It only makes sense in retrospect.
This is an overview of my meandering journey to the present moment.
(I suspect a lot more meaningful meandering is in order)
In my early 20s, I was designing chips in windowless labs in Silicon Valley, and loving it
Working for some of the big valley giants, I learnt a lot. I designed products that generated billions of dollars in revenue. In the process I learnt a lot about myself, which led me to quit Silicon Valley.
circa 2008 - 2013
Bored at my desk job, I built drones using open source software and 360 cameras
This is Yellow Submarine, the first 360 camera system with single button operation button, single battery and automatic horizon stabilization. Built in 2012, when the Oculus Rift just came out, and VR was coming out of the closet.
circa 2010 - 2012
I started questioning why I was doing, what I was doing.
So I moved to rural East Africa, to find some answers
I was designing affordable solar lighting solutions for the poorest in Tanzania, with Angaza Design.
circa 2010 - 2011
While studying whale sharks and manta rays in Mozambique,
I fell in love with the Ocean, having spent years fearing it.
I co-developed an underwater camera trap to automatically capture and document manta rays; a first of it’s kind and a helpful tool in marine conservation.
circa 2013
I built a location-agnostic photography service, shooting the most beautiful properties in South and South East Asia. My first venture
This taught me the value of being self reliant, but also the importance of teamwork. I started recruiting and teaching assistants in Sri Lanka & Thailand.
circa 2014 - 2015
On April 25th, 2015, the devastating 8.0 earthquake in Nepal changed its course forever, and provoked in me a dream. I chased that dream into Nepal, to go tell the story of the aftermath, in Virtual Reality. It have me insights into the power of empathy.
My time in Nepal shaped the rest of my life and made me stop and look at life very differently. In the process Pierre and I found new ways of storytelling.
circa 2015
Learning failure the hard way: I co-founded a startup with my best friend to allow large scale multi-user VR experiences to become a reality, but crashed and burnt quickly. Fail fast right?!
This was my first silicon valley startup where I mostly learnt what not to do! We did build a very cool tracking system using ultrawide band technology and a system that allowed tens of users inhabit warehouse scale spaces in VR, with the ability to integrate biosignals into experiences.
circa 2016 - 2017
VR + Water = Empathy
Serendipity led me to my co-founders who shared my vision of enabling people to connect to nature. Whales helped 🐳
This was the previous chapter of my life, and I am incredibly grateful for being able to follow my heart, work on something meaningful and build a sustainable business at the same time. Win-win-win.
circa 2017 - 2021
PhD @ UC Berkeley
I’m currently pursuing a PhD at the School of Information at UC Berkeley in the beautiful Bay Area aka xučyun, the traditional lands of the Ohlone people, who still have not been recognized by the U.S. federal government.