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In a move that underscores his commitment to a new venture, Tyler Trephan, Founder and CEO of the AI-first media company TheZealot, revealed during a panel at SF Tech Week that he had just ended his career as a Senior Software Engineer at Google to pursue his startup full-time. His last day at the tech giant was Friday, October 10.
The announcement came during the "Lehigh Edge: How Our Alumni are Shaping the Future of Tech" event on October 8, where Trephan (’14) shared his journey and vision for leveraging artificial intelligence to amplify human stories. The panel, held at the Lehigh West campus in San Francisco, brought together a dynamic group of Lehigh University alumni to discuss innovation, entrepreneurship, and the power of their shared network.
Joining seasoned entrepreneurs and investors like Kathleen Egan (’90) of ecomedes, Matthew Gunton (’22) of Luminal AI, and Julia Pardee (’21) of Munich Re Ventures, Trephan admitted to feeling the weight of the moment.
"To be selected to be on this panel with seasoned entrepreneurs and investors, I feel quite overwhelmed and a little bit intimidated really," Trephan shared in a follow-up interview. Despite being just six months into his startup journey, he embraced the opportunity with a clear mission. "I just thought to myself that I'm just going to go up there, be honest, share my story and I hope that it blesses somebody to hear my story."
During the 45-minute discussion, moderated by Adam Goldstein (’16 ’17G), Trephan shared insights from his entrepreneurial journey, focusing primarily on his experience building TheZealot from the ground up.
Trephan entered the panel with a clear strategy, aiming to share three pivotal points that define his current path.
First was the public announcement of his departure from Google. "I wanted to share that to say that I'm going all in on the startup and going full-time in trying to build up TheZealot," he explained.
Second, he revealed the deeply personal and Lehigh-centric origin of his company. The idea for TheZealot, which uses AI to create compelling narratives for rising athletes, artists, and entrepreneurs, was born from his experience following his brother Owen's wrestling career at Lehigh University. "The idea of using AI to amplify human stories came from following my brother's wrestling career and wanting to have more content, more information out and available for fans like me to read and watch and just consume," Trephan said.
Finally, he highlighted the tangible impact of the Lehigh alumni network on his venture. He recounted how attending a university-hosted wine tasting event a few months prior led to crucial introductions. "At that, I met some key connections that set up my first initial pilot with the California Regional Training Center," he told the audience, providing a powerful, real-time example of the network's strength.
As generative AI dominated conversations throughout SF Tech Week, Trephan offered a nuanced perspective on its application. He directly addressed the challenge of creating meaningful content in an increasingly saturated digital landscape.
For Trephan, the solution lies not in the AI itself, but in the information it's given. "Even though we are an AI-first company, our data is our most valuable resource," he stated. "The information we gain through our interviews with our clients, this is our key differentiator. We are able to write unique stories that are compelling to read... because we have unique information that is not available anywhere else on the web."
His time at Google, he noted, instilled in him a sense of urgency about AI adoption. He saw firsthand the drive to "apply AI to basically anything and everything," a mindset he believes is now essential for all companies.
While Trephan shared his own story, he was also absorbing lessons from his peers. He was particularly struck by fellow panelist Matthew Gunton's candid story about the "struggle" his team at Luminal AI faced during the Y Combinator application process, giving him "a lot of food for thought" for his own journey.
Ultimately, the event reinforced a core belief for the new full-time founder.
"I think the biggest takeaway is that the startup journey is lonely and hard and to have a network behind you like the Lehigh network is a very powerful resource," Trephan reflected. "To be successful, for TheZealot to be successful, I/we as a company are going to need all the help we can get."
