Building Tolan — a fun, delightful, helpful, 3D, voice-native "AI best friend". Like a Tamagotchi you can talk to, or a ChatGPT with personality, memory, and more!

https://www.tolans.com/

Over 100k paying users, $1M monthly revenue, and a #1 App Store ranking. But the best part is the team — and we're just getting started. =)

Pomelo was a fintech startup that lets immigrants in the US share money with their families back home (starting with the Philippines) more cheaply, safely, reliably, and transparently, using the power of credit.

https://www.pomelo.com/

I joined the team pre-launch and helped us launch very successfully to fantastic customer feedback and solid key metrics. I also helped us raise our Series A on great terms and build a whole new v2 product (direct money transfer with GCash integration).

As VP Eng, I grew and led a strong and diverse team of engineers (~half the company); grew and managed managers; contributed significantly to and participated in every board meeting; interfaced regularly with our bank and other key business partners; significantly upgraded our fraud, risk, and credit underwriting programs; and co-led EPD with my excellent VP Product peer Sung Hu Kim.

I left Pomelo to help build Portola. Pomelo was acquired by Zepz (owners of SendWave and WorldRemit) in January 2026.

Cardless is a fintech startup that helps brands launch consumer-friendly co-branded credit cards.

https://www.cardless.com/

I joined the team right after the company's public launch. Over my time there, we launched several new brands (e.g. the Boston Celtics and Liverpool), raised a $40M Series B, doubled the team from 20 to 40, and significantly grew our consumer adoption (the numbers are confidential).

As Head of Eng, I reported directly to our CEO and collaborated closely with other company leaders. Others deserve the bulk of the credit here =), but I was happy to help us improve significantly across strategy, culture, and execution. Examples here include more written communication (e.g. strategy memos), more explicit focus (e.g. company OKRs and key metrics), and more effective all-hands.

In addition to overseeing Engineering, I also started our Data function, and contributed significantly to Product as well. With help from Design, I effectively led this "EPD" org and was proud to help us improve our impact and execution. Examples here include weekly demos to keep us shipping and sharing, data-driven experimentation (A/B testing and dashboards), and continuous deployment to production on web (with automated e2e testing). We also shipped several new products, features, and capabilities, of course. =)

Finally, I focused my own time on hiring. In collaboration with our recruiting team, I overhauled our job posts, improved our interview process, and contributed to sourcing strategy & execution. Over my year there, we hired 6 engineers, 2 data scientists/analysts, and 1 PM. We also improved the diversity & representation of our team from 15% women to 40% in eng and 45% across EPD!

I left Cardless after a year to join Pomelo. I learned and grew a lot here and am grateful to the team for the opportunity!

Even was a fintech startup that built a personal finance app to help workers escape the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle.

Our secret sauce was that we sold Even to *employers* (B2B2C) and integrated with their HR & payroll systems, allowing us to provide powerful capabilities like realtime projected pay, interest-free paycheck advances, automatic savings, and more.

https://even.com/

I led a team of talented engineers that owned our foundational platform, covering employer integrations, payment processing, and more. Over the years, we significantly expanded this platform, helped win and launch several major employers, and withstood 10x growth, fraud attacks, and major third-party production incidents.

I focused my own time on hiring (helping us significantly improve both our interview process and close rates), coaching & mentorship (both technical & soft skills), and the business (collaborating closely with product and sales, including helping us arrive at a new pricing model).

I also led various SWAT/tiger teams. Two notable examples: when one of our largest customers made a payroll mistake that would have cost them $XXM more than it did, and when COVID hit and we needed to significantly change our offering to keep our business alive. Both these incidents required quick, decisive, calm, coordinated action within days and weeks.

I joined Even in 2017 when we were <20 people and pre-product/market fit, and left 4 years later in 2021 when we were >100 people and had $XXM ARR. Even was acquired by Walmart for $XXXM in 2022.

I loved my experience at Even and am grateful to the team for the opportunity!

I joined Even as engineer #5 and helped build and ship our flagship product (Instapay) to our flagship customer (Walmart).

The results exceeded our expectations across the board: Instapay is now the second-most used benefit at Walmart after 401(k), and our App Store ratings are a consistent 4.8+, with reviews filled with love & thanks for helping people get by.

I mentored new engineers as we grew, and was eventually promoted to lead ~half the team.