It’s nice to meet you. My name is Arya. I was born in New Jersey, but have spent most of my life in Arizona. I am not everything I want to be yet, but I am more than I was. I love competing, and have played sports throughout most of my life. Growing up, something I heard a lot is that there are two types of people in this world, winners and losers. Theoretically, this is true, but I prefer a different method of categorization: those who step into the arena, and those who watch.
Some things I am interested in include robotics, brain-computer interfaces, early developmental education, space technologies, planetary health, and all things related to venture. I find venture so awesome because startups are all about dreaming, and the fundamental idea behind a successful startup is to achieve something that has never been done before.
I think that a vast majority of success, define that as you may, comes from working extremely hard and being extremely kind. Currently, I spend my time reading, learning, traveling, and trying to have as many thoughtful conversations as possible, hoping to steward these traits and do as much good for the world as I can.
Today
- Employee #1 at BreatheEV, building the most seamless EV charging experience ever.
- Supporting small business across the valley at the Arizona Microcredit Initiative.
- Founding Helios Ventures, Arizona’s first student-run venture fund.
- Learning about artificial intelligence + education through OpenAI’s ChatGPT Student Lab.
Yesterday
- Traveled to the Swiss Alps as a Villars Fellow. Drank very clean water.
- Sold a lot of stuff online as employee #1 at SCORE NN’. E-commerce is tough, but meaningful. Will always look fondly upon my first real foray into startups and the Arizona tech ecosystem.
- Product Strategy & Innovation at SAP Signavio. Traveled to Berlin and raced go-karts.
- Won the NGA Student Case Competition as only freshman in attendance. Realized (after many deep research queries) that there really is not much to do in Vegas if you are under 21.
- Made a ton of very close friends at Business Today’s 50th International Conference (highly recommend applying) and finally decided that I no longer wanted to go to medical school.
Ereyesterday
- Used free Lifetime Fitness membership and won employee of the month twice.
- Coordinated many blood drives and raised a lot of money in high school. Discovered that I enjoyed mobilizing people around shared goals more than most academic work.
- Played lots and lots of soccer (I now lead a very passionate intramural team).
- A Beginner’s Guide to Startup Equity
- China is not the USSR
- Mine The Skies
- Charger Economics [I]
- Charger Economics [II]
- Meritocracy’s Children
All views are exclusively my own and do not represent those of any of past or present employers.
Books
- Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow [Gabrielle Zevin]
- The Reluctant Fundamentalist [Mohsin Hamid]
- Steve Jobs [Walter Isaacson]
- Wonder [R. J. Palacio]
- Zero to One: Notes on Startups, Or How to Build the Future [Blake Masters, Peter Thiel]
- The Scout Mindset [Julia Galef]
Places
- SoHo, Manhattan
- Princeton, New Jersey
- Palo Alto, California
- Geneva, Switzerland
- Barcelona, Spain
Visual Media
- Interstellar [Christopher Nolan]
- Star Wars [George Lucas]
- The Social Network [David Fincher]
- Avatar: The Last Airbender [Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko]
- Super Pumped: The Battle For Uber [Brian Koppelman, David Levien]
- Iron Man [John Favreau]
Songs
- Do The Dance [Sid Sriram]
- Tsunami [Suzuki Saint]
- Cherry Wine [grentperez]
- Headlines [Drake]
- Locked out of Heaven [Bruno Mars]
- Line Without a Hook [Ricky Montgomery]
- Merry Christmas, Please Don’t Call [Bleachers]
- La Isla Bonita [Madonna]
Artists
- Bruno Mars
- ABBA
- Coldplay
Coffee
- La Cabra
- Happy Joe Coffee
- Le Market
- Black Rock Coffee
Games
- Secret Hitler
- Catan
- Exploding Kittens
- Texas Hold’em
please send me recommendations.