~/about

Engineer the product.
Lead the people.

The short version of a long plan.

Portrait of Yazan Azaizeh — ~/assets/portrait.jpg[SUBJECT: YAZAN]

01 / the choice

Why Harvard, when MIT said yes too?

Getting into both Harvard and MIT forces you to answer a question most people never have to: what kind of builder are you?

I believe the future depends on leaders, and that a leader has to do two things at once — build the thing and move the people. MIT would have sharpened the first. Harvard is where I sharpen both. That's the bet, and I made it deliberately.

Before Harvard, I took a gap year — teaching computer science, working on my own projects, and deciding what the next decade should look like instead of rushing into it.

Yazan in front of the MIT dome at night, wearing a Harvard lanyard — standing at MIT, wearing Harvard[THE CHOICE]

02 / how i operate

Three rules I build by.

RULE-01

Listen before you build

The best product decision I ever saw made was to stop shipping features and start hearing people. Every project I touch starts with someone's actual words.

RULE-02

Validate by hand first

Before writing code, run the idea manually. If people won't show up when a human organizes it, software won't save it.

RULE-03

Accountability beats motivation

Systems where someone expects you to show up outperform willpower every time. I design my products — and my own life — around that.

03 / trajectory

Where this is going.

BEFORE — THE REPS

Three years of MEET (MIT-affiliated CS + entrepreneurship), co-founding Hestia, then a gap year teaching CS as a MEET teaching assistant.

NOW — HARVARD '30

First year at Harvard College. Validating Study Together on the densest campus possible, and assembling the Network — the people I'll be building with for decades.

AHEAD — IN STEALTH

A company of my own — ██████████████. The vision is specific; the specifics aren't public. I talk about things after they ship — it keeps the signal honest. Want the real version? ask me directly →

04 / fast facts

The quick scan.

EDU

Harvard College, class of 2030 — admitted to both Harvard and MIT.

FOCUS

The intersection of AI, learning, and what makes people better together.

TEACH

CS teaching assistant at MEET — explaining concepts, debugging first code.

SELF

Running a self-designed AI & ML mastery program alongside coursework.

STAGE

Comfortable in front of a room — aiming at bigger stages, in a language I chose to master.

MODE

Early mornings, booked commitments, and a system for everything.

Engineer the product.Lead the people.