Barry Li

@Official18VC Thank you 18VC for having me. Keep building, keep learning A lot more to build.

At 15 he ran a 200%-margin snack "dark market" out of his dorm – until the principal shut it down. 🍜 Ep. #11 of 18VC is live with Barry (@BarryLi5936), founder of OMNIAPATH, an AI-native entrepreneurship school for young founders, and Wov3, a sportstech company developing recovery footwear and customized insoles using 3D printing. Barry is also an advisor to Hacker Dojo's first accelerator cohort. What stuck with us: → He killed a profitable $100K business the moment he saw ChatGPT 3.5. → His AI survival rule: be super well-rounded, or go absurdly deep. "Medium deep" gets replaced. → The "one-person company" is coming – solo founders are the default future of work. → 5 ventures. 40 partners come and go. He's the one who stayed. ▶️ YouTube: youtu.be/chrjP3g93I8 🎧 Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/7LEKg9… #startups #venturecapital #youngfounders #AI #entrepreneurship #18VC #OMNIAPATH #WOV3

We build Wov3, Inc. — a sports tech brand Physical product. DTC and B2B A few years ago, building a physical brand in Silicon Valley felt like showing up to a gun fight with a knife Now it feels like different Real products Real people Real value There will always be a market

We won #1 at Silicon Valley's pitch night. 13 companies. 12 AI startups. I was the only non-technical founder in the room.

Anyone can build software in 2 hours with AI now. Average products are everywhere. What you can't replicate is the person behind it. Their judgment. Their obsession. Their execution.

Two things matter more than ever in 2026: 1. The founder is the moat. 2. Does this product actually serve people daily?

The judges said: "Barry, the moment you stepped on stage I knew — you're not a first-time founder. You know your market. You've done this before. We trust you for this 500K USD" That meant more than the win.