His graduation year. He is building Cogno before the diploma even arrives.
Terry Chen did not treat college as a waiting room. A Northwestern student in the Weinberg school set to graduate in 2026, he started building a real company while still taking classes, betting that the best time to build with AI was now, not after some future milestone.
His company is Cogno. Chen built it as a platform that helps brand websites improve their customer service and generate targeted marketing, powered by a GPT model trained on each brand's own customized knowledge, so a business can answer customers and reach the right people without a large team behind it.
It puts him in rare company on campus. While most students experiment with AI on assignments, Chen turned it into the engine of an actual product, learning the hard parts of building and selling software before he has even finished his degree.
"He did not wait for the diploma. He started building the company while still in class."
The old script says get the degree, get the job, then maybe build something. Chen ignored it, using school as a launchpad rather than a holding pattern. In an era where AI has collapsed the cost of building, waiting for permission is the most expensive choice a young founder can make.
This is the near-future founder ANF keeps spotlighting. Do not wait for the credential to start building. The tools are here now, so use them now.
Most students are studying AI. He is shipping it.
