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Posts
- Mar 21, 12
There exists a disorder known as hypomania. Why such a mood state is classified as a disorder truly puzzles me. I’ve quoted Wikipedia’s characterization of this disorder below: Hypomania (literally, “below mania”) is a mood state characterized by persistent and pervasive elevated (euphoric) or irritable mood, as well as thoughts and behaviors that are consistent with such [...]
- Mar 15, 12
Francis Dierick, in an awesome blog post which I totally agree with, writes: People are creating ‘content’ like never before. Everyone I talk to seems to be drowning in a sea of Tweets, Facebook updates & other user-generated content. Yet I feel something is missing. Something simple. Something elusive. A thing called quality. He concluded [...]
- Nov 24, 11
This Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for scientists like Lynn Margulis, who died earlier this week. She took the theory of endosymbiosis from being unaccepted hearsay to strong consensus and approval. This theory and others of horizontal gene transfer were landmark moments in the history of evolutionary biology. As humanity takes on some of our greatest challenges [...]
- Oct 28, 11
Thomas Bangalter (Daft Punk) talking about their 2001 album Discovery (emphasis mine): “This album has a lot to do with our childhood and the memories of the state we were in at that stage of our lives. It’s about our personal relationship to that time. It’s less of a tribute to the music from 1975 to [...]
- Oct 10, 11
Cross-posted from my Quora answer to: What are people’s experiences with Uber in SF, NY, or DC? I got to use Uber (formerly UberCab) while on a short trip to San Francisco this past week and I am completely sold on this service! (When is Uber coming to Southern California???) My experience has shown that [...]
- Oct 05, 11
I’ve been pretty active on The Quora Review lately. I’m really enthralled by Quora and what they’re doing. The company has the short tagline of “a continually improving collection of questions and answers created, edited, and organized by everyone who uses it,” but that’s not saying much. There’s so many things Quora can morph into, [...]
- Oct 04, 11
Realization: If I live to be 72, I’ve already lived a whole third of my life. A third, gone. This is a depressing thought, but it’s also powerful: it means how I spend every waking hour truly matters. I can’t afford to waste the precious time that’s given to me on this Earth. Granted, the [...]
- Sep 22, 11
Really enjoyed doing this story: http://venturebeat.com/2011/09/22/lyrics-2-0/ The next big thing for the consumer web could actually come from one of its oldest content verticals: lyrics. Services like RapGenius and TuneWiki are spearheading a new way of publishing and making money from song lyrics. As RapGenius co-founder Tom Lehman likes to say, existing lyrics sites are “so bad [...]
- Sep 21, 11
One of the more hyped startups from Y Combinator’s Summer 2011 class is Verbling, a web app that uses live video chat between those learning a language and their native speaker counterparts from around the world. Unfortunately, the usefulness of services like Verbling is under attack. Recent technological advancement framed within the context of new theories about [...]
- Sep 14, 11
It’s recently dawned upon me that I have trouble connecting to the past, to history. I can’t see myself as part of that larger story, as just a momentary phase amidst a much longer continuity of time. I feel like World War II was fought amongst the belligerents of Earth-1, and I occupy Earth-2, observing from a safe [...]
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Info
- SummaryAn aspiring cog in the Silicon Valley machine, I have emerged a staunch technocrat: I believe that the best solutions to practically any problem come from technology and innovation.
Progress for humanity is what I stand for. Engineering is how we get there. Business and economics govern the organization and distribution of the effort. Laws and governments make sure everyone plays fair. Journalism and reporting get the word out to the world. I aim to be at the intersection of all these converging fields.
I want to innovate, administrate, adjudicate, and communicate every aspect of this never-ending quest to problem-solve our way to “happiness” (whatever that means). Every task I have ever engaged in and am yet to face reflects upon this transcendent desire.
