Interests
Things I'm passionate about and enjoy exploring
I'm obsessed with the super-power that AI coding tools have handed every solo builder.
Claude and Cursor didn't just make me faster — they let me go from "I've never touched Rust" to shipping production-grade backends, polished Next.js frontends, and compliance-heavy platforms in months instead of years. What gets me out of bed is taking a half-baked idea, pair-programming it with Claude in plain English, and watching a real, secure, multi-tenant system come to life by the weekend.
Current fascinations:
- —Building AI that humans can actually trust — interpretability, safety rails, and knowing why a model said what it said
- —Computer vision at the FSD level: the idea that we're inches away from machines truly understanding the physical world still blows my mind
- —Using AI for tangible human advancement (legal, medical, education — anywhere paperwork or expertise is a bottleneck)
- —Proving that even in an era of instant prototyping, taste and design are the ultimate moat — Linear, Notion, Cursor itself, and the new Airbnb redesign keep reminding me that speed is table stakes, but thoughtful pixels and flows are what make something feel like magic.
Data and ML are still my first love (nothing beats the high of a model beating production baseline), but right now the biggest rush is owning the whole stack and shipping things people log into and trust with real work.
I'm a big believer in constant learning and reading. I keep a daily routine of practicing a foreign language — even just a few minutes a day adds up over time.
As someone who loves history, I'm convinced there's so much to learn from the past that directly applies to the present and future. Understanding how civilizations rose and fell, how technologies disrupted societies, and how great minds tackled seemingly impossible problems gives invaluable context for navigating today's challenges.
Books I keep coming back to: the Tolkien trilogy for its world-building mastery, the Dune trilogy for its exploration of power and prescience, and for entrepreneurs, Shoe Dog remains one of the most honest accounts of what building something from scratch actually feels like.
When not working, I enjoy hiking, watching movies & shows, following sports, traveling when possible, volunteering, running, and playing guitar.
Hikes (or Saunters)
Hiking is by far my favorite pastime — a perfect blend of exercise and being in nature that clears the mind and improves mental health. The beauty of hiking is that you don't always have to go far for a meaningful experience. Though I prefer John Muir's word "saunter" — it captures the reverence and appreciation I try to bring to every trail. Whether it's an urban hike close to home or an underrated out-and-back trail deeper in the wilderness, each one offers something unique.
Some of my favorite urban trails include Lands End in San Francisco, Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle, and Santa Barbara Botanic Garden in Santa Barbara.
Movies & Shows
Movies and shows are my go-to way to wind down in the evening. I'm particular about what I watch (you'll notice a connection between what I read and my movie taste).
Favorite movies & trilogies: Interstellar, Inception, Dark Knight Trilogy, Dune, Moneyball, Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars.
Favorite shows: Andor, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Parks & Rec, The Office, Brooklyn 99, and Loki.
Guitar
I've been playing acoustic guitar off and on for about 14 years since elementary school. It's a creative outlet that balances all the analytical work I do.
Sports
I'm a die-hard sports fan across the board. My first love is soccer (football) — I'm a huge supporter of Chelsea FC. In American football, I bleed maroon for Texas A&M and back the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL.
For the NHL, I always root for an underdog, so the Seattle Kraken have my allegiance. In MLB, my data background makes me appreciate the analytics side of the game, and I love an underdog story — I enjoy watching the Mariners or the Giants (Oracle Park is unmatched).
For the NBA, I'm all about the Miami Heat. Growing up watching D-Wade, Bosh, and LeBron together sold me on the Heat, and I've been a fan ever since.