For as long as I can remember, I've been fascinated with using technology to enhance human capacities. I grew from a child medical inventor into a Stanford-educated bioengineer. Now, I live in San Francisco doing what I love: sharing ideas and getting people excited about cutting-edge research. My goal is to help accelerate change, by directing awareness and funding toward technologies with the potential to improve the world.
I owe much of my success and interests to my extraordinary mother: a former judo Olympian who raised me as a single parent with heart failure. Instead of saving for an uncertain retirement, she poured all of her time and money into traveling with my brother and me, cooking with us, exposing us to the arts, and enabling us to pursue all of our interests. She taught me that memorable experiences are more valuable than material possessions. I spent a lot of time with her in hospitals growing up, during which I learned the value of health, observed the shortcomings of lifesaving therapies, and pondered the limits of human anatomy. Thankfully, after several surgeries and equip with her third pacemaker, her health is now stable.
At eight-years-old, I invented PaceMate: a better way to transmit ECG and pacemaker signals over the phone line. Once a month, my mom needed to check if her pacemaker battery was running low, but the remote method had a low signal-to-noise ratio and required more than two hands, so she would often drive to the hospital instead. After several iterations, I improved the signal quality and easy-of-use by packaging disposable electrolyte-soaked sponges in plastic, and designing one-size-fits-all elastic wristbands (equipped with an electrode and cord that transmits the signal through a phone-like device). The unanticipated reception of my school science fair project was overwhelming; I won a national award, Student Ideas for a Better America! This qualified me for something even greater. In 1998, I became the youngest inductee in the National Gallery for America's Young Inventors (part of the Inventors Hall of Fame). An idol of mine, Dr. Wilson Greatbach, the inventor of the implantable cardiac pacemaker that keeps my mom alive, presented me with my medal.
"I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious."—Albert Einstein
The prospect of learning from such inspiring inventors brought me back to the annual Inventors Hall of Fame induction ceremony year-after-year. These include Dr. James Hillier (who showed me his first prototype electron microscope), Dr. James West (the father of contemporary microphones), and Ray Kurzweil (whose futuristic musings continue to inspire me). I'm glad to have befriended and kept in touch with two of them: Patsy Sherman (the inventor of Scotchgard, which protects most textiles) and Dr. Forrest Bird (who invented the respirator and various aviation technologies). Sadly, they're both now deceased, but the curiosity they fostered within me remains.
My childhood was filled with encouragement and unique experiences (for which I'm grateful). I began as a shy kid, but memorizing speeches and giving dozens of interviews for news and radio shows honed my speaking ability. One of the most memorable days of my early life was giving all of the living astronauts awards at Space Day 2000, at the National Air and Space Museum (Unfortunately, not for any obvious reason. It was my first, and only, time overdosing on a drug, albuterol, which I self-administered excessively the night before). Another flattering memory is from when Port Discovery, a science museum in Baltimore, featured me in an opening exhibit. One more highlight was dissecting cadavers and taking pre-med classes, starting in sixth grade, as the youngest student admitted to the University of Pittsburgh's Medical Explorers program. One of my only regrets is turning down two invitations to meet President Bill Clinton at the White House (due to my conservative family's influence).
For over a decade, I volunteered on behalf of the American Heart Association in various capacities. Heart disease and stroke are the #1 and #3 most prevalent causes of death in America, their risks are mitigable, and as such deserve more awareness. My mother's condition makes this issue personal to me. Growing up, I would raise funds through Heart Walks and galas. Additionally, I enjoyed attending and speaking at the International Academy of Cardiology's annual convention. Perhaps my most impactful contribution began in junior high school, when I lobbied US Congress successfully for three consecutive years (for increased research funding for the National Institute of Health and similar initiatives). In 2006, my brother and I shared the title of Youth Advocate of the Year.
