30: Zara Zaman

For our 30th episode and first of 2021, Matt and Steven are chatting with Zara Zaman, who founded edventure, the UK's first student-led venture builder and accelerator. She paints a picture of what entrepreneurship looks like for Gen Z - how purpose leads much of what student entrepreneurs want to do, and how attitudes around topics like failure and mental health are changing the way we work. University really is the ideal time for people to found a startup - the mix of people, access to resources, and energy creates the perfect melting pot. So what can we do to inspire and encourage more student startup activity? Have a listen to find out. Zara is in her final year at the University of Edinburgh, studying Arabic and French. She co-founded edvneture, who take the best applicants from universities across Europe and assemble teams with a range of complementary skill sets to build the start-ups of tomorrow. Having founded her own start-up in her first year of university and having worked with a variety of start-ups through consulting projects, she is inspired by the potential of entrepreneurship as a tool to solve the world’s most pressing issues. She strongly believes that universities are a melting pot of everything that makes a great start-up: fresh ideas, diversity, tenacity, and an understanding of what is going on in the world – with just enough optimism to believe change is possible.