#84 - Merouane Zouaid - Why I left Morocco for Silicon Valley at 22 yo

Get Next Wave’s Startup List 2026: https://next-wave.kit.com/04ffde046b Thanks to our partner Content.ma for sponsoring this episode!Content.ma connects you with 500+ content creators who can help promote your products or services on social media. Use the code NEXTWAVE to get 10% off, or simply sign up using the link below. --- A year ago, I saw a great video on YouTube. It was about “finding opportunities as a student”, and was published by a young Moroccan engineering student under a nickname: Kaito. Kaito explains in this video that there are many ways to find opportunities: volunteering, attending events, participating in hackathons, making content, etc. Since this video, I saw others, and followed his journey as he was, indeed, finding lots of opportunities.At 23 years old, Merouane Zouaid (aka Kaito), has already: - Started multiple projects at the intersection of tech and content creation - Joined Entrepreneurs First program in a castle in Germany- Met a co -founder (in the castle!) and started a tech company- Raised a pre-seed and moved to San Francisco to pursue his dreams While sharing everything through his videos on Instagram and YouTube. He is an inspiration not only to students, but to everyone. Merouane Zouaid is the founder of Odysser, and he was my latest guest on Next Wave.In this episode, we talk about his journey from Agadir to San Francisco, from studies to launching his company and raising funds. He also shares his vision for Odysser, as he wants to help millions of people share their stories easily thanks to AI. Thank you Kaito for accepting my invitation! ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ TIMELINE ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 00:00:00: Who Is Merouane Zouaid 00:02:20: What Is Odysser 00:03:52: Starting content creation 00:09:11: Finding opportunities as a student 00:11:59: Hackathons 00:12:45: Buildspace experience 00:19:43: From content creation to tech 00:22:20: Joining Entrepreneurs First 00:30:48: Moving to the United States 00:33:34: The San Francisco experience 00:38:14: Building a company in San Francisco 00:42:45: How to move to the US 00:44:20: How Odysser works 00:51:03: The vision behind Odysser 00:57:04: On storytelling 00:58:22: Building in public 01:02:15: A video to watch 01:06:41: Where to find Merouane Zouaid