Phi Pham is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Building Beats, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering young people through DJing, digital music production, and creative workshops that integrate entrepreneurial, leadership, and life skills. Since its founding in 2009, Building Beats has reached thousands of youth across New York, Los Angeles, and beyond, helping them discover their creative voice while preparing them for success far outside the music studio.

In this episode, Phi shares how his journey as a DJ and music producer led him to see DJs not only as entertainers but as community organizers—bringing people together, sparking movements, and building culture. That perspective became the foundation for Building Beats, where music becomes both a passion and a tool for personal growth.

Phi reflects on the early challenges of launching a music-focused nonprofit, including shifting from a grant-giving vision to hands-on teaching and building sustainable models where schools directly invest in programming. By approaching the nonprofit like a small business—treating schools and students as clients—Building Beats ensures accountability, quality, and long-term impact.

We also dive into the role of technology in shaping music education: from the days of Winamp, CDs, and mashups, to the rise of MP3s, Serato, and social media, and now into a future transformed by AI music tools. Phi explains how technology continually reshapes DJ culture and how Building Beats adapts, ensuring that youth learn not only music but also digital fluency and resilience.

A highlight of our conversation is the story of Jada, a student from Far Rockaway who began as a high school participant and eventually became a teacher and leader for Building Beats’ Los Angeles programs. Stories like hers illustrate how music workshops can grow into pathways of leadership, mentorship, and community change.

Phi emphasizes that impact isn’t just about numbers: It’s about transformation. Whether working with students in schools, youth in transitional housing, or young people navigating the justice system, Building Beats creates spaces where passion meets possibility. The organization also embraces cultural relevancy, designing lessons around artists, platforms, and trends that resonate with students today—from TikTok challenges to K-pop and anime.

Looking forward, Phi envisions a “Building Beats University”—a place where learning is driven by passion, whether in music, skateboarding, design, or digital creation. With unlimited resources, he would scale interest-based education that empowers students to “learn what they love until they love to learn.”

This episode is an inspiring look at how music, technology, and community can combine to shape the next generation of leaders. Phi reminds us that while algorithms and AI may influence creativity, authentic human connection and shared passion will always remain at the heart of transformation.

About Phi Pham

- https://buildingbeats.org/

About Federico Ramallo ✨👨‍💻🌎

🚀 Software Engineering Manager | 🛠 Founder of DensityLabs.io & PreVetted.ai | 🤝 Connecting 🇺🇸 U.S. teams with top nearshore 🌎 LATAM engineers

- 💼 https://www.linkedin.com/in/framallo/

- 🌐 https://densitylabs.io

- ✅ https://prevetted.ai

🎙 PreVetted Podcast 🎧📡

- 🎯 https://prevetted.ai/podcast

- 🐦 https://x.com/PrevettedPod

- 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/company/prevetted-podcast

00:00 Introduction to Building Beats and Its Mission

07:00 Transformative Stories: Impact on Students

09:24 Challenges in Nonprofit Music Education

12:57 The Role of Music in Life Skills Development

17:56 Sustainability and Business Mindset in Nonprofits

22:00 Impactful Partnerships and Collaborations

22:50 Transformative Impact on Students' Lives

29:40 Engaging the Next Generation

36:04 Building a Community of Creatives

41:55 The Soundtrack of Building Beats

Mustafa Qutub is the co-founder and CEO of PaloBio, a Silicon Valley startup using AI to unlock human resilience and improve neurological health. In this thought-provoking conversation, Mustafa shares how his journey through law, philosophy, and technology led him to focus on one of humanity’s biggest challenges: helping individuals and organizations thrive in the age of AI.

We explore the roots of resilience—what it really means to persevere, how it goes beyond simple perseverance, and why it’s deeply tied to our cognitive, emotional, biological, and social environments. Mustafa draws on thinkers like Thomas Hobbes to explain how human will, consciousness, and creativity emerge from sensory input, and why those very qualities may become the line between human uniqueness and machine intelligence.

At PaloBio, Mustafa and his co-founder are building what he calls an AI advocate—a system that doesn’t just coach or cheerlead but truly understands the individual. By combining personal health, cognitive, and behavioral data, PaloBio aims to provide tailored insights for family caregivers, patients, and eventually broader populations. Their vision is to create a persistent companion that remembers who you are, adapts to your goals, and can even represent you in medical or therapeutic contexts with more accuracy than you could yourself.

