Engineering with my friends at Fermàt
Experience
2022 — 2024
San Francisco, California, United States
I joined Fermat in its pre-seed stage as one of the first engineers. My work consisted of prototypes for the first year as we sought product market fit. Afterwards I worked alone to 0-1 Fermat's brand-facing self-service dashboard. Technologies include: React, Typescript, Java, Go, Hasura Graphql, Postgres, GCP infrastructure, Expo, React-Native.
Work:
Developed a React-typescript SPA using Hasura graphql and Chakra UI to enable brands to create and edit their Fermat "shops", which are mobile-optimized and customizable storefronts for purchases in social media apps. Brands sync their Shopify or other ecommerce provider catalogues with Fermat and package their products in targeted ways. The dashboard remains the foundation of Fermat's shop configuration internally and externally.
Developed a prototype Fermat iOS app using Expo and react-native. This app is now deprecated after a pivot in strategy.
Transitioned our REST API to a graphql interface using Hasura. (Highly recommend!) This made full-stack client-server-database interactions significantly easier and faster to manage.
Managed our Summer engineering interns.
2019 — 2021
San Francisco
I worked at the heart of LiveRamp's platform, building the "matching engine" powering its identity resolution product. Technologies used included Java, Scala, Spark, Kubernetes, and other GCP infrastructure tools.
Work:
Rewrote LiveRamp's core matching engine as a custom extension of Spark's RDD framework. This refactor took our 3-person team 3 quarters of dedicated work. We reduced turnaround time by 90% for 90% of jobs (120 min -> 10 min). We ran our jobs almost entirely on GCP preemptible machines (98%+), enabling significant cost savings. We developed custom Spark accumulators and Spark listeners for logging, monitoring, and infrastructural optimization. We transitioned without any negative customer impact due to rigorous QA and testing.
Refactored the pre-processing step of our data pipeline, shifting from a database-based messaging system to GCP Pubsub. Enabled greater parallelization and "batching" of work, leading to over $3m in annual savings (30% reduction in cost).
Implemented HyperLogLogPlus-based statistics service that computed the number of source identifiers matched to destination identifiers and the number of total devices reached after identity resolution. The design of this system enables counting as a "byproduct" of our main flow, yielding over $1m in cost savings.
Uncovered and implemented low-level compute and storage optimizations, resulting in over $1m per year in savings.
San Francisco
I worked with Anneka Gupta on LiveRamp's executive team. My purpose was to do whatever was necessary to make her and the broader executive team successful. This included everything from creating decks for internal communications to managing M&A projects. Whatever was needed and helpful.
Work:
Project managed "crisis" situations across the company (embed & stabilize),
Composed company-wide document articulating LiveRamp's 5-year company vision, company strategy, and product strategy.
Set & tracked company OKR/KPIs,
Organized management team offsites.
Managed 3-week sprint for diligence and integration planning of aborted M&A deal.
Drove executive response to internal employee engagement survey, including creation and execution of remediation projects.
Created materials for BoD, QBR, and other internal communications.
Provided intensive operational support to the Chief Product Officer & VP Eng, with additional support for Anneka and Product directors upon CPO departure.
Assisted team-of-teams product & engineering transformation.
Created and executed plan for product & engineering team re-organizations.
Assisted creation of processes for building and communicating product roadmaps.
Kick-started PM leveling and training program.
I created this position to solve my friends’ problems (at least the ones who were engineers). This role was split between two job functions: special projects & workflow/team optimization. I worked directly with the VP of Engineering and over 120 engineers.
Redesigned compensation for the engineering organization to ensure LiveRamp paid competitively on the market. Created all internal documentation, later repurposed by other teams.
Created leveling schema and calibration processes to ensure engineers had clear expectations and were compensated according to job scope and impact.
Managed communications for org-wide announcements. Handled crisis communications during difficult times.
Redesigned senior interview flow, introducing structured questions and evaluation criteria to ensure consistency in assessment.
Negotiated purchase of new automated testing tool, Py. Designed backend automation and helped create LiveRamp's custom question.
Launched new grad engineering hiring pipeline for 2018.
Many ad hoc requests.
TERM Program Manager -- The TERM program gave new grads of generalist backgrounds the opportunity to join and support a tech company in various non-engineering positions.
Articulated and defined TERM program purpose and structure.
Created external marketing collateral.
Re-oriented the mission of the program with aim to better harness the power of new grads with generalist backgrounds.
Designed and launched hiring process for 2018 class as acting hiring manager for the role. Hired 9 TERMs for Class of 2018.
Organized positions and rotations for 20+ individuals.
Delegated responsibility for social and training events to interested program participants.
Brought compensation for TERMs into the program through creation of detailed policy and evaluation criteria.
Mentored & coached 20 new grads entering LiveRamp directly from college.
Worked with HR & Finance to streamline program operations.
2016 — 2017
Merger & Acquisition work:
Project managed diligence effort for LiveRamp's acquisition of startup Circulate. Worked with project manager of simultaneous diligence for startup Arbor. We worked to acquire two competing companies in two weeks at the same time without either knowing we were acquiring the other. Achieved two-week internal deadline for start-to-finish deal totaling $200m+.
Launched integration planning for both companies during diligence.
Led post-acquisition integration of Arbor & Circulate into LiveRamp from a talent & workplace environment perspective. Successfully integrated 40+ employees from two startups in two different cities simultaneously without talent loss. Coordinated, managed, and executed:
- HR backend -- work authorization, benefits, tax forms, etc.
- Day 0/1 welcome experience & SF visit of both companies.
- Training on all things LiveRamp.
- Continued engagement in week 1, month 1, quarter 1, & half-year 1.
- IT & Facilities -- hardware & accounts provisioning; Arbor move into LiveRamp-NY office.
- Marketing -- brand consolidation.
Other work:
Rebuilt LiveRamp careers website from start to finish (liveramp.com/careers).
Rolled out Slack to organization, consolidating and sunsetting unnecessary software in the process.
Streamlined new hire pre-boarding and onboarding, focusing strongly on IT backend automation, manager training, and initial ramp up experience.
Up-leveled HR systems at LiveRamp to achieve successful SOC2 audit report.
Managed internal all-hands meetings and training for new and existing employees.
Facilitated change within organization by taking ground-level pulse of company and passing consolidated feedback up to executive team.
Education
2014 — 2016
Harvard University
Master of Arts (M.A.)
2014 — 2016
2010 — 2014
Washington University in St. Louis
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)
2010 — 2014
Washington University in St. Louis