498. Boarding School Made Her Fearless: Chomp Founder Kiko Zang on Identity, Open Relationships & Authenticity

In this episode of Better Call Daddy, host Reena Friedman Watts sits down with Kiko Zang, business executive, tech founder, and opinion leader building human-centric consumer products.

Kiko is the Founder & CEO of Chomp, a social game that rewards honesty instead of punishing it and she's on a mission to fix what she calls the "performative internet."

Kiko opens up about her path from boarding school in China to New Zealand and the United States, the anti-authoritarian streak she carried as a kid, and the long road to understanding her own identity across cultures.

The conversation gets candid as she discusses her experience with open relationships and how it reshaped her views on love, trust, kindness, and loyalty then turns to the bigger picture: why social media rewards performance over authenticity, why women in particular self-censor online, and why honest human belief may be the scarcest, most valuable data in the age of AI.

Kiko also shares her founder journey from COO at Orca (one of Solana's largest decentralized exchanges, where she helped raise $19M and grow the platform to $1B+ in 24-hour trading volume) to building Chomp, which drew 50,000 beta users sharing millions of honest answers and raised $3.6M from backers including BlueYard, JSquare, and Accomplice placing her among the 2% of female-led startups to raise venture capital. Chomp launches on iOS in 2026.

Equal parts personal memoir and founder story, this episode covers identity, relationships, resilience, the loneliness epidemic, the funding gap for female founders, and what it takes to build something real in a "dead internet" full of bots and AI slop.

Keywords: Kiko Zang, boarding school identity, open relationships podcast, cultural identity, female tech founder, women in venture capital, social media and authenticity, dead internet theory, Chomp app, Solana Orca DEX, honest opinions app, read the room, loneliness epidemic, Better Call Daddy podcast, Reena Friedman Watts

🎙️ What's In This Episode

• How growing up in boarding school in China shaped Kiko Zang's identity and friendships
• Immigrating from China to New Zealand to the U.S. navigating culture shock and belonging
• Childhood rebellion and an anti-authoritarian mindset where it came from and what it taught her
• Inside open relationships: what they are, how they work, and the lessons they teach about love
• Why kindness and loyalty matter more than performance in real relationships
• The perception vs. reality gap what people really think vs. what they post online
• Why women self-censor online, and how anonymity can support female mental health
• The loneliness epidemic and the search for genuine connection in a performative social feed
• The "dead internet": bots, AI slop, and human authenticity as the new luxury
• From COO at Orca (Solana's largest DEX) to Founder & CEO of Chomp
• Raising $3.6M in venture capital as a female founder and the broader funding gap
• Building Chomp, a social game that protects honest opinions instead of punishing them
• Why honest human belief may be the most valuable data in the age of AI

💭 Memorable Quotes from Kiko Zang

"I think the most universal experience is feeling misunderstood."

"It's important to find a space where you can embrace all of who you are."

⏱️ Timestamps

• (00:00) Introduction to Kiko Zang, Founder & CEO of Chomp
• (05:15) Growing up in boarding school: culture shock and identity
• (15:30) Inside open relationships: love, trust, and commitment
• (25:00) Kindness and loyalty as the foundation of real relationships
• (35:45) From Orca to Chomp: building a career in tech and Web3
• (45:00) Social media, the "dead internet," and the case for honest opinions

👤 About Kiko Zang

Kiko Zang is a business executive, tech founder, and opinion leader passionate about building human-centric consumer products.

Career

• Founder & CEO, Chomp — a social game that rewards honesty instead of punishing it, in a world of performative internet. Chomp drew 50,000 users sharing millions of answers in beta, and has raised $3.6M from backers including BlueYard, JSquare, and Accomplice — placing Kiko among the 2% of female-led tech startups to attract VC capital. Launching on iOS in 2026.
• COO at Orca, one of Solana's largest decentralized exchanges, where she helped raise $19M, partnered with 100+ projects, and grew the platform to a category leader with $1B+ in 24-hour trading volume.
• A decade of launching consumer products and leading cross-cultural projects at Deloitte, Mattel, and IDEO.
• Education: University of Southern California (USC) — B.S. Accounting Information Systems and B.S. Business; also trained at a jazz conservatory.
• Languages: Mandarin, English

Commentary Topics

• The perception vs. reality gap: what people really think versus what they post, and why it's not the same thing
• Why women self-censor, and how anonymity can benefit female mental health
• The loneliness epidemic and the search for genuine connection in a performative social media feed
• The "dead internet": bots, AI slop, and human authenticity as the new luxury
• Building consumer products that actually benefit people
• Female founders, the funding gap, and capital efficiency
• Reorienting capitalism for long-term social good
• Why honest human belief is the scarcest, most valuable data in the age of AI

Selected Media Appearances

• FINTECH.TV, "Vibe Markets and Consumer Insights, A Deep Dive with KZ from Chomp"
• Breakpoint 2025's Superteam Demo Day — presenting Chomp, a deceptively simple quiz game that functions as a "Trojan horse" for more accurate internet information
• "Making Complexity Accessible"

🔗 Connect with Kiko Zang

• Website & waitlist: chomp.fyi
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kikozang
• X: x.com/KayZizzle
• Instagram: instagram.com/askchomp

🔗 Connect with Reena Friedman Watts

• Website: bettercalldaddy.com
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/reenafriedmanwatts
• Instagram: instagram.com/reenafriedmanwatts
• YouTube: youtube.com/c/bettercalldaddy

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