Jan Gunash

On my recent travels I’ve had the chance to sit with entrepreneurs in some of the world’s most exciting tech hubs. Each conversation gave me a different lens on what growth really means. We talk about unicorns all the time. We look for markets that can explode. But how many founders truly believe they can take their company that far?

A recent conversation with a founder from LA has stayed with me. Over coffee, a founder shared his five year vision. He looked me in the eye and said, “I want to be the best. I want to make a top 1% impact on this world. And I want to carry my team, who have invested so much time into me and this company, to financial freedom. Anything less is a failure. And thus I am a failure.” He wasn’t saying it for effect. He meant it.

That night I thought about his words. I remembered a lecture at NEXTAI with Reza Satchu where he spoke about risk and decision making. Great founders, sometimes lucky, make good decisions with limited information. But where does ambition fit in? Can you build something massive if you don’t first believe you can?

Reza taught me something that still guides me today. Being in a room where everyone is chasing a breakthrough changes you. Ambition is contagious. When you are surrounded by people who are reaching for the extraordinary, you start to believe that the extraordinary is possible. Their energy pushes you to think bigger, take bolder risks and sharpen your own vision.

I think deep down we all want to do something great with our lives. About a year and a half ago I started to feel a deep discomfort with where I was. Nothing was fundamentally wrong, but I couldn’t shake the sense that I wasn’t making an impact I could be proud of.

I was fortunate to have a mentor who took the time to sit with me and talk it through. As we unpacked my journey, I realized that my happiest moments had always been tied to entrepreneurship. Every meaningful experience I valued traced back to one thing: impact.

That realization became a turning point. It opened doors I hadn’t noticed before and pulled me toward opportunities that felt purposeful. Following that thread eventually led me to CoeusAI, where I now have the chance to build something that matters.

My own moonshot is personal. I am building for impact. For my family. For the people who bet on me early. It is my way of giving back to the communities that shaped me and of seizing opportunities that those before me never had. This isn’t about ego. It is about carrying the people I love and the people who lifted me into a future where their sacrifices are honored.

If I had to place a bet I would always bet on the person who believes with everything in them that they will make it. Not because they have all the answers but because belief drives action. Belief attracts the right people. Belief pushes you through the walls.

Here’s to moonshots and to the founders bold enough to take them. Thinking big is not just ambition. It is the first step toward making the impossible real.

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