Rami's Universe

FR8 hacker house application

4 min read

What problems are you interested in solving?

I am now juggling 3 Ikigais:

  • Remove the barriers to human connection and fight loneliness
    • Having overcome social anxiety, I deeply understand the barriers to genuine connection. I struggled to trust people and deeply bond with them. By studying behavioral psychology and personal development, I learned so much about human nature and what it takes to connect with people. Now I want to share that wisdom with the world through content like YouTube videos and tech like apps.
    • Over the past year, I’ve devoted 700+ hours building two open‑source mobile apps while:
      • Exo: helps people have better face-to-face conversations with their partners and friends. (currently in closed beta)
      • Orbit: Empowering every university student to find the people they want to surround themselves with. Whether it’s through finding a friend who shares your ambitions or a partner who brings out the best in you, our ultimate goal is to help you find your crew, your Orbit (launching in September in my University). This is my current focus right now. I’m looking to find a way to use GenAI to help people find the perfect person to match with. Similar to the idea of https://boardy.ai and https://series.so/
    • This is the field where I am most experienced in and believe I can create the most impact on the world through. Unfortunately it’s a tough space to be in when it comes to building a successful business out of it. But I am determined to make it work.
      • The consumer‑social arena often feels like a battlefield strewn with the wreckage of past ventures—each fallen startup leaving behind valuable wisdom I can use to hone my own strategy.
    • This is why I am applying to accelerators/hacker houses like ZFellows, 1517fund, FR8, etc…
      • I’m looking for mentorship and people who deeply think of the problems that I am trying to solve (e.g. loneliness).
      • Exchange knowledge, learnings, wisdom, perspectives.
      • I know I am not the only person who deeply thinks of these things. I wanna find these people so we can work together to make real change in this world.
      • If my idea doesn’t align with your current vision, I’d appreciate any recommendations for communities where I might find the right support.
      • Testing in Finland—a country known for its low social connectivity—offers an ideal environment to test out the app in the harshest of environments.
  • Saving people time and helping people focus on what truly matters to them (AI agent automations. This could involve creating AI-powered tools that automate repetitive tasks, allowing people to dedicate more time and attention to their personal passions and connections with others)
    • I’ve personally dabbled with tools that make it easier for us to get our thoughts and insights out of our head and into our knowledge base (I use Obsidian for note-taking).
    • My whole vault is public. You can find it here: https://notes.rami-maalouf.tech
  • Help people realize/reach their full potential, whatever that means for them. Fulfilling this:
    • Virtually through:
      • the videos I create on YouTube
    • IRL through:
      • Pushing my friends everyday to take uncomfortable actions every day.
      • Inspire them with the work that I do and remind them that greatness can be achieved by anyone persistent enough.
      • Share personalized advice when they need it/ask for it
      • I’m essentially trying to be the someone who I wish I had in my life when I was lost in purposelessness and loneliness 5 years ago
      • I can get references from my friends if you guys are looking for proof

Who are the five smartest people you know?

fr8 - 5 smartest people I know

What would you want to achieve during FR8?

Find product-market fit (PMF)

What’s something you’ve built that you’re proud of? (One example)

Share any links that tell us more about you

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