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I was born in the United States to Indian parents, and we moved back to India when I was still in kindergarten. I came back to the United States when I was 17 to go to MIT.
While in college, I experimented by working in a NASA student research program, in a Computational Genomics lab, and at a hedgefund. Surprisingly, I had the most fun at the hedgefund because that’s where I discovered I was better at making products that generated immediate value, rather than longer term research which was better suited for people smarter than me.
After completing a couple of degrees, I worked as a software engineer at KAYAK thanks to Paul English. Eventually, I became a Director of Engineering for the KAYAK Mobile team. Surprisingly, my biggest learning from KAYAK was the incredible value of being able to build a superstar team, and learning how to be a good manager from Bill O’Donnell.