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Varun Mayya

Varun Mayya

Science and business follow the same principles and are practically the same thing - you experiment, you observe, you make conclusions, and you repeat.
I help entrepreneurs build software, content, small companies, and freelancing careers with actionable advice. I try my best to distill new developments in technology for the masses. Most importantly, I practice what I preach. I failed countless times on countless projects with a few small wins, and I have come to realise that this is the norm :)

Collabs: teamvarunmayya@gmail.com

Links:
Instagram: https://instagram.com/thevarunmayya

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Episodes 39

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  • Yesterday · 10 min

    Quantum Suicide

    Cero means "Zero" in Spanish. Uploaded 12-07-19 Business was my gateway drug to philosophy and understanding humans. In these short podcasts, let's talk black holes, computing, physics, business and philosophy, and let's try to keep it short. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More: At the end of the day, everything from product to marketing to sales is fundamentally about psychology. I spend a lot of time reading research papers and running experiments in the neurosciences lab and on people. On Instagram, I've noticed how putting out any advanced content on this type of research gets me lower engagement - so I'm going to reserve that platform to put up motivational quotes and updates, and use this playlist to put out content for people to really win at this game of life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Yesterday · 7 min

    What if Mickey Mouse was conscious?

    Cero means "Zero" in Spanish. Uploaded 12-07-19 Business was my gateway drug to philosophy and understanding humans. In these short podcasts, let's talk black holes, computing, physics, business and philosophy, and let's try to keep it short. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More: At the end of the day, everything from product to marketing to sales is fundamentally about psychology. I spend a lot of time reading research papers and running experiments in the neurosciences lab and on people. On Instagram, I've noticed how putting out any advanced content on this type of research gets me lower engagement - so I'm going to reserve that platform to put up motivational quotes and updates, and use this playlist to put out content for people to really win at this game of life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Yesterday · 10 min

    Your brain is scamming you

    Credit to https://twitter.com/foone for inspiring me to do this video. Uploaded 12-07-19 Cero means "Zero" in Spanish. Business was my gateway drug to philosophy and understanding humans. In these short podcasts, let's talk black holes, computing, physics, business and philosophy, and let's try to keep it short. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More: At the end of the day, everything from product to marketing to sales is fundamentally about psychology. I spend a lot of time reading research papers and running experiments in the neurosciences lab and on people. On Instagram, I've noticed how putting out any advanced content on this type of research gets me lower engagement - so I'm going to reserve that platform to put up motivational quotes and updates, and use this playlist to put out content for people to really win at this game of life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Yesterday · 57 min

    How to Get Hired Faster Than Everyone Else | Kata 8

    In this Kata, we break down how to hire and also, how to get hired. The focus is on what companies really look for, what actually matters, and why most people misunderstand the process. Uploaded 09-04-26 We talk about why hiring is not about treating people as replaceable, but about building teams where each person brings something unique. We also explain what companies look for beyond just skills, like attitude, learning ability, judgment, and whether someone can actually do the work instead of just talking about it. A big part of this Kata is understanding why people struggle to get hired. We look at how CVs often do not mean much anymore, why portfolios and proof of work matter more, and how referrals and real experience play a role. The overall idea is simple: what you say matters less than what you can show. 00:00 – 00:37 Highlights 01:34 -- Intro 04:22 -- How Different Companies Hire 06:33 - Fungibility Fallacy 15:16 - Live Exercise with Hiring Team 27:16 - CHAMPR Framework 30:05 - Entry vs Senior Level Hiring 31:37 - Hiring Mistakes 37:20 - A B C Players and Retaining Talent 42:00 - Red Flag Syndromes 49:03- Closing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Yesterday · 25 min

    Zuckerberg's Secret Plan To WIN The AI Race | Meta AI Chief Reveals Future

    In this episode, we sit down with Alex Wang, former founder of Scale AI and now Chief AI Officer at Meta, to understand what Meta Superintelligence Labs is actually building. We talk about how Meta is designing its AI organisation from scratch, focusing on research depth, talent density, and long-term scientific foundations instead of short-term wins. Uploaded 26-02-26 We then understand how Meta balances frontier research with real-world products, and how models, infrastructure, and consumer applications all work together. They focus then shifts to AI agents, including wearables like the Ray-Ban Meta glasses. Finally, we talk about leadership, what it is like working with Mark Zuckerberg. So if you’re someone even remotely interested in AI, this conversation has it all. 00:00 - Highlights 00:57 - Introduction 01:46 - What is Meta Super Intelligence Labs? 03:31 - Balancing Research vs Product 05:17 - What's the team structure at MSL? 06:16 - Why Meta is betting big on personal agents 07:05 - What is Meta's identity in the AI race? 08:21 - The hardware vision beyond the phone 09:28 - When will Meta Ray-Bans get modern AI? 11:22 - Lessons from being an 18-year-old entrepreneur vs. today 13:54 - Why Alex left Scale AI to join Meta 16:18 - Alex's Unconventional Views on AI 18:10 - Should Meta have a chief philosopher for AI? 19:21 - What's it like working with Mark Zuckerberg? 21:12 - Closing thoughts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Yesterday · 36 min

