I like to take systems apart and ask why they were built that way.

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I grew up in the Bay Area, lived in China on a Fulbright, and now call Zürich home. Along the way I've worked at Google, co-founded a YC and Techstars-backed startup, and spent the last few years in crypto thinking about how decentralized systems actually distribute — or fail to distribute — power.

These days I'm interested in AI, what it means for geopolitics, and whether the people building it are asking the right questions.

I think in English, grew up in Russian, learned Mandarin just because it was hard, gave my heart to Spanish, and am currently losing a battle with German grammar.

See the portfolio →
Val sitting with her Rottweiler

Main quests

Now

Head of Product Design, Offchain Labs (Arbitrum)

If it has pixels, I run it: arbitrum.io, portal.arbitrum.io, bridge.arbitrum.io, and offchainlabs.com. Design for an ecosystem securing $17.6B.

Before

  • Age 10, got my first job by posting a Craigslist ad. Age 24, founded a SaaS company, acquired by HubSpot. Forbes 30 Under 30.
  • Security analyst at Google, then product designer
  • Melanoma researcher at Stanford; qualified for an undergrad position while still in high school
  • Researched the technical infrastructure of censorship in China under a Fulbright

Also before

Product management, drone robotics FACES, APW, SABF, BTIC - an alphabet soup of youth leadership grants in China, Australia, Argentina, and New York

Side quests

acro
downhill laps
duo trapeze
figure skating
archery training with tim ferriss
wrestling
welding
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Passion projects

Things built with code, curiosity, and AI.

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Recent thoughts

Musings on the human condition.

All essays →

Thoughts

Musings on the human condition.

Projects

Things built with code, curiosity, and AI.

informedgirl.com

Women's HealthSkincareResearch

Up-to-date analysis of the latest findings on women's health, skincare, anti-aging, pesticides, and microplastics.

ai-incest.com

AuditabilityAccountabilityAI

Exploring how AI's are related and who might be able to audit who.

Verifiable Claude

AIBlockchainClaude APIBrave API

Borrowing fraud proofs from blockchain to build a verification layer for AI. What if Claude had to prove its claims?