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Matador Insights: Startups
March 12 at 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Matador Insights is a series of alumni-led panels designed to inspire and educate students exploring career paths in the Start Up industry. These sessions provide valuable insights from professionals as they share their journey in the industry.
Meet the Speakers!
Salil Monga, Founding Engineer of Cupe Connect
Salil is a Master’s student in Software Engineering at CSUN, where he is completing his thesis on improving workplace safety through VR-based cobot training. Alongside his academic work, he is the founding engineer of Cupe Connect, a campus-focused social discovery app currently available for download on the App Store.
He has spent the last few years balancing full-time graduate studies, on-campus involvement, and startup building, leading the engineering and product development for Cupe while exploring XR, AI-assisted development, and cloud infrastructure across multiple projects.
He is excited to share a realistic and encouraging perspective on navigating school, career decisions, and early-stage entrepreneurship, especially what it looks like to build something meaningful as a student, even before revenue or funding.
Hammad Zaidi, Founder of Lovely Seal Company Group
Hammad Zaidi is a founding partner and CEO of the Ryz Sports Network, a Sports FAST Channel currently showcased on every major FAST platform in the United States. Hammad also founded The Lonely Seal Company Group, Lonely Seal Releasing The Lonely Seal International Film, Screenplay & Music Festival Lonely Seal Streaming, Hourglass24 and Pet Divorce Court. He is one of 1,200 Priority Cinema Buyers worldwide. Hammad is also on the Board of Directors of Cinema Without Borders and the Advisory Board of the Masters in Entertainment Leadership and Management—MELM—at Loyola Marymount University (LMU).
Rahul Alim, Founder of Custom Creatives & CRO at Thinkrr.ai.
Rahul’s agency has worked with Realtor.com, Geico, Advertise.com, Reach Local and 100s of local businesses. He mentors & coaches Digital Agency Owners on building 6-7 figure, sustainable agencies they love. His mission is to help Entrepreneurs get out of their own way by moving from an unsustainable “do it all“ mentality to building a rockstar team that gives them the ability to create an assembly line in their business to create growth and freedom in their business.
Julian Espinosa, Founder of Executive Mind Lab
Julian Espinosa is a digital entrepreneur and mentor with over 20 years of experience building businesses at the intersection of technology, healthcare, and human performance. He began his career in digital marketing, helping brands and organizations use the internet to reach people more effectively as online platforms evolved. Over time, his work increasingly focused on healthcare, partnering with mental health companies and medical nonprofits to improve access, education, and patient engagement.
After a personal health turning point, Julian shifted deeper into preventative health and wellness, working alongside preventive healthcare professionals to support behavior change and long-term outcomes. He is the founder of Sizzle, a healthcare technology platform designed to help providers support patients outside the clinic. Julian also created Executive Mind Lab, a program focused on stress mitigation, nervous system regulation, and performance under pressure for executives. Today, he mentors students and early-career professionals, helping them navigate career paths, build practical skills, and find meaningful work in fast-changing industries.
