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Hi, I'm Kourtney
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i'm based in nyc 🐀🍕 but nowadays i travel a lot. i was a software engineer at meta, now i build stuff 💻
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i studied computer science and computer engineering at usc ✌️ and interned at instagram, google, honey (acq. paypal), aws, and qualcommif you want to say hello, you can reach out online or get time to chat
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ps: this site is continually updated, feel free to let me know if it gets janky
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✈️ 🌎
i'm in my carmen sandiego era!
here are highlights about the places i've visited!
nigeria 🇳🇬
was a fun throwback to my childhood, but why is there still unstable power?
[ soon ]
kenya 🇰🇪
brings me peace. it's what nigeria ought to be ❤️
[ soon ]
s. korea 🇰🇷
has me never wearing shoes indoors again. and how is the chicken the best i've ever had?
[ soon ]
uae 🇦🇪
is wakanda in a desert, the only place i feel safe walking alone at 2am
[ soon ]
mexico 🇲🇽
is home of the happiest and healthiest elders i have ever met. cdmx is unmatched
[ soon ]
💻🧋
some cool communities
pear ffc - awesome technical ✨ women founders
envision - cool people building cool things
treehousenyc - female founders in nyc 🗽
athenahacks team - largest hackathon for women in southern california 🦉
hacksc jr team - a semi-annual hackathon for 4-12th grade hosted at usc ✌️
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ritualswhat: coming soonwhy: coming soon[white paper]
podcashwhat: funding for non-venture scale businesseswhy: a marketplace with fixed term loans with negotiable rates (aka. deals). Small businesses can apply to be approved for a line of revolving deal credit that allows for instant loans as soon as existing deals are repaid.post-mortem: this was a cool idea but probably for someone else to implement. my cofounder and i realized we really weren't passionate enough to actually want to sit through building it. bags is a cool company doing this now.[photos]
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coveowhat: mobile-first video collaborationwhy: video collaboration is a feature I believe should exist in video-based consumer social products. content creation is still largely a one-man operation. videos should be easy to make (not just edit or remix - literally make) just as easily as we can collaborate on a google doc.post-mortem: this idea, though a cool one, is a feature, not a platform. it should ideally come natively in social platforms. there's a lot to still learn and experiment with on the topic of collaborative content creation.... stay tuned![photos]
ozii contributed to descent, an open source protocol used to issue dollar-backed currency notes (DBCN) for frontier markets fiat currencies.what: ozi is a decentralized oracle for descent protocol responsible for feeding fluctuating currently conversion rates from the real world to the blockchain allowing the protocol maintain a 1:1 peg to the value of frontier market fiat currencies.why: we believe that open digital financial services are catalysts for economic independence of individuals from nation states i.e. the freedom of individuals to earn, own and control their money. the adoption of open digital financial services will lead to economic empowerment and sustainable economic development of markets with little to no economic freedom. more in the white paper.
dropperwhat: APIs simplifying e-commerce logistics by way of aggregating independent last-mile delivery providers in frontier markets.why: Logistics is hard.post-mortem: 1) co-founder mis-match. 2) limited understanding of a suitable model to unify independent providers with limited liability and cost.[photos]
instagram se (bonus content)this was technically a job but I enjoyed it a TON and it's easily the best of my internship experiences across the 5 I did in college (others incl. aws, google, honey, qualcomm) so I'm adding it here!what: the IG share extension for iOS was first introduced in 2016. in the fall of 2019, i rebuilt the whole thing, migrating from obj-c to swift as my intern project. it was my first stab at mobile and i needed to ramp up on iOS fundamentals and ship a new working extension within 12 weeks. a share extension is easy peasy for a small app. for IG, it took >120 diffs (diff = pull request). at the conclusion my internship, my code had been run over millions of times. now, it’s rolled out at 100% on the devices of billions of users.why: none of the iOS dev tooling at meta, fka fb, had solid swift support and I was a test bunny to see what gaps existed to make it a supported language for thousands of iOS devs. the share extension was isolated enough to have an intern with zero mobile experience hack away. i eyeballed development for all 12 weeks with vibes and prayers and somehow managed to rewrite the whole thing, grappling with swift/c++ incompatibility, missing symbols, total lack of debugging and a host of other nightmares my awesome mentor helped me through. when i joined full time i was tapped to join the iOS devX team responsible for adding this support and spent the next 3 years working with the cool people that support iOS develepment for all of meta 🫶🏽
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🥨 Welcome Kikier!
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I'm stoked to be your host!! 🫶🏽My address is 225 E 39th St. My apartment is 8B. It is a spacey studio apartment located a 6 minute walk from Grand Central. See more at house39.com
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🪴 Before you move in
Once you confirm your stay, download the building app to add yourself as an authorized guest for the duration of your stay. Text me for the username and password two days before you arrive.
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🔑 Keys & Fob
The keys and fob are inside a lock box attached to the door. Text me for the code.
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🛜 WiFi
Connect to “Kourtney Guest”. Password is “duanereade”.
Common areas also have wifi. It is named something like House39. Password is “225east39th” if I recall correctly. It can also be obtained from the front desk.
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💡📲 Alexa & Smart Home
There's a bit of smart home automation in the apartment. The two lamps and TV can be controlled with Alexa. Alexa is available on the black Portal device on the side table and also from the FireTV remote. They lights are named “light” and “beside lamp” and you can tell Alexa to turn them on/off.
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🧺 Towels & Sheets
Towels and extra sheets are tucked in black storage boxes underneath the couch. There is a washer & dryer in unit. NYC luxury 🤌🏽✨The cleaner comes once a month so next time will be after your stay but if you want more frequently like weekly let me know and I can connect you to her to make personal cleaning arrangements.
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🥕 Kitchen & Groceries
For groceries, I have an instacart subscription (I’m tremendously lazy) so let me know if you’d like to be added on during your stay. The kitchen is fully equipped and includes a crockpot and an airfryer I am obsessed with.
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📺 TV & Entertainment
I have pretty much every streaming service and they should all be logged into with the FireTV. Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Peacock, HBO - you name it, I probably have it. If there's any you need, feel free to ask. There's also NordVPN installed on the FireTV if you want to catch up on stuff only available abroad. Use obfuscated mode and connect to the desired country then reopen the streaming service 😉
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🧖🏽 Pool, Gym, Sauna & Other Amenities
The pool is on the SL floor (accessible only with the fob). Place the fob by the panel in the elevator then press SL. The gym is on the ground (L) floor. Step out the elevator and walk towards the back, all the way past the mail box area. It’s the double doors all the way at the back. Meeting rooms and the coworking spaces and fireplace are on the CL floor. Cabanas and rooftop grills are on SL. You can let me know if you want to reserve them and I can book for you. Rates to reserve are on the building app.
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