“Mr Merz.

I am a 16-year-old who is trying to grow in the investment sector.”

That’s how Koki Mashita started a LinkedIn text he sent me three years ago asking how to get media coverage for his investment firm.

I responded: “is that legal” to operate a money management firm at 16?

He admitted that he and his co-founders in Lallic Partners were unable as minors to take the Series 7 exam required to operate a brokerage, so they relied on their parents to set it up. They didn’t charge for their services, thereby avoiding running afoul of SEC rules.

He texted me that he wanted to take the CFA exam but was also precluded from doing so until he was 18. Koki was living in California and attending high school at the time.

I loved the audacity. We talked on the phone and kept in touch.

He later informed me that Lallic Partners had grown their AUM to $1 million and he was heading to New York City for an internship at Hof Capital in 2021.

We met for coffee on 57th street.

By that point he and some partners were focused on a kickstarter campaign to fund a reusable tampon called Floe, which was aimed at reducing waste in landfills. You can Google the videos.

He filled in some life history. He was originally from Japan, but his family had lived in Singapore for six years. He was attending high school in California and aspired to work on Wall Street.

We corresponded off and on as he sought financing for the project. When VC funding didn’t materialize, he told me he was headed to study at Berkeley.

In the summer of 2022, he reached out, offering to introduce me to Didier Rodrigues Lopes, the founder of a startup called OpenBB. Didier has since become a friend.

More than a year went by before I heard from Koki again this week. He’s in his third semester. He’s majoring in Computer Science and hoping to also major in Astrophysics.

He has pivoted, this time to machine learning, which he says will be helpful for trading. He’s working part-time at Atmo, an AI startup, and focusing on building models to predict when lightning will hit aircraft.

For the past three years, Koki has asked me for career advice and shared his journey.

I have tried to be encouraging, but I doubt I’ve been very helpful.

By contrast, he has taught me invaluable lessons about networking online.

Many people view LinkedIn as a place to post a CV when they are looking for a job.

As Koki illustrates, it’s less about the profile and more about the connection.

I asked him how he found me in the first place.

He said he crafted a LinkedIn filter for key companies, positions and other factors like education. He browsed hundreds and hundreds of high-caliber profiles and crafted concise hand-tailored inquiries that he sent to about one hundred individuals. He got five replies.

For the first time in history, anyone can reach out to experts anywhere in the world and pick their brains.

It’s a great model, particularly for young people starting their careers.

Koki’s looking to line up a summer internship for 2024 in AI, weather or finance.

If that is something you are looking for I can’t think of anyone better.

He will probably teach you more than you teach him.