ever tell myself to change anything in me, because whoever I was and whatever I did is what led me here. Okay. Maybe a one thing I would say is Javin invests in that Bitcoin when you have that. Because I was about to invest a couple of incidents. First incidents went Bitcoin released. And the second incidents went Bitcoin was about to get that bubble stone. So I had a planet investing before it went. So I would say Javin, at that time, invest. So don't look back and fully you're good. Fully you're good. Don't change anything that you're doing. Don't ask people that is the right thing to do. Just go for it. If your God tells you that's the right thing to do. And don't change anything. Just be yourself. I mean, do what you do. Some makes sense. Yeah, I want to do it myself. It's your journey, it's your story. It's an incredible one at that. Maybe if you invest in Bitcoin and you made millions from that, maybe you wouldn't be as motivated to do what you've done. So change. True. Yeah, that's what. So that's all said. I don't want to change anything. So first thing, don't just do what you need to do. But maybe think of it. Because if you ask me what things I regret is investing in Bitcoin in 2009 when I had the opportunity and say not taking that chance. And then second time in 2017 when I had the chance again before it went up higher. So again, I was like, I was like, kick it back for some reason and look where it's at. Yeah, I didn't take the risk. Yeah, I was like, but again, like you mentioned, if I did take that risk, if I didn't risk, I wouldn't be doing maybe. It's not what they were or something. I'd already be on a beach. And I'm helping people with the purpose and making money with the purpose. So help exactly. Don't change anything. You might not have been on this path for potential like us. I wouldn't have met you. So everything I have is already. It's an exact, don't change anything. Don't just the past. Just live your life and live it with self belief. Javin, thank you so much for coming on the path for potential podcast. It's been a pleasure having you in Dundee. I hope we can see you more often. Yeah, but when it's locked in your future endeavors, I'm going to stay and talk to the top of all about what you're doing. Oh, thank you. The business is amazing. And you're out here helping so many people. I'm excited to see more risk. It's an honor to be here. Yeah, I think. Yeah, it's an honor to be here. And I didn't expect any of this to come into a university like this. Now it's still being a part of it up to six years. It's still a massive thing for me. So it feels like a community family. Trust me, I'm not saying this for any of the promotional stuff. I honestly love, you know, I can probably say that I'm going to my university which I studied five years ago, six years ago. And they still welcome me like, you know, I'm just like one of them. Wow. So I love that about, thank you. What would you call Dundee? A home, a second home. 100%. Yeah. I don't usually say this forever. I've studied in four to five institutions in the past, at least five here. I wouldn't call any other institution home. So this would be the sixth institution. And I would only call Dundee my favorite ever. I would only recommend, so I don't usually recommend people to take a crappy thing which a five experience, it don't do that. But Dundee is something I would always recommend. No endorsement, not saying. But I genuinely enjoyed my experience. And Dundee, maybe not all programs are good here. I don't know. But I did. I've got the best experience ever and do I call this like the best uni or the best institution I have studied? 100%. Wow. And this is my second home. But why is it, do you think it's down to the people? You know, do you think it's down to like, is there a reason for that? Because obviously, you took the opportunity to come to the set. Obviously, me and people like, they go, I'd be surrounded by that. So yeah, again, if this is something I tell everybody, it's on the companies made up of some of the name. And the entities on the government policies, under that people make that company. So if there was a center like this, and it was. different people, I might not have had the same feeling about this center, front of nature. 100 percent I feel I'm at home because of the people. There's no doubt about it. I think it's the people that has made it because we're all interacting with the nature which is living on, but then again mainly humans we're interacting with. I think it's the people that made me realize that they're welcoming. It's more like sometimes I think why they're helping after all this year. I feel like they're doing too much, I don't know what's in it for them. I'll make money from that. I'm out of here, I'm not paying me anything. You still give me value. So I would in there, I feel like they got my back, I thought email Brian, Chris or Kat anything. They immediately, we go, "Jemm, have to sting." Yeah, come on. I don't know my family, where can I get this? And I'm not even gushed. I'm not even seeing. No, I see as well. I love this place. And just good to meet you. Kevin, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. No, we're going to have to do a second episode at some point. I would love it if I, sorry if I talked too much. No, no, man. Just more insights for the audience, but thank you so much for the podcast. No, it's rather. Maybe episode two coming next semester. Guys, want it? Like, share, subscribe. Thank you.

Podcast Summary

Key Points:

  1. Javin Zach is the founder of Huffle Bubble, a platform that matches international students' passions and skills to degree programs and universities.
  2. His entrepreneurial drive stems from a childhood as an underprivileged student in an expensive school, where he observed that peers from business families had more financial freedom.
  3. A pivotal moment was winning a nationwide smartphone contest in Bahrain, which built his self-belief despite being called "stupid" by his father.
  4. Huffle Bubble aims to provide guidance that Javin lacked, helping underprivileged students discover their unique potential and achieve dream careers.
  5. He emphasizes the importance of communication and tailoring pitches to different audiences (e.g., investors vs. cultural contexts) as key to business success.

Summary:

Javin Zach, founder of Huffle Bubble, shares his journey from a struggling student to an entrepreneur. Growing up as a "loser kid" in a wealthy school in India and Bahrain, he felt out of place and poor. A turning point came when he won a nationwide contest to make the longest call, securing a Blackberry smartphone despite his father's skepticism.

This success taught him to trust himself and ignore negative opinions. He later created Huffle Bubble, a platform described as "Tinder for academia," which aligns students' passions and skills with degree programs and universities. The mission stems from his own lack of guidance, aiming to help underprivileged students find their unique path and achieve their dream careers.

Javin highlights communication as vital for founders, noting that business relationships require genuine connection, like personal ones. He adapts his pitch to different audiences—for example, framing the problem as dropout risk in the UK versus wasted time and money in India, where cultural pressures prevent quitting. This audience awareness, combined with self-belief, has helped him win competitions like Scot Edge and secure investment.

Ultimately, Javin believes that everyone is unique and capable, and Huffle Bubble exists to give them the belief and tools to succeed.

FAQs

Huffle Bubble is a mission-driven business that helps international students align their passion, interests, and skills with a degree program, matching them to the best university. It is often described as 'Tinder for academia'.

The founder was inspired by his own struggles as an underprivileged student who felt out of place and dreamed of a better life. He wanted to provide the guidance and self-belief he lacked, helping others find their dream careers.

A key moment was winning a nationwide contest to make the longest call, which earned him a smartphone. Despite his father calling him stupid, this success showed him that trying could lead to unexpected results.

Communication is vital because business relies on personal connections; people are more likely to invest or collaborate if they like you. It is about making genuine connections, similar to building relationships.

You must understand your audience's background and concerns. For example, pitching to British students may focus on preventing dropouts, while pitching to Indian students should emphasize avoiding wasted money and time on a degree leading to an unfulfilling job.

The founder learned that effective communication can lead to career success. His father noted that a friend who became a VP succeeded because 'he can talk,' highlighting the importance of connecting with others.

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