An innovator, an entrepreneur, an investor, a lawyer, a professor, a journalist, and an artist: somewhere, somehow, in my lifetime, I will wear all of these hats. In many ways, I’ve already begun.Experience- Jan 2010 - PresentContributor / VentureBeatCovered venture capital, tech companies, startups, and other pieces featuring analysis and commentary of tech trends and businesses
- Jan 2010 - Apr 2010Business Development Associate / VentureBeat• Marketing: leveraged social media expertise to increase brand awareness, promote conferences, and expand readership; used Google Analytics to analyze site traffic and develop readership-expansion strategy • Project Management/Event Coordinating: coordinated GamesBeat 2010 game industry conference; brought together over 500 industry professionals; ; helped secure partnership with intl. tech startups and investors • Startup Experience: helped setup GamesBeat’s startup competition; assisted panel of venture capitalist judges to review entries; served as startup liaison • Journalism: authoring several articles on venture capital, tech companies, startups, and other pieces featuring analysis and commentary of tech and tech businesses (writing samples available upon request)
- Sept 2009 - Dec 2009Research Assistant / Professor J. Nicholas Ziegler (UC Berkeley Department of Political Science)• Tracked news articles, scholarly publications, and government white papers relevant to internationally coordinated efforts to re-regulate hedge funds and private equity firms in post-recession world as well as EU competition law and comparing cases to those in U.S. • Wrote memoranda, short papers, and other articles analyzing and synthesizing information for policy recommendations
- Sept 2008 - Sept 2009Attorney General / Associated Students of the University of California, Berkeley• Administration: co-authored bills to reform Constitution and By-Laws, making body more organized, efficient, and transparent; resolved procedural disputes and ambiguities • Argumentation: Defended ASUC Senate from suits filed against it by members of student body • Legal: prepared comprehensive legal briefs and represented large organization in legal/judicial setting • Project Management: oversaw two campus-wide elections: unprecedented recall election and general election • Justice, Civil Rights, and Anti-Defamation: prosecuted students behind an unprecedented campus-wide recall election based on falsified information and slander of student senator; landmark case fought against defense counsel consisting of Berkeley/Boalt Law students; gained experience in ethical responsibilities of lawyers and neutral third-party counsels; dealt with prejudice and discrimination on scale involving ACLU, Anti-Defamation League, and Zionist Freedom Alliance • Public Relations & Public Office: learned to ‘filter’ info as public figure when dealing with university press
- Jan 2009 - Mar 2009Extern / Monsoon Company• Software Development: repaired and maintained experimental developer unit of Microsoft Surface™ next-generation multi-touch computing interface; used unit to bug-test beta software (of multi-touch variety) • Marketing: Assisted in creative marketing campaign to expand client base and increase awareness among existing clients: resulted in new, high-profile projects (http://www.monsoonco.com) • Global Management: gained first-hand experience in global teams that design, build, and deploy software/web-products in truly global software consultancy with 24-hour production cycle in US and India; supplemented academic experience of Globalization courses taken concurrently
- Jun 2008 - Aug 2008Parson's Foundation Summer Research Intern / Cognitive Control & Development Lab (Bunge Lab) - HWNI, UC Berkeley• Collaborated with post-doctoral scholars to develop and run behavioral experiments testing human cognitive capabilities • Oversaw own pilot project for fMRI-potential testing within lab requiring development of behavioral experiment by designing visual cues and setting correct timings • Personally recruited and analyzed subjects • Collected raw data for computer analysis • Work is pending publication
- Jan 2006 - Mar 2006Congressional Intern / Congressman Brad Sherman (CA-D) - Local Offices of the 27th Congressional District• Writing: authored speeches and letters for Congressman and his staff • Spokesperson: attended local events as representative of Congressman • Public Relations: assisted in bridging ties to Armenian community found within district lines • Gained substantial knowledge about Congressional procedure and representative-constituent relations
Education-
2008 - 2010University of California, BerkeleyB.A. in Political Economy
Activities: Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC), Armenian Students Association
Additional Information-
Websites:
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Honors:UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science - Dean's List, Spring 2009 Los Angeles Pierce College - Philosophy and Sociology Perpetual Scholarship, 2008 Los Angeles Pierce College - Dean's List with President's Honor, 2006-2008
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Interests:blogging, science, technology, philosophy, neuroscience, political economy, law, business, entrepreneurship, investing, skiing, music acquisition, djing
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Tweets
- Congrats @Quora! Now to the future... My answer to: What will Quora do with the $50m in funding it just received? http://t.co/X8XK9557
- My answer to: What important ideas were initially ridiculed or rejected by experts? http://t.co/SEHtBl0u on @Quora
- Couldn't resist my skeptical, contrarian side today, so I had to ask: Why should I not learn to program? on @Quora at http://t.co/5nyJ7u2J
- @Gumroad raises $7 million to help people sell anything they create @VentureBeat http://t.co/AJVtteC2
- My answer to: What are valuable Japanese cultural concepts and beliefs to live by? Ikigai + Moai FTW http://t.co/nwv1DYvL on @Quora
- @42Floors’ new “Showroom” turns startup offices into seductive hiring tools amid talent crunch | VentureBeat: http://t.co/a93iaLZS
- @bradleyvoytek Big Data's Talent Shortage: http://t.co/UYtpamEu "What the industry needs is a new type of person: the data scientist."Apr 28, 12 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- @mssLSATblog Haha yea that's out of the LSAT scope but still a fallacy. I'm having this blown up to a big poster size for my prep though!
- @mssLSATblog this needs to be featured ASAP: http://t.co/XZqUW59xApr 24, 12 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Lots of ppl asking about this lately, so here's the answer: When will the 2012 MacBook Pros be released? http://t.co/uUizywBC on @Quora
- Suffering from to-do list hell? I have the antidote. My answer to: Is there a good, simple "to-do" app ... http://t.co/4XOpFHYP on @Quora
- Don't be surprised if random acts of car washing are gifted to you from me once @Cherry expands to LA.Apr 17, 12 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- My answer to: What will autonomous cars make possible? http://t.co/VNqO5CCp on @Quora
- @jorilallo @kippt I hear you. speaking from my own (Mac) workflow: print-to-PDF important articles, use Mac's Preview for highlighting/notes
- @hey_itsTRIX doing well! it's been forever. gotta grub with the GWU crew soon, let's make it happen!
- @stanfordeng thanks! I hope my alma mater @UCberkeley forgives my transgressions!
