Spotlight

Build Your Network with Muhammad Fathy Rashad, Co-Founder & CTO of Cleve

From teenage coder to AI co-founder, Rashad shares lessons on growth, self-doubt, and building with intention.

Community Manager

Catherhea

Rashad started university at 15 and quickly realized that structured learning wasn’t enough for his curiosity.

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By 17, he was freelancing globally, building games, and teaching himself advanced tech concepts. Writing a blog to fill the gaps he couldn’t find online eventually led him to co-author a GenAI paper with MIT.

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Today, as co-founder and CTO of Cleve, Rashad is helping professionals share knowledge and grow personal brands through AI.

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His journey is not only about building tech but also about navigating self-doubt, discipline, and personal growth with honesty and reflection — traits that give him a rare perspective on leadership and learning.

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🌻 How do you set your vibe for the day?
I listen to music, and usually I’d feel motivated and my mood changed instantly

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🛋️ How do you relax?
I escape and detach from the world through books, manga, anime, and games

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💼 How would you describe your work to someone outside of your field?
I just say I work in AI or IT or I just code.

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🤝 You co-founded Cleve at 22. What’s the hardest part of building a company so early in your career?
Learning on the job. Because honestly you have no idea what you are doing. And it’s so stressful, because you are expected to do well in such a short amount of time and resources while figuring out everything on the job.

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🧠 You’ve talked openly about not always feeling “ready” for talks — how do you push yourself to show up anyway?
Just habit. I started a habit of going out of my comfort zone and managing my fear. It takes a lot of willpower when creating the habit, but it gets much easier to do it again and again after that.

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Despite preferring to stay behind the scenes by default, Rashad has pushed himself to speak publicly, including for a keynote at Friends Of Figma Kuala Lumpur's Startup Playbook in 2025

🌱 What encourages you to keep trying new things?
Because I love learning new things and I like novelty.

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🤍 How do you balance self-doubt and growth for yourself?
I can be really hard on myself, even when I achieve my goals. I’ve learned to manage it just enough to stay motivated, and to lean into gratitude when the self-criticism gets too strong. Small daily habits help me find that balance in my emotions.

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🤝 Do you enjoy networking?
No, I hate networking. But I do it anyway because I have to :(

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🌐 Best encounter at a networking event?
My co-founders! I met my co-founders at Mole’s I Hate Networking event.

Rashad and his Cleve Co-Founders Ashvin Praveen and Lizzie Tan

💖 What's your favourite thing about Mole?
The people in Mole are great

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Cleve team and Mole Co-Founders Melly Ling and Haziq Faris, along with Community Manager Catherhea and Product Manager Justin Ling

🎧 What are you listening to now?
I’m so obsessed with EPIC the Musical now. Been listening it on loop for a couple of weeks. It’s a song album about Odyssey Greek mythology and is somewhat a musical.