The conversation also tackles the ethical and social challenges of AI:

• Could positive reinforcement from AI become addictive and isolating?

• How do we balance risk vs recklessness in resilience-building?

• What happens when AI knows us better than we know ourselves?

• How can individuals retain control and even economic value from their most personal data?

Mustafa argues that the future lies in empowering individuals to own and license their resilience data, making it both impactful for healthcare and meaningful in a world where automation is redefining human contribution.

We also discuss how too many possibilities can overwhelm innovation, why avoiding “new paradigms” that limit creativity is critical, and how serendipity and flexibility are essential traits for founders navigating uncharted waters.

By the end of the episode, you’ll gain a deeper appreciation for resilience—not just as a buzzword, but as a core human capacity that can be measured, supported, and enhanced with technology. And you’ll see how PaloBio is working to become a trusted advocate for individuals, caregivers, and society at large.

👉 If you’ve ever wondered about the intersection of AI, healthcare, resilience, and human purpose, this conversation with Mustafa Qutub is one you won’t want to miss.

About Federico Ramallo ✨👨‍💻🌎

🚀 Software Engineering Manager | 🛠 Founder of DensityLabs.io & PreVetted.ai | 🤝 Connecting 🇺🇸 U.S. teams with top nearshore 🌎 LATAM engineers

- 💼 https://www.linkedin.com/in/framallo/

- 🌐 https://densitylabs.io

- ✅ https://prevetted.ai

🎙 PreVetted Podcast 🎧📡

- 🎯 https://prevetted.ai/podcast

- 🐦 https://x.com/PrevettedPod

- 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/company/prevetted-podcast

00:00 Introduction to PaloBio and Mustafa Kutub

01:37 The Inspiration Behind PaloBio

07:52 Understanding Resilience and Its Importance

10:27 Defining Resilience: A Deeper Look

17:25 The Role of AI in Personal Resilience

25:14 The Future of AI and Human Interaction

39:34 PaloBio's Vision for the Future

In this episode of the PreVetted Podcast, we sit down with Dr. Tanguy Chau, Founder and CEO of Paxton, the AI-powered legal platform making waves in the industry by helping lawyers work 10x more efficiently.

With a PhD from MIT and a background in engineering, venture capital, and early-stage investments in groundbreaking companies like Ironclad, Tanguy brings a rare blend of technical precision and business insight to the world of legal tech.

We dive deep into:

• The broken state of traditional legal research and why Boolean queries are holding law firms back

• How Paxton eliminates AI “hallucinations” to ensure 100% citation accuracy in legal work

• Why legal-specific AI models are the future — and how they protect sensitive client data

• The three pillars of Paxton’s platform: legal research, document analysis, and rapid drafting

• The secrets behind finding product–market fit in complex industries

• Patterns Tanguy has seen in successful legal tech startups from his years as an investor

• His vision for the next 5 years of AI in law and why ignoring AI could become an ethical breach for lawyers

Whether you’re a solo attorney, part of a small law firm, or working inside an AmLaw 100 giant, this conversation is packed with insights on how AI can transform your legal practice making it faster, safer, and more cost-effective than ever.

Learn more about Tanguy Chau and Paxton:

- https://paxton.ai

About Federico Ramallo:

Software Engineering Manager | Founder of DensityLabs.io & PreVetted.ai | Connecting U.S. teams with top nearshore LATAM engineers.

- 💼 https://www.linkedin.com/in/framallo/

- 🌐 https://densitylabs.io

- ✅ https://prevetted.ai

PreVetted Podcast:

- https://prevetted.ai/podcast

- https://x.com/PrevettedPod

- https://www.linkedin.com/company/prevetted-podcast

00:00 Introduction to Paxton AI and Its Vision

01:57 Challenges in Legal Research

06:30 Expanding Features Beyond Legal Research

08:44 Understanding Hallucination in Legal AI

14:07 Ensuring Citation Accuracy in Legal AI

16:41 Differentiating Paxton AI from Competitors

18:23 Accessibility for All Law Firms

21:25 The Future of AI in the Legal Industry

23:31 Advice for Law Firms on AI Adoption

29:28 Insights on Successful Legal Tech Startups

35:41 Customer Research for Product Development

38:16 Future Developments for Paxton AI