Issa is a VC-backed software platform to automate visa applications and international hiring. Empowering teams at Wonderfruit, CHAGEE, Cafe Amazon, and 100+ leading brands in the region.We’re creating a world where passionate people can move and find their dreams anywhere. Get started at issacompass.com

Venture capital firm and YC-style program for Southeast Asia. Since launching in 2021, Iterative has helped 65+ startups grow from ideas to a collective $1.2 billion valuation. I advise portfolio companies including S23, W24, and S24.

Founded by Google and Harvard engineers, Viva created the universal translator for a future of work without language barriers.• Launched to over 100K waitlist in 1 month with a $5000 budget ($0.02 CAC)• Oversaw our market expansion from the US to 20+ countries across Latin America • Impressed and backed by the luminaries of our industry: Chris Manning, “father of NLP” at Stanford’s famed AI lab; General Catalyst; executives from Meta, Rappi, and more

OutBrave is a venture studio for humanitarian work. I headed our 20-staff team — with backgrounds from Stanford University, International Rescue Committee, and UNHCR — across our operations in active conflict regions and at-risk migrant communities. By securing $40M+ in unearmarked funding for our initiatives and partnerships, we were fortunate enough to operate without partisanship or political affiliations.During the heart of the pandemic, I served those with the greatest needs:• Led operations in 27 countries on 4 continents• Designed and launched 35+ regional projects to address livelihoods, mobility, healthcare, and other emergency needs. E.g., creating a worker cooperative in a refugee camp, delivering maternal healthcare across rural Nigeria, predicting sectarian violence in Egypt, anti-trafficking in Moldova, and dozens more• Projects and partners awarded by the Gates Foundation, Queen Elizabeth II, and more• Described as "the most impactful initiative I've heard of" by U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking

Head of software at Social Construct (Y Combinator’s New Cities research lab turned VC-backed startup), where I built SoCo’s platform for generative construction to create radically affordable & inclusive housing. I defined and led our software vision — from generative designed architecture sketches to automated supply chain scheduling to on-site robotics.

I joined Houzz to establish Visual Technologies — our award-winning moonshot studio. Built and shaped Houzz's innovation strategy (AR/VR, ML/AI, computer vision, computer graphics) from the ground up, drove the company’s success, and advised the company founders. Served as Houzz's lead inventor during my tenure, leading a team of 20+ researchers, co-authoring majority of the company's patents and technological breakthroughs that helped us reach $400 million funding at a $4 billion valuation.
• Selected as industry advisor to Google and Apple orgs for AR/VR technologies• Awarded Google’s App of the Year in 2016• #2 in Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies 2018 & 2015• #6 in CNBC Disruptor 2017 (beating Palantir, 23andMe, SpaceX)• Inventions featured at TechCrunch Disrupt, Apple WWDC, Google I/O, New York Times, Mary Meeker's famed Internet Trends Report (as an idea that resulted in 10X+ multiplier for ecommerce)

Roominnate invented award-winning technologies to communicate ideas of home. We received early partnership offers with major technology companies (Facebook, Microsoft, Valve Corporation) and Fortune 500, but ultimately decided to join Houzz to help families around the world.

Big Fish Games delighted hundreds of millions of users before our ~$1B acquisition by Churchill Downs. I first worked on gameplay design and data infrastructure before leading the start of a native SDK to unify deployment across media platforms (web, mobile, desktop) for the company to support over 100 million people.

Project Mallory, an interactive storytelling game, was designed as a nonprofit collaboration with micro-finance platform Kiva to give loans to female entrepreneurs in the developing world.

I helped develop the game engine, artificial intelligence, and other algorithms for AMC's The Walking Dead social game, a project that supported 20 million players.

I led two technical projects for our client, Ogilvy & Mather. I completed both, from design to launch, in under two months (19 months ahead of schedule) and reached over a million users.