Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or watch on Youtube.
Timestamps
0:59 - Welcome to Sidekick + introduction to Dora
2:06 - The genesis of Imagi: where the idea came from
3:14 - The grand vision: where Dora wants to take Imagi
4:35 - Schools delaying AI adoption: Dora’s reflections
6:56 - “Banning AI is the lazy way out”: intentional use vs. bans
8:40 - Personalised learning is finally possible, so why are we scared?
9:54 - Founder lesson: there’s no “A for effort” in entrepreneurship
13:14 - What she learnt as an a16z scout, and how it shaped her as a founder
15:44 - One piece of advice: walk your own path, imperfectly
Schools are racing to ban AI but what if that's the lazy way out? This week on Sidekick, we sit down with Dora, co-founder and CEO of Imagi, one of Brighteye's portfolio company building a safety and responsibility layer between K12 students and the real-world AI tools they'll increasingly use. Dora shares why Imagi pivoted from coding education to AI literacy, how schools can hold two realities at once (embracing AI in some contexts and excluding it in others!) and why personalised learning, finally possible thanks to AI, should be celebrated rather than feared.
We also go beyond the product. Shee opens up about the hardest parts of being a founder (hint: there's no "A for effort"), what she learned writing 10+ checks as an A16Z scout, and why the best advice she can give fellow founders is to walk your own path imperfectly rather than someone else's perfectly.
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