Around the same time, I licensed my second invention, NeedleBeetle, to Mattel through By Kids for Kids (a wonderful company that helps kids through the patent process). I came up with the idea while interviewing patients at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. They nearly unanimously agreed that needles were their least favorite part of the hospital experience; I couldn't eliminate the need for needles, so I set out to make them hurt less. NeedleBeetle is a simple procedure, complemented with a toy that resembles a colorful, washable stress ball. It limits the pain from venipunctures (IVs and blood draws, but not shots) by distracting the user and encouraging veins to rise closer to the skin and stay still (needles hurt more passing through muscle, and especially when one must get pricked multiple times because veins are rolling). With Mattel, I sold my first product to nearly 200 hospitals nationwide. (I was conflicted about commercializing my invention: I wanted to make it more widely available, but didn't want to make sick people's lives more difficult. So, as a term of our contract, 5,000 units were donated to sick kids!) After that, I joined BKFK as a board member and judged national competitions like the Invent-A-Toy challenge.
In high school, I was a studious geek (the type of guy who brought a book to gym class and ate lunch alone in the library to design a fantasy universe in an excel file). For four winters, I helped organize trips to the mountains each weekend as president of Ski Club. It was by far the most popular extracurricular activity; more than 10% of the student body was paid members of the club. Additionally, I was an active member of Latin Club, which celebrated my Italian heritage and often involved hedonistic toga parties and feasts. Looking back, I'm quite proud of my film portrayal of Orpheus, even though it only won second at the state Pennsylvania Junior Classical League competition. On a more serious note, I designed and executed studies of the physiological effects of various stimuli, ranging from video games to music, for the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Sciences. These earned me six first place and perfect scores at regional and state-level competitions!
After much introspective and existential thought, I came out as gay at the beginning of senior year. I realized I didn't want anyone in my life who didn't accept me for who I am. As to be expected, this lead to a series of difficult conversations; but, ultimately, I'm happier for it.
"Never mistake a clear view for a short distance."—Paul Saffo (quoting an unnamed farmer)
Undergrad was nirvanic. I studied Science, Technology, and Society at Stanford (concentrating on bioengineering and entrepreneurship), a multidisciplinary major that allowed me the flexibility to learn about my diverse interests (i.e. most everything but finance). Three of my favorite classes were GSBGEN111Q: Seminar in Entrepreneurial Communication (JD Schramm refined my ability to craft emails, design mockups, and deliver presentations), ME297 Forecasting for Innovators: Technology, Tools, & Social Change (Paul Saffo taught me to assess the impact and probability of future scenarios), and BIOE291 Principles and Practice of Optogenetics for Optical Control of Biological Tissues (Learning from Dr. Deisseroth, one of the founders of this cutting-edge field, was a privilege). I enjoyed taking NBIO201 Social and Ethical Issues in the Neurosciences so much that I became a TA; Dr. Hurlbut is such an eloquent bioethicist that I uncharacteristically jotted notes throughout his class.
Sophomore year, I found a greater sense of community when I befriended Andrés Gómez Emilsson and Juan-Carlos Foust (to this day, they’re two of my favorite people). Together, we cofounded the Stanford Transhumanist Association and — with me acting as president — grew into the world's largest student futurist group. Our biggest annual event, the Advancing Humanity Symposium, drew hundreds of attendees. Nine speakers each presented distinct perspectives on the promise of emerging technologies. Our scrappy group attracted Oxford professors and tech billionaires to speak at our events, with a meager annual budget of $8,000 (compared to the Stanford Speakers Bureau spending $110,000 to bring gossip blogger Perez Hilton to campus once).
After Stanford, I tried unsuccessfully to launch my own startup, Recollect. We would have helped users find their lost stuff (e.g. cars, bikes, keys) using a mobile application complemented with a Bluetooth hardware device. This was five years before Tile launched out their related product. In any case, this learning experience taught me how much more I had to learn about product development and supporting teams.
Professionally, I've worked at a number of startups since 2009. For four years, I worked as a Project Manager and Content Manager at Learnist and Uncollege (both social learning startups). For many people, higher education isn't worth the debt they accrue (the average 2016 graduate owes $37,000). The process needs to be more egalitarian, less standardized, and fun! I imagine this will look something like what Neal Stephenson imagines in The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer (much more personalized and interactive).