    Step by Step Plan to Become 10x Smarter (For Humans)

    The Robot Design in the intro is designed by: Aze Λlter https://x.com/AzeAlter?s=20 Uploaded 17-05-26 Go to https://cyberghostvpn.com/VarunMayya to get 84% off from our sponsors CyberGhost VPN with 4 months free! In this video, we explore how the same ideas that made AI models smarter over the last few years can also help humans think and learn better. Using the evolution of large language models as a reference point, we talk about things like reasoning, learning through feedback, using tools properly, recognizing patterns, and adapting to new situations. The idea is simple: intelligence is not just talent, it’s something that can be trained and improved deliberately over time. We then go through practical ideas around thinking clearly, learning faster, building judgment, teaching others, and becoming more adaptable. The conversation touches on mentorship, creativity, decision-making under pressure, multimodal learning, and why people who can combine different skills and perspectives tend to do better in the long run. Instead of treating learning as just consuming information, we discuss how real understanding usually comes from doing, experimenting, explaining, and building things yourself. Finally, we talk about continual learning and why the ability to unlearn old ways of thinking is becoming more important than ever. A lot of people get stuck because they become too attached to old identities, old systems, or old assumptions. The people who keep growing are usually the ones who stay flexible, curious, and willing to update themselves as the world changes. 00:00 - Introduction 02:50 - Stage One 04:50 - Stage Two 08:17 - Stage Three 11:28 - Stage Four 14:09 - Stage Five 17:12 - Stage Six 19:40 - Stage Seven 22:17 - Stage Eight 24:32 - Stage Nine 27:23 - Stage Ten 30:35 - Closing Thoughts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Yesterday · 10 min

    The Secret to Creativity

    Cero means "Zero" in Spanish. Uploaded 12-07-19 Business was my gateway drug to philosophy and understanding humans. In these short podcasts, let's talk black holes, computing, physics, business and philosophy, and let's try to keep it short. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More: At the end of the day, everything from product to marketing to sales is fundamentally about psychology. I spend a lot of time reading research papers and running experiments in the neurosciences lab and on people. On Instagram, I've noticed how putting out any advanced content on this type of research gets me lower engagement - so I'm going to reserve that platform to put up motivational quotes and updates, and use this playlist to put out content for people to really win at this game of life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Yesterday · 12 min

    How to REALLY change yourself

    Cero means "Zero" in Spanish. Uploaded 12-07-19 Business was my gateway drug to philosophy and understanding humans. In these short podcasts, let's talk black holes, computing, physics, business and philosophy, and let's try to keep it short. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More: At the end of the day, everything from product to marketing to sales is fundamentally about psychology. I spend a lot of time reading research papers and running experiments in the neurosciences lab and on people. On Instagram, I've noticed how putting out any advanced content on this type of research gets me lower engagement - so I'm going to reserve that platform to put up motivational quotes and updates, and use this playlist to put out content for people to really win at this game of life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Saturday · 6 min

    Why children NEED fairytales

    Cero means "Zero" in Spanish. Uploaded 12-07-19 Business was my gateway drug to philosophy and understanding humans. In these short podcasts, let's talk black holes, computing, physics, business and philosophy, and let's try to keep it short. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More: At the end of the day, everything from product to marketing to sales is fundamentally about psychology. I spend a lot of time reading research papers and running experiments in the neurosciences lab and on people. On Instagram, I've noticed how putting out any advanced content on this type of research gets me lower engagement - so I'm going to reserve that platform to put up motivational quotes and updates, and use this playlist to put out content for people to really win at this game of life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Saturday · 6 min

    The Big Bang is still happening

    Cero means "Zero" in Spanish. Uploaded 12-07-19 Business was my gateway drug to philosophy and understanding humans. In these short podcasts, let's talk black holes, computing, physics, business and philosophy, and let's try to keep it short. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More: At the end of the day, everything from product to marketing to sales is fundamentally about psychology. I spend a lot of time reading research papers and running experiments in the neurosciences lab and on people. On Instagram, I've noticed how putting out any advanced content on this type of research gets me lower engagement - so I'm going to reserve that platform to put up motivational quotes and updates, and use this playlist to put out content for people to really win at this game of life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Saturday · 42 min

