Sibling rivalry can lead to innovation. I am a very private person. I remember being upset that my brother was going into my room and taking my things, so I built a little security system for my room to keep him out. My early memories are of taking toys apart and seeing how they worked. In school, this led to robotics, then programming, then engineering, then security and communications. I can now build a much more sophisticated security system for my room.

Storytelling. My grandfather was a storyteller. He would always recount stories of his athletic escapades, or of starting up businesses. His stories taught me to treasure the small moments, and value how they impact your journey and make unexpected things happen.  A humble, loving, and inspiring role model.

Failure to me is tied with regret. It’s the right decision if I can look back and would still take the same steps based on the information I had, even if it led to failure. It’s good to succeed, but not being afraid to try things out is just as important to me.

My camera is always on standby. To counterbalance my STEM focus, I developed myself creatively through photography. I see the camera as the intersection between the electronic world I am very involved in, the art world I always wanted to explore, and the memories and experience that shaped who I am today.

The fast pace of the startup world is what attracted me. I had initially set for myself an academic path focused on research, problem solving, and creating solutions. But in that world it takes a long time to get things moving…not a problem I face now in the startup ecosystem, where I can focus on the same things at a much faster pace. 

My interview included a cryptocurrency debate. I knew right then I wanted to join STV, I met half the team in the process, was amazed with their background and experience, and even had a 20-minute bitcoin argument, what’s not to love about that.

Unmatched experience. This is what I think sets STV apart, the collective team background, experiences and input is unmatched in the ecosystem in my opinion. We push each other to grow both personally and professionally, and I see that growth materialize in myself and in the entire team every week.

Second time founders are on the increase. I’m talking to more and more people who are creating their second and third ventures, I like that. It shows that the ecosystem is developing and how people’s capacity to innovate goes beyond a single venture, wether it was successful or not.

Date driven decisions. There’s a ton of great ideas out there, but how it’s executed and by who makes the difference. I love analyzing products and user behavior to look for signs of product stickiness, repeat behavior, and organic growth in early stages. These are the things that prove that a product is here to stay. Things tend to add up when analyzing a good product. And if the metrics don’t make sense, then they don’t make sense.