Born and raised in San Antonio, TX, Farouk attended Texas Military Institute. There he developed his interest in behavioral economics, intelligence collection, and philosophy. He took part in the JROTC military program and served as a first sergeant, raider team commander, and company commander, leading 40+ students at a time in rifle training, marching competitions, uniform inspection, and early-morning obstacle-course training.
During this time, he also wrote a 500+ page literary novel, , a psychological thriller set in San Antonio. He also made a 30-minute surrealist film, Tango, set during the Korean War.
Serving as company commander for a 40+ team my senior year.At the military ball with my date.Texas sign.
University
During his time at Vanderbilt University, Farouk founded Arrowz, an AI mental-health company that sought to improve the quality and quantity of therapy for college students. He recruited 15+ students, directly managed a team of 4 software engineers, raised $300k, and developed a nationwide grass-roots marketing strategy. Although he served as CEO, his functions included being a product manager (running sprints, holding stand-ups, updating the backlog, administering 300+ customer interviews) and marketing lead (testing media content's conversion rates, recruiting grass-roots marketers). Arrowz successfully scaled to 5+ universities. Farouk has decided to leave Arrowz in pursuit of GTM or operations experience at another company.
Monthly GBM for Arrowz team-members. Our Theoretics team would cook BBQ and host us on the rooftop.Me pitching to investors in a pub in London.Me and the Director of Marketing tabling outside Vanderbilt's busiest dining hall to drive app downloads.
Farouk hosted the podcast Notes from Nash for 2 years at The Vanderbilt Hustler. He published 35+ episodes with 38,000+ total views and 50+ hours of talking time with experts across diverse fields — guests included the U.S. Attorney during 9/11 and the director of photography for Midsommar and Hereditary. He also wrote articles defending free speech at Vanderbilt, his first garnering 15k+ views in its first week.
Me setting up the podcast studio before my guest for that day arrives.Me debating Michael Knowles about religion — millions of views on YouTube, which prompted me to write my We should allow controversial speech article.
Farouk also helped form the Vanderbilt Fusion Project (VFP) — the first undergrad-led team to build a mini nuclear fusion reactor. As a business-operations team lead, he coordinated technical partnerships with Oak Ridge and Sandia National Laboratories to validate reactor design and safety, managed investor relations, and helped secure a $100k grant from Vanderbilt.
Visiting Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where I helped establish a long-term relationship with VFP.
The business-operations team preparing a pitch deck to raise money for VFP.The Vanderbilt Fusion Project technical team.
He has also taught high-schoolers Islamic & Jewish philosophy for two summers, served as a media strategist for a public-policy think tank, and helped develop an ML algorithm driving a 300% increase in identification of low-socioeconomic, gifted students.
Teaching a curriculum on Islamic philosophy I crafted, then facilitating debate between students.
Currently
Farouk just graduated from Vanderbilt University with a B.S. in Economics, a B.A. in Psychology, and a minor in Data Science. He is looking for GTM / operations opportunities at companies, and is most excited by products that enhance human wellness — human connection, physical health, and environmental cleanliness.
Sitting in front of Wilson Hall — home of the psychology labs, where I've spent most of my time at Vanderbilt.At a UC Berkeley hackathon for San Francisco Tech Week.One of many interviews I conducted last summer, traveling the world interviewing experts on the ethics of AI.
Rules for Operating
A few principles I try to live and work by.
02
Arrowz
Gamified Emotional Management App
The Problem
60% of college students say their schools do not adequately meet their mental health needs
15% of college students seriously consider suicide
Average wait time of 3 weeks before 1st session at a counseling center
Supply > Demand → Shortage
My Solution
A therapist–student relationship facilitator to help clients remain cared for before their first session, in between sessions, and once they hit their session limit and are referred to outside providers
An app with:
a personalized AI chatbot to help you think clearly
behavior analytics to understand patterns
learning modules assigned by therapist to continue learning outside sessions
history of session notes to provide to next therapist to pick up where student left off
I recruited 15+ students of diverse backgrounds including medicine, economics, neuroscience, philosophy, and computer science.
Every month we held a General Body Meeting where all 15 team members would gather and present their respective team's slides — brand design, marketing, theoretics, tech, and c-suite — followed by a BBQ. I always invited somebody new each month who wasn't familiar with our operations to give us feedback on what we presented, and we'd openly discuss with them where to take the company and mission.
