Selin Kocalar, a 21‑year‑old MIT dropout, has co‑founded and scaled Delve, an AI startup valued at $300 million, and is now sharing candid advice on success for young entrepreneurs. She co‑founded Delve with classmate Karun Kaushikafter dropping out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where both students discovered a shared keen interest in AI and healthcare tech. Together they pivoted from academic research to building a company that automates regulatory compliance using AI agents, relieving teams from hundreds of hours of manual busywork.

Delve’s growth has been rapid since its founding in an MIT dorm in 2023, raising a $3 million seed round and later a $32 million Series A that pushed its valuation to $300 million. It now serves numerous companies, helping them automate evidence collection, audit workflows and security checks that once bogged down engineering and security teams.

In a recent interview, Kocalar challenged the common belief that hard work alone guarantees success. She likened career pursuit to climbing trees — stressing that placing your ladder against the right tree matters more than climbing hard in the wrong direction. She urges young founders to think generationally, visualising long‑term impact and adopting unconventional paths rather than following what everyone else does, even sharing how choosing to study Chinese instead of Spanish broadened her mindset. Her advice underscores the importance of strategy, clarity and vision — not just effort — in building meaningful and lasting success.