# Aza Steel

> Aza Steel is a co-founder and former CEO of GoGuardian, the education software company founded in 2014. A UCLA sociology graduate and self-taught programmer, he later founded Free Money for Founders to support student entrepreneurs without taking equity and is now building CoDream, a creative work-trade community in Kauai.

- **Role:** Founder and host at CoDream
- **Organizations:** CoDream, GoGuardian, Free Money for Founders
- **Education:** Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles
- **Known for:** Co-founded GoGuardian in 2014., Forbes 30 Under 30, Education, 2016., Established an equity-free student entrepreneurship support organization in 2018.

## Career timeline

- **2013** — Graduated from UCLA; campus projects included a dining hall menu text service.
- **2014** — Co-founded GoGuardian after schools responded to his Chrome theft-tracking extension.
- **2016** — Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 in Education with Advait Shinde.
- **2017** — Advait Shinde became GoGuardian CEO in November, succeeding Steel.
- **2018** — Founded Free Money for Founders in January, offering student startups cash and mentorship without equity.
- **2025** — Publicly developing CoDream in Kauai and sharing reflections on his earlier GoGuardian experience.

## Achievements

- Co-founded GoGuardian in 2014.
- Forbes 30 Under 30, Education, 2016.
- Established an equity-free student entrepreneurship support organization in 2018.

## Latest updates

- **2025-06** — Published a reflection thanking GoGuardian co-founder and early investor Todd Mackey and reconsidering his hiring advice.
- **2025-06** — Appeared on One the Come Up to discuss GoGuardian and CoDream.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azasteel
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/azas_la
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/azasteel

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/aza-steel
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-23