I interviewed 50+ people at SXSW and the University of Texas at Austin to better understand how people deal with depression and anxiety.
Insights
32% of people identified anxiety as the most prevalent displeasurable emotion.
24% experience a displeasurable emotion with an intensity of ≥7/10 at least once per week.
Problem (validated): College students deal with high rates of depression / anxiety, and it substantially reduces their productivity and/or wellbeing.
Identified Customer Segment
Female · Age 18–35 · feels a displeasurable emotion at intensity ≥7/10, ≥1× per week.
My roommate during SXSW. Met the founder of Liquid AI here.A place I interviewed people at SXSW.
A 6-week randomized pilot study of 17 students to test Arrowz's effectiveness for emotional management.
Customer Discovery Findings
75% said Arrowz improved their ability to think clearly about emotions drastically
75% said writing down thoughts for making decisions was somewhat to very important
59% said customizability was the most important feature in a journaling app
“…I felt that it allowed me to organize my thoughts and it let me recognize patterns that I would have not paid attention to otherwise.”
Drove 20k+ downloads in 1.5 years and achieved 4+ notes generated per user by launching a targeted marketing campaign tailored to college students.
Pavia ad — coming soon
Pavia ad120-second tutorial
50.9%
Conversion rate daily average
How
Recruited Vanderbilt football quarterback Diego Pavia to lead a media campaign showcasing his use of Arrowz before and after games; pitched the campaign to fraternity / sorority houses and psychology classrooms to drive student engagement; created a 120-second HQ skit explaining how to use Arrowz.
Why
Initiated partnership discussions with the University Counseling Center by securing a scheduled meeting; committed to delivering 400 downloads that month after launch as proof of student demand and product–market fit at Vanderbilt.
My Contribution
Discovery
Met with the Director of the University Counseling Center and identified opportunities for collaboration, with the app launching in a few weeks.
Design
Developed a detailed roadmap for the marketing and brand-design teams; collaborated with Diego Pavia and engaged high-volume customer channels to drive user acquisition.
Delivery
Scripted and edited advertisements featuring Diego Pavia, managed the monthly newsletter, and cultivated a network of investors, business owners, and wellness experts who amplified Arrowz through their customer and partner channels.
Increased pre-launch engagement on Arrowz media by 600% in one week by updating the website and flyers to align with the brand's well-being mission.
Before
After
How
Redesigned our flyers and website by replacing large blocks of descriptive text with fun, wellbeing-inspired content. Created an advertisement board and strategically placed it at various spots on campus, generating buzz.
Why
Faced challenges with low waitlist numbers and Instagram followers a month before launch, competing against several other apps in the same space.
My Contribution
Discovery
Identified stagnation in waitlist numbers and Instagram followers, which had remained unchanged for over two months.
Design
Updated the website to include a new mascot, a page detailing our research and the team's story, and revamped all flyers and media pages.
Delivery
Mobilized the marketing team to distribute flyers, periodically relocate a wooden banner featuring our advertisement across campus, and target audience-specific channels such as sorority houses and therapy offices for promotion.
I traveled all over the world during the summer interviewing experts on the ethics of AI. Simultaneously, I pitched to investors at pubs in England, cafés in Palo Alto, etc. Successfully raised $300k through angel investors.
$300K
Raised angel investors
Pitching Arrowz — “The Duolingo of Mental Health.”On the road, building relationships with investors.
Novel · Literary / Psychological Thriller · 94,600 words
SNAKE CHARMER is a literary novel about a therapist, Waldo, who becomes obsessed with trying to unveil the truth about Athena, an allegedly abused teenage girl. Athena is a jarring, cigarette-smoking, philosophizing cheerleader who shadows Waldo in the clinic.
Waldo's obsession leads to the people around him calling into question his sanity and Athena's truthfulness about her abuse. Eventually, Waldo, supposedly trying to save Athena, harbors her from everyone, leading to a cat-and-mouse game between him and Athena's aunt, Laura, who is trying to take custody of Athena. Meanwhile, Athena finds peace in the solitude Waldo grants her through books and meditation. Waldo & Athena's pact comes to an end when Child Protective Services pressure Waldo to give her up. Waldo, realizing the grit of Athena, lets her go with great pain. A detailed and personal image of San Antonio, Rogerian psychotherapy, eastern mysticism, playful prose, and an intense plot are all in this novel.
I wrote and edited (10+ drafts) the novel in 2 years while in high school.
