Engineer · Builder · Connector · Ecosystem Architect

Got a problem? BetterCallZaal.

Tell me what you're building. I'll bring the right people to the table — including myself — to build, grow, and ship.

Let's Talk

Operating across

THE ZAO FARCASTER BUILDER WAVEWARZ CLANKER EMPIRE BUILDER ZAO FESTIVALS COC CONCERTZ RIVERSIDE GROUP PCC STRUCTURALS

About

The Connector

Zaal Panthaki

For too long, middlemen have extracted from artists — their revenue, their data, their audiences. I build the infrastructure that gives it back.

I'm Zaal — electrical engineer turned ecosystem architect, based in Maine. BS Electrical Engineering from RIT (2022). Led a $1.5M robotics project at PCC Structurals. Building automation work at The Jackson Laboratory. Founder of The ZAO.

I also connect builders, artists, and communities with the right people to make things happen. Whether you need infrastructure built or the right introduction made — that's what I do.

Receipts, not vanity. Every number below ties to a public source you can verify.

459 SOL
traded on WaveWarZ · 7.8 SOL paid out to artists
wavewarz-intelligence.vercel.app · 950 battles, ~$39K volume, $675 artist payouts
250+
artists + creators in The ZAO
thezao.com · ZAO community roster
73+
open-source repos shipped
github.com/bettercallzaal · live count
100+
weekly governance meetings run
ZAO Fractal · week 100 May 2026
400+
newsletter editions published
paragraph.com/@thezao · build in public
2014

National Ski Patrol — Blue Hills, MA

Home patrol started here

2016

Eagle Scout

Rank earned

2022

BS Electrical Engineering, RIT · $1.5M robotics at PCC

Led automation project, 7x throughput. Entered Web3 in the bear market. Started ZTalent Agency.

2022-2024

Mt Hood, OR · West Coast patrol seasons

2023

Founded The ZAO

Pivoted from ZTalent Agency to the ZAO (ZTalent Artist Organization) — creator infrastructure for independent artists

2024

ZAO-Palooza (NYC, NFT NYC) · ZAO-Chella (Miami, Art Basel)

Two ZAO festivals. ZAO-Chella hosted the first IRL WaveWarZ battle + ZAO HOUSE residency

2025

BCZ YapZ launches · Hermon Mountain patrol · JAX building automation

First BCZ YapZ episode with Deepa (GrantOrb) drops Aug 22. Back to Maine; new home mountain.

2026

FarHack Snap winner · ZAO Fractal week 100 · ZABAL Games · Maine client work

Won the Snap category at FarHack 2026 with Zlank ($1,000). Fractal governance hits week 100 (May). ZABAL Games June-Aug. Riverside Group + FarmDrop client builds. ZAOstock planned for October.

Portfolio

The Work

Curated current work up top. Full project list (everything I am running, advising, or have shipped) lives in the dropdown below.

Tier 1 - Front Line

The ZAO

The umbrella org I founded. Impact community bringing ownership back to independent artists. 250+ participants, 100+ governance meetings, MIT licensed.

Founder
My pitch → thezao.com

WaveWarZ

Onchain artist prediction markets on Solana. 7.8 SOL paid out to artists - instant + automatic settlement. Artists battle, fans trade.

My pitch → wavewarz.com

BCZ YapZ

Long-form interviews with builders, artists, and operators across the ZAO + Farcaster ecosystem. Episodes, transcripts, RSS.

My pitch → bczyapz.com

ZAOstock

A ZAO festival in early planning. Telegram-first ops; public site coming.

Pre-public
More

Tier 2 - Also Building

Streaming + Twitch

Daily Twitch streaming with a co-host - crypto education for an audience already comfortable with internet money. Interviews + onboarding.

In flight
More

Maine Work

Local project management + builds for Maine clients. Cameron / Riverside Group construction PM, FarmDrop, hospitality websites.

Client work
More

Engineering Past

BS Electrical Engineering (RIT 2022). Led a $1.5M robotics project at PCC Structurals. Building automation work at The Jackson Laboratory.

More

Zlank

No-code Farcaster Snap builder. Stack blocks, hit Deploy, share to feed. Won the Snap category at FarHack 2026 ($1,000 prize). Open source.

FarHack winner
zlank.online
More work + ecosystem hubs

The ZAO

The umbrella org. Impact community bringing ownership back to independent artists. 1,000+ participants, 90+ governance meetings, MIT licensed.

thezao.com

ZAO OS

Farcaster social client for music communities. Encrypted messaging, 9-platform music player, governance tools.

zaoos.com

ZABAL Games

Farcaster Vibe-Coding Challenge - Season 1. June prep / July ship / August finals. Open build-a-thon onboarding builders into ZAO.

bettercallzaal.com/zabalgames

ZAO Festivals

IRL events at crypto conferences. ZAO-Palooza (NYC), ZAO-Chella (Miami). 22 artists across 2 festivals.

zaofestivals.com

Let's Talk About Ethereum

Weekly podcast on the Ethereum ecosystem. Three seasons as Let's Talk About Web3 first.

pods.media

Daily Newsletter

400+ editions of build-in-public documentation across the ZAO ecosystem.

paragraph.com

ZABAL Brand Kit

Every brand in the ZABAL umbrella — what it is, status, audience, monetization, and exactly how to sponsor, collab, customer, or contribute. 25 brands, 8 categories, machine-readable JSON.

bettercallzaal.com/kit

ZABAL Nexus

Every brand, site, social, repo, and contract across the ZAO ecosystem in one place.

bettercallzaal.com/nexus

POIDH Leaderboard

On-chain bounty submission tracker for ZABAL clipping + content bounties. Pulls from POIDH contracts directly.

bettercallzaal.com/poidh

Outdoors

Eagle Scout (2016). National Ski Patroller (2014-present): Blue Hills MA, Mt Hood OR, Hermon Mountain ME.

More

ZOUNZ

Farcaster music mini app. AI music generation, Audius discovery, Zora NFT minting on Base, attention markets on Solana.

github.com/bettercallzaal/ZOUNZ

COC Concertz

Concert promotion + virtual venue community in the ZAO ecosystem.

cocconcertz.com

Testimonials

What people are saying

Read what people say (2)

Zaal helped build and scale WaveWarZ to over $60k+ in volume with a completely new music model, over 1.2k followers on X in a few months, and organized and hosted our first in real life WaveWarZ battle. Without Zaal WaveWarZ would not be dominating Web 3 Music the way it is now. This is your GUY.

Hurric4n3Ike @hurric4n3ike

I have been connecting with Zaal since 2022 and he has been creating spaces for communications where to coordinate which has helped me to share my journey at the same time I learn from others, which has created positive weekly bridges where to align and give and receive information and opportunities.

Jose Cabrera @joseacabrerav

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Contact

Let's build something.

Two ways to reach me. Farcaster DMs are fastest. Email for anything that needs a paper trail - drop a Calendly link in the form if you want to book a call and I'll grab a slot.

Fastest

Farcaster DM

Cast at me, DM me, or tag me on /zao.

@bettercallzaal
Paper trail + booking

Email

zaalp99@gmail.com - personal + Maine work.
info@thezao.com - ZAO ecosystem inquiries.

Got it.

I'll be in touch soon.

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