    Career Advice for People Who Feel Lost | Kata 7

    In this session, we talk about confusion and why it is such a common problem, especially early in your career. We look at how having too many options, constant exposure to new opportunities, and fear of making the wrong choice keeps people stuck. The idea is simple, most people are not lacking ability, they are just unable to decide and commit. Uploaded 29-03-26 We then break down how to deal with this. Instead of chasing everything, we focus on choosing one thing and sticking with it long enough for it to work. We also talk about the difference between being confused and actually diversifying, and why doing too many things too early reduces your impact. Finally, we look at how decisions should be made in practice. When to move fast, when to take time, and why taking action matters more than overthinking. The core idea is that clarity does not come before action, it comes after you decide and start. 00:00 - Highlights 00:55 - The Confusion 01:23 - Hyper Gambling 04:05 - Confusion vs. Diversification 04:46 - Peter Thiel's 4 Quadrants 08:49 - Greg McKeown's Essentialism 10:43 - Gary Keller's The One Thing 11:44 - The Freelancer's Trap 18:57 - Clarity as Your Competitive Edge 28:47 - The Anti-Confusion Playbook 29:07 - One-Way Doors vs. Two-Way Doors 32:34 - The Rule of Three 34:03 - Growth Rate vs. Absolute Scale 35:46 - Closing Thoughts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Saturday · 1 hr 14 min

    How To Take Risk Like Rich People Do (1 Hour Masterclass) | Kata 9

    In this Kata, we break down how risk actually works in real life, especially in careers and business. We move away from the idea that success comes from taking big risks, and instead focus on understanding risk properly, reducing it over time, and making better decisions. Uploaded 20-04-26 We then look at how decisions should be made in practice. Instead of overthinking or guessing, the focus is on running small experiments, learning from real results, and adjusting as you go. We also cover the gap between what people say they want and what they actually do, and why observing real behavior gives better clarity. Finally, we bring it together into a simple approach. Keep your downside limited, avoid decisions that close future options, and only scale what is working. The idea is not to remove risk, but to manage it in a way where you stay in the game long enough to benefit from the upside. 0:00 - Intro 2:55 - What this episode covers 3:33 - Everything in life is risk 6:03 - Content dampens effect of luck 7:05 - Stated vs revealed preference 7:59 - Spot permanent behavior shifts 9:29 - Timeless human nature stays constant 13:06 - Risk is what you missed 14:35 - Think in probabilities, not binaries 16:18 - GTO: cheap experiments, high payoff 18:08 - Startup funding stages explained 23:24 - How Aeos staged its risks 27:40 - Two-year career outcome modeling 33:40 - Never burn irreversible bridges 35:05 - Fake vs real optionality 40:06 - Second-level thinking on crowds 41:38 - Always have shock absorbers 45:12 - Three stories on risk and randomness 48:15 - Infosys shares story 49:35 - How venture backed founders make money 50:56 - Loss aversion hurts more 53:31 - Keep 80-90% ultra safe 56:12 - Medium risk wipes you out 57:43 - Productive paranoia in good times 1:00:10 - Skill domains vs random domains 1:02:01 - The antidote to risk 1:07:14 Summary and closing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Saturday · 44 min

    Why Indian Startups Are Unprofitable | KATA 6

    Welcome to the sixth session of the 16-Kata series. This one takes on one of the most quietly destructive problems in business and life: attribution. Figuring out what's actually responsible for your success or failure, and why most people get it completely wrong. Uploaded 09-03-26 The session walks through how Nike lost $25 billion by chasing what was easy to measure over what actually built the brand, why Indian startups stay unprofitable by overdosing on performance marketing, and why tools like coupon codes, ROAS, and "how did you hear about us" forms give you garbage data. It also applies the same lens to life, challenging ideas like "hard work leads to success" and "the best product wins" as textbook poor attribution, and asking a room spending 10 lakhs on degrees whether those degrees had anything to do with where they are today. Whether you're in marketing, building a company, or just trying to figure out why certain decisions aren't paying off the way you expected, learning how to attribute correctly changes how you spend your money, your time, and your energy. If you're optimizing the wrong inputs in your business or your life, this one's for you. 00:00 - Highlights 00:59 - What Is Attribution? 03:40 - Creators Who Steal Credit 05:06 - ROAS Is Killing Your Brand 07:50 - How Nike Lost $25 Billion 09:52 - The Performance Marketing Death Spiral 13:20 - Your Survey Data Is Lying to You 16:50 - The Proxy Attribution Hack 18:31 - Shares Are the Only Metric That Matters 20:48 - How People Actually Buy Things 24:00 - Bad Products Advertise for Competitors 25:08 - The Only Attribution Method That Works 26:36 - Did Your Degree Even Matter? 29:00 - There's No Single Path to Success 34:32 - Hard Work Is Not Enough 36:00 - The Actual Formula for Business Success 37:43 - Closing Thoughts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Saturday · 23 min

