This interview has been transcribed and edited for clarity.

Jason Cho is a senior at Harvard College studying Biomedical Engineering and Computer Science. He lives in Quincy House.

HTR: So first of all, if you wanted to give a small introduction on your projects, yourself, and yourself as a student?

Cho: I’m Jason, a senior now in Quincy. I study biomedical engineering and computer science, and I’m an AB/SM student, doing a master’s in bioengineering as well. Right now, I’m also a Roberts Family Fellow, where I study some business classes at HBS.

Outside of school, I have a startup called Pickle. Actually, we got into YC this batch, so I might be going full time after this call. I can briefly explain what the startup does. Basically, we’re a team of seven, and I’m one of the Co-CEOs. We’re creating digital AI avatars for online meetings that real-time lip syncs to you. So you can turn off your camera, but there will be an avatar of yourself in Google Meets or Zoom. You just speak, and there will be a professional clone of yourself there — nodding, blinking, lip syncing in real time. That’s what I’m doing now, probably liberating people from Zoom fatigue.

Before that, I also did a startup called 01ab that was more of a social impact startup, where we created a safety alert platform — if there’s a crime nearby, it alerts you. I’m a Korean international student, and back in Korea last August, there was a surge in crime. Usually, our country is very safe, but that time was an exception. So we created a platform where citizens could report incidents, and it gained half a million users in about a week. Because of that experience, I was able to get into the Roberts Family Fellowship and other opportunities.

HTR: What has sort of sparked your interest in all of these fields?

Cho: I’ve always had an academic interest in creating biotech startups. I have been in research labs, where I was in a brain-computer interface research lab with Professor Jia Liu, and currently in a drug delivery lab with Professor Samir Mitragotri.

But my real passion is to make an immediate, tangible impact on society. From that first experience with 01ab — we created the platform in a day and helped half a million people — I realized how meaningful it is to act fast and make a difference. I want to be on the consumer side, with real people, real customers, and create impact right away. And I think there’s no better way to do that than through entrepreneurship.

HTR: Would you say that’s your motivation to be an innovator — the people?

Cho: Exactly. I think there’s always a way for people to add value to society. The motto of 01ab is to “imagine reckless miracles.” I want to dream of a society where I can make tangible, immediate impact. That’s what drives me to innovate. Throughout this journey, it hasn’t been easy to get here, but those moments of impact keep me going.

HTR: Could you share some key stories, or some challenges or motivations that make you keep going, or describe your journey as an innovator? How did you get here?

Cho: My journey started in the military, which I served from 2021 to 2023. I really wanted to make use of time I was in the military. What I discovered was that there were a lot of startup hackathons and entrepreneurial opportunities, even in the military, and I took advantage of that. My co-founder now — we met in middle school, but reconnected during our service — and we realized we could actually do this. We weren’t bad at it either. We won a lot of competitions and found a strong partnership.

After we finished our service, we launched a venture together — that was 01ab, the platform that served over half a million people. That confirmed to us that we were on the right path.

What really stuck with me though, were the messages we received. Some comments that I still remember are from some of the parent users. A mom emailed us to say, “Thank you so much for creating this platform — I now feel safer sending my children around subway stations in Korea.”

The incident happened in August 2023 — there was a sudden surge in stabbing crimes. No guns in Korea, but a lot of dangerous acts were happening in public spaces. So we built a platform where citizens could report suspicious activity, and we mapped that data in real time. That way, people could avoid dangerous areas and feel safer. And the citizens actually expressed gratitude, as I said, like that mom.

That kind of feedback — seeing something I built directly helping people — is what motivates me most.

HTR: Do you feel that your journey at Harvard has helped you innovate more or have a more tangible plan for your startup future?

Cho: Coming to Harvard as an international student, I didn’t feel too isolated because I joined a lot of clubs and communities early on. But in terms of being an innovator, Harvard definitely helped. I’m surrounded by people who are all doing amazing things. I was honored to be selected as one of the [Harvard Technology Review Top Ten Seniors], but I feel like everyone around me is an innovator in their own way. Talking to classmates, friends, even just walking into conversations — I’m constantly inspired. That’s what makes Harvard so special — the people.

HTR: Are there any classes or mentors that have been fundamental in achieving your goals?

Cho: What can I recommend first? This is super typical and maybe overused, but CS50. That was my first class as a freshman — during the online year in 2020. It was phenomenal and eventually led me to become a Teaching Fellow for it. Teaching others how to build products gave me confidence that I could actually build something impactful.

Right now, I’m taking a class at HBS called Life Sciences Venture Creation. As a Roberts Family Fellow, I get to take one HBS course each semester. This class has been teaching me how to build biotech companies from zero to one — something I want to do in the future when I have more capital and experience. It’s been a huge inspiration.

Also, I’m currently the Director of Founder Community at Harvard Ventures — probably the biggest entrepreneurship hub on campus. Leading that community and interacting with investors, founders, and peers has helped me grow both as a builder and as a person.

HTR: How do you find your community on campus that is helping you with your dreams?

Cho: Being the Director of Founder Community at Harvard Ventures has been a commitment. But even before that, I joined a ton of clubs — I think I did like 12 different orgs during my freshman year, which was easier since it was online and everything was on Zoom. Through that, I eventually found Harvard Ventures, and that became my core community.

Yesterday, for example, I was a judge for a Harvard Ventures demo day. That made me reflect on how far things have come — that I’m now in a position to advise freshmen. It’s surreal, but it also feels like a cycle — the next generation is coming up, and now I get to give back. People often come up to me asking how I got into YC, or how I started certain projects. And it’s always the community. That’s what makes Harvard different. I hope I’m contributing to that cycle in a meaningful way.

HTR: What advice would you give to someone interested in following a similar path?

Cho: I guess I’d say two things. First, find your community. That can mean finding co-founders, collaborators, or even just friends who inspire you. Especially at a place like Harvard, where the people around you are doing incredible things, the connections you make can be life-changing. My co-founder, my closest mentors — they all came from that community.

The second thing is: take action. Everyone here has vision. We think big, dream big. But the hard part is following through — committing and actually building something. That first step can unlock so many doors. So, I’d say — find the right people, and just do it. Take action.

HTR: Looking into the future, what are you excited to work on?

Cho: In the short term, I’m working on Pickle. At Pickle, we’re trying to redefine virtual presence — starting with AI clones for digital meetings. But that’s just the beginning. This technology could evolve into AI content creation, or even AR and VR applications. If we can build a base model of a person — voice, face, gestures — that could unlock a whole new interface for how humans interact online.

Have you seen Ready Player One? Something like that — that’s what we’re building. It’s a bold future, but we’re imagining it now.

In the long term, though, I want to return to social impact. That’s where I started, and that’s how I want to end. I don’t want to be remembered as a billionaire, but as someone who made the world just a little bit better — even 1% happier. Maybe that’ll be through biotech, maybe something else. But whatever the path, I want to keep innovating with purpose — building startups that matter.