Archive for the 'Job' Category

Yet Another Employment Announcement (And More Moving)

Published on May 9, 2012 in Job, Life and Mobile. 0 Comments

I wrote in my New Year’s Retrospective that my greatest fear for 2012 was that I would not get as much done as in previous years due to working a regular job for the first time in years.

That concern turned out to be quite prescient as within a couple of months, things quickly changed. While I enjoyed increasing my proficiency in Django and hanging out with cool co-workers, I found that I couldn’t break into areas that I was really interested in, specifically mobile. I decided to look for a new opportunity where I could grow as a mobile developer.

I’m happy to announce that I’ve accepted a new gig with Canopy (whose name is going to change soon), a spinoff of a company called LanguageMate. Canopy is based in Ann Arbor and specializes in language applications for medical professionals. I’m working on a neat tool that helps nurses and doctors communicate with patients who might not speak the same language. I think it’s an interesting space and presents a lot of interesting challenges in interface design, marketing, end user support, and other aspects that revolve around mobile development.

I believe this will be a better fit as I’m now able to work on a startup that is investing heavily in mobile. On top of that, I think it’s great that the app actually does something meaningful. Sure, a photo sharing app might sell for a billion dollars, but has it ever saved a person’s life?

Right now I’m in the middle of another move. If all goes according to plan, I’ll be back in Ann Arbor (for the 4th time) on Friday. I’m looking forward to hanging out there again, spending more time with Emily, and eating at BTB every day.

I am really thankful for all the friends I made at Threadless, and I feel bad leaving them so soon. Having said that, I am really looking forward to making a big impact at a small startup that really needs my skills. Here’s to an interesting second half of 2012!

An Important Announcement About My Employment Status (And T-Shirts)

Published on September 15, 2011 in Job, Life and T-Shirts. 6 Comments Tags: .

If you know me or if you read my blog, you know that I have been a huge fan of Threadless since I first found out about it in 2005. For a while, Threadless was pretty much the only thing I wrote about on this blog.

Last year, I developed an unofficial mobile app for browsing and sharing cool Threadless designs on the iPhone and iPad. This caught the attention of Threadless and I got to visit their sweet office!

I had the chance to visit again for the Threadless Family Reunion and an interview of sorts, and I was offered a job! I am happy to announce that I will join Threadless at the beginning of October.

I am really looking forward to making Threadless even more awesome (and now from the inside as opposed to hacking together an API for myself)!

Summer Update: Bebarang Launch!

Published on August 13, 2011 in Job. 0 Comments Tags: .

It’s been a while since I’ve posted on my blog; I’ve been super busy with my startup! We finally ended up launching the latest iteration of the site, Bebarang, last week. It’s currently by no means perfect, but what site is?

We “pivoted” from a subscription model to a one time use model. Whether this will work remains to be seen, but we’re definitely learning a lot. If you are a parent or know a parent, please forward the site around and let me know what you think about the concept and the product!

Also, New York is finally cooling down a bit after a crazy hot summer. It’s starting to get really beautiful outside. Maybe we can start working in the park once we’re kicked out of our workspace at NYU…

Startup Incubation Week 5 Update!

Published on July 9, 2011 in Job. 0 Comments

I’ve been in New York working on our startup for about 5 weeks now. So far the experience has been really enlightening. Between reading the Startup Genome Report, a handbook on Customer Development, listening to awesome lecturers talk about bizdev, pitching, pivoting, etc, I think I have a much better handle on what entrepreneurship really is.

So far, we’ve probably pivoted about 2 times, and we’re not even at the halfway point yet! The support from mentorships has been really helpful in understanding what startups really need to focus on to be successful. Without a market, there’s no company. Without the proper product to market fit, there’s no company. And if everything fits perfectly, you still need to be able to scale your service or product to meet demand!

Approaching a startup in a semi-scientific way is also very cool. Instead of looking at a startup as an ultra risky venture, you’re really looking for ways to prove hypotheses and make the thing as un-risky as possible while maximizing the potential upsides.

Bebarang is chugging along and I hope to provide an actual launch post some time soon (in private beta, of course).

Start Spreading The News… I’m Moving to NYC For The Summer!

Published on June 2, 2011 in Job and Life. 0 Comments Tags: , .

So I’ve been relatively quiet on this piece of news for a while, but since I’m moving to New York in like, two days, I figure I should post something about it.

A few months ago, I joined up with Bebarang, a startup that’s graduated from the TechArb program at the University of Michigan and has been accepted into NYC SeedStart for the Summer of 2011. The simple pitch is that we’re trying to solve the problem of babies growing out of their clothes all the time. We’re still figuring out the details.

I am super excited (and lucky) to be part of another entrepreneurial incubator program. I gained a whole lot from the awesomeness of RPM10, and I hope the same will be true for NYC SeedStart. My partner, Allen, is super sharp and I think we’ll end up getting a lot of stuff done between the two of us.

Regardless if we exit at $100 billion (or settle for a $50 billion exit), I’m looking forward to living in a new city, getting to know the tech scene and building up a company once again. Stay tuned for updates about my summer in NY!

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