Technical founder and product leader specializing in early-to-mid-stage startups.
Industry-agnostic; past focus on K–12 edtech, IT management, gamedev, and AI.
I’m world-class at:
- Building startups from 0 → exit as the technology & product co-founder
- Hiring and talent acquisition
- Scaling product & engineering teams
- Betting on frontier technology at production scale
- Cultivating high-performing teams people never want to leave
Work / Edu
2024-2025:
co-founder & cto @ double dusk · a16z speedrun
2023:
cto @ conceptualhq
2012-2021:
2011-2012:
software engineering @ carnegie mellon university
2008-2012:
swe @ microsoft intune
2007:
2004-2008:
computer science @ university of illinois urbana-champaign
Writing
Most Popular
- Where Talent Hides Agencies, referrals, content, community
- What "The Best" Looks Like Hunger, humility, and EQ over pedigree
- Which Game Are You Playing? Equity upside vs. a stronger resume
- The Fork in the Road Keep coding or learn to manage people
- Genie, Take the Wheel Ten lessons from coding with Claude Code
CTO & Leadership
- Two Captains, One Ship Splitting product, culture, and budget
- What is a Startup CTO? Day-to-day work and how the role evolves
- Which Game Are You Playing? Equity upside vs. a stronger resume
- The Fork in the Road Keep coding or learn to manage people
AI & Engineering
- A Product Is a Promise Why cheap code doesn't earn user trust
- The Last Carpenter Building a writing app without coding
- The Code Nobody Reads Cognitive debt from unreviewed AI code
- Genie, Take the Wheel Ten lessons from coding with Claude Code
- Why Game Devs Don't Merge Files Binary assets, Perforce, and file locks
- Haskell at Front Row Wins and pains at an edtech startup
People & Teams
- Letting Go When to fire, how, and telling the team
- Where Talent Hides Agencies, referrals, content, community
- What "The Best" Looks Like Hunger, humility, and EQ over pedigree
- Telling Your Company's Story Pitching your mission to candidates
- The Big Picture First hires and tradeoffs that persist
- A Tale of Two Hiring Seasons Recruiting in booming vs. frozen markets