After that, I was Head of Content and Data at Looly's (a food system startup). We had the ambitious goal of placing machines that serve fresh, plant-based meals in reusable glassware in schools, offices, transit stops, and hospitals. I loved our mission (to make complete nutrition accessible to everyone) and delicious products, but profit margins are so low on food that it's difficult to disrupt the space.
"It's easier to imagine the end of the world than to imagine the end of capitalism."—Fredric Jameson
I began spending more-and-more of my time reading and writing. I have a compulsive drive to understand the natural world, and my brain is wired to analyze information, pick out patterns, and store concepts in an uncommon way. Plus, our media is saturated with pessimism, and I aspire to be a source of optimism about our collective future. I enjoy writing long-form content — thoroughly researching topics, distilling data, citing experts, and forecasting trends — in such a way that allows readers to develop a comprehensive perspective in a matter of minutes. So, I created a Facebook page to promote my writing, and attracted half a million fans in under a year.
After a while, I tired of writing about other people’s ideas and wanted to develop some of my own. So, I created a boosted post (paid ad) about how working at X would be a dream come true! Without ever applying to a job post, my current manager saw it and invited me to campus for lunch. Later that year, I joined the Rapid Evaluation team at X, the Moonshot Factory (formerly Google X: it’s funny how our company, our CEO, and I all changed our names).
While I was ramping up, my role felt like working at a think tank. Our early-stage project inception team collaboratively evaluated ideas at the intersection of a huge problem, breakthrough technology, and radical solution, often around a literal round table. Success meant filling the pipeline with a diverse and exciting portfolio of moonshot projects (with the potential to provide 10x improvements over existing solutions). As I learned to leverage more of the cross-functional resources at my disposal, my role became more R&D-focused.
Intrapreneurship has many advantages, most notably the ability to work with pre-vetted and highly-skilled specialists with little time spent on fundraising or recruiting.
I proposed an air pollution investigation that leadership decided to back. This marked a golden age in my career! I ran scrappy experiments in an airtight shed surrounded by tens of thousands of gallons of liquid nitrogen (for no specific reason other than it was the best available space). Our multidisciplinary team built several functional prototypes of wearable devices that deliver filtered air to the mouth and nose without covering or touching the face.
Despite demonstrating a 90% reduction in respired particulate matter, funding for my investigation was cut. Around the same time, the Rapid Evaluation was restructured to be a one-year-rotational program. I was offered a role on another investigation, but decided to look outside the company.
Next, I explored cofounding an interspecies translation startup with Dr. Con Slobodchikoff (an animal behavioralist who spent decades translating prairie dog language, perhaps the most complex non-human language known to date). We began developing a real-time dog to U.S. English translation device and specced out a rig in order to record visual, aural, and chemical signals from dogs. It’d take us about two years to collect enough data and train a model capable of producing an MVP (in order to identify injuries and diseases more precisely as well as lower barriers to training). This exciting idea is, unfortunately, going nowhere soon, as I decided to stop self-funding and halt fundraising due largely to covid.
At home, I begin each day by telling my partner my dreams (I usually vividly remember 2-3 distinct storylines), and then we reunite for dinner in the evening. Ben Max Rubinstein and I have been together for six years, and plan to be together for many more centuries. He's a musician, engineer (Head of AR/Camera at Instagram), and true ubermensch; I'm very fortunate to have found him.
We enjoy cooking (especially experimenting with new devices or recipes) and hosting dinner parties, watching sci-fi and surrealist films, attending concerts, and adventuring. I firmly believe playful, novel experiences are essential to happy, long-term relationships. So far, we've traveled to nine countries and nine states together (the covid pandemic disrupted our cadence). Again and again, we return to Burning Man with our friends at Sunset Portal (which is always blissful, hyperstimulating, and otherworldly).
Thanks for reading my story!