    Two ways we can become immortal

    Cero means "Zero" in Spanish. Uploaded 12-07-19 Business was my gateway drug to philosophy and understanding humans. In these short podcasts, let's talk black holes, computing, physics, business and philosophy, and let's try to keep it short. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More: At the end of the day, everything from product to marketing to sales is fundamentally about psychology. I spend a lot of time reading research papers and running experiments in the neurosciences lab and on people. On Instagram, I've noticed how putting out any advanced content on this type of research gets me lower engagement - so I'm going to reserve that platform to put up motivational quotes and updates, and use this playlist to put out content for people to really win at this game of life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Saturday · 6 min

    Unleash The Avatar - Gameplay Trailer | Bollywood Soulslike Game

    Wishlist on Steam below: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4054220/Unleash_The_Avatar/ Uploaded 22-06-26 After 6 months of hard work, we're ready to show what's next. Get a glimpse of the latest gameplay trailer and story bits featuring Johnny Yong Bosch (who voices Ichigo from Bleach) as the voice actor of Vikram. This game is a work of fiction produced by an independent game studio. It is set in a fictionalized version of India and features imagined characters, organizations, locations, and events. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), groups, beliefs, or historical events is purely coincidental. In the playable game, no deity is presented without appropriate respectful context, and no disrespect is intended to any community. All cinematics and gameplay are recorded in-engine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Saturday · 26 min

    We Tested the Best AI Model… It Got Banned

    In this video, we take a closer look at Anthropic’s latest model, Fable 5, and try to answer a simple question: is this yet another incremental LLM, or is it an actual jump over the previous models? Uploaded 12-06-26 And instead of talking about benchmarks, we put Fable 5 through actual real-world tests. We build games, apps, research reports, simulations, and a bunch of other projects to see what the model can actually do. Along the way, we also compare it against previous models and talk about where it genuinely feels different. Finally, we zoom out and discuss what all of this means going forward. If models can already handle more and more complex tasks with little to no guidance, where does that leave software, knowledge work, and the way we build things? So whether you’re a developer, founder, creator, or just curious about AI, you cannot skip this video considering this will give you a good sense of where things are headed. 00:00 - Intro 01:28 - PC Builder 04:34 - Building Dota 14:54 - Mumbai Local Simulator 15:57 - One Wish Willow Website 17:19 - Stick Cricket on My Phone 18:51 - The Creator Economy Report Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Saturday · 10 min

    A BRAND NEW TECHNIQUE TO LEARN ANYTHING: 3-Pass Learning!

    Don't forget to follow me on https://www.instagram.com/thevarunmayya Uploaded 17-07-18 Remember, you're an overgrown biological computer! 3-Pass learning is a science based way to study, retain and understand absolutely any concept/topic by hijacking all that we know about human cognition and memory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Saturday · 45 min

    How Distribution Can 10x Your Luck, Career and Income | KATA 10

    Check Out GenC: https://forms.genc.club/r/wv7y08?utm_source=vm_july Uploaded 16-07-26 In this Kata, we talk about one of the most important ideas we've learned after building content for years: distribution. We discuss why it's often more valuable than the product itself, how it creates opportunities that you can't predict, and why building an audience is really about building trust over time, not just chasing views. We also break down how people actually make decisions. From buying products to hiring people, we explore why repeated exposure matters, why content rarely gives instant results, and how trust is built through consistent touchpoints across different platforms. Along the way, we share practical ways to think about content, personal branding, and growing a business in the long run. Finally, we look at what separates content that performs from content that doesn't. We discuss the metrics that actually matter, common mistakes companies make, why many businesses still underestimate content, and why playing the long game almost always wins. If you're trying to build a company, grow your career, or simply get more people to know your work, this Kata is a good place to start. 00:00 Intro 00:57 Distribution is 10x more valuable than product 04:07 How we made superstars out of nobodies 05:04 All your success is luck 07:46 Build yourself a lightning catcher 09:51 What a big audience actually gets you 12:42 The difference between content and distribution 15:47 Is trust even measurable 20:49 The exact number of touchpoints you need 27:25 How to know if your content is working 34:54 Why marketing managers won't do this 37:54 Summary and closing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Showing 21–39 of 39 episodes