Founder of The ZAO · Building in the open

Their margin, data & IP — back where it belongs.

I'm Zaal. I build open-source infrastructure that returns ownership to independent artists — and connect the people who make it run. Got a problem? BetterCallZaal.

Let's Talk

Operating across

THE ZAO FARCASTER BUILDER GITHUB · OPEN SOURCE WAVEWARZ CLANKER EMPIRE BUILDER ZAO FESTIVALS COC CONCERTZ RIVERSIDE GROUP PCC STRUCTURALS

About

Why I Build in the Open

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 — a free & open source software (FOSS) builder based in Maine. Electrical engineer by training (BS EE, RIT 2022) — I led a $1.5M robotics project at PCC Structurals before turning that automation instinct toward shipping open-source software in public. Building automation work at The Jackson Laboratory. Founder of The ZAO, co-founder of WaveWarZ. I build in public — 73+ open-source repos on GitHub (full resume).

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
fan-trading volume on WaveWarZ · artists paid direct, instant & automatic onchain
wavewarz-intelligence.vercel.app · 950 battles · 7.8 SOL settled straight to artists, no middleman — live & scaling
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

Open Source Work

Curated current work up top. Full project list (everything I am running, advising, or have shipped) lives in the dropdown below — or browse the full open-source catalog at /projects. It's all FOSS: kept MIT and forkable.

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

Co-founder + backend. 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.

Loading live counts...

zabalgames.com

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

Worked with Zaal?

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Media

Shows & streams

Where I show up regularly — hosting, co-hosting, and building in public across the Farcaster + web3-music world.

Let's Talk About Ethereum

Weekly co-hosted live show on the Ethereum ecosystem (three prior seasons as Let's Talk About Web3). Live build-with-Claude segments + ecosystem deep dives.

pods.media →

BCZ YapZ

My long-form interview show with builders, artists, and operators across the ZAO + Farcaster ecosystem. Searchable episodes, transcripts, YouTube chapters.

Watch & read →

Twitch + streaming

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

twitch.tv/bettercallzaal →

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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