Avand Amiri

Experience

• 

  Lopery

  Co-Founder & CTO

  Feb 2023 - Nov 2023

  Lopery is a personal budgeting system that removes the tedium of budgeting and makes it easy to know if you're spending too much.

  • Built and maintained a budgeting app on top of Google Cloud Platform, Firebase, React, JavaScript, and TypeScript. I had used budgeting fundamentals to track my spending, save up for a house, and turn it into a break-even investment. I wanted other people to have this kind of success so I spent 2023 working on Lopery as a side-project. It was a great way to keep my technical skills sharp, while also bringing a product I care about to market during my sabbatical after Airbnb.
• 

  Airbnb

  Technical Lead

  Mar 2020 - Jun 2022

  Create a world where anyone can belong anywhere.

  • Invented Awedience, a patented, internal tool the company used after COVID started to feel more connected during all-hands meetings. This invention changed my role and team at Airbnb to one that focused on employee productivity and engagement.
• 

  Airbnb

  Senior Software Engineer

  Oct 2016 - Mar 2020

  Create a world where anyone can belong anywhere.

  • Built and maintained a suite of quality control products that empowered product teams to measure bug and defect rates, prioritize fixes, and stay in a tight loop with customer feedback.
• 

  Mystery Science

  Founding Engineer

  Sep 2014 - Mar 2016

  We started Mystery.org to create better explanations for every question children have about the world. We began with the 150 most common science questions that children ask teachers. We call this collection Mystery Science. Last year, more than 4 million children used Mystery Science in 50% of U.S. elementary schools. In an industry that is plagued by long sales cycles and high barriers to entry, we’ve sold thousands of schools without a single sales person. We’re backed by a great group of investors including Y Combinator, Learn Capital, and Reach Capital. We’re now moving on to all the other questions children have that they’ll never learn in school. We have received over 900,000 questions from children eager for better explanations of the world. Now we’re creating video explanations for every question. You can think of this like a visual Wikipedia for kids. Our goal is to create a generation of better thinkers. We think this is the most important problem to solve in the world today. On your first day at Mystery.org, you’ll meet a team of people who are passionate about science, children, and education, and who each love their respective crafts. Meet the team and learn more: Mystery.org/careers

  • Engineer #1. Mystery Science was acquired by Discovery Education for $140m in 2020, built atop the foundation I created. In my role, I talked to customers, analyzed data, and designed product solutions. I created visual designs and user flows for multiple personas (teachers, school administrators, home schoolers, and staff). I lead web application development, testing, code architecture, feature development, and bug fixes. I also managed operations, including databases, scaling, performance, caching, and release management.
• 

  General Assembly

  Instructor

  Jan 2013 - Oct 2016

  We transform careers and teams — including more than one third of the Fortune 100 — through dynamic courses in coding, data, design, and business.Today’s complex, global economy requires a skilled workforce that can leverage technology to fuel success. Our pioneering, experiential education includes full-time and part-time courses taught on-campus, online, and on site with companies, giving individuals and teams flexible options for growth and development. Learn more about our programs at https://ga.co/2yt8KJF.Our global network of 40,000+ full- and part-time alumni and 10,000+ hiring partners provide recent graduates with opportunities to find jobs and make connections, setting them up for success on the job, and in life.Join us on campus to connect with local leaders at networking events, discover new interests in the classroom, and explore fresh ideas at expert-led workshops. If you’ve taken a course at GA, we'd love to hear about your experience! Please review us on Course Report: https://ga.co/2q4TWdA or SwitchUp: https://ga.co/2Eka27c

  • Taught 11 instances (over 600 in-class hours) of the part-time Front-End Web Development course (bit.ly/gafewd). Developed a curriculum from scratch to teach HTML, CSS, and JS to people with no prior experience (fewd.avandamiri.com).
• 

  TaskRabbit

  Sr. Software Engineer

  Jan 2013 - Jul 2013

  Taskrabbit is a marketplace platform that conveniently connects people with Taskers to handle everyday home to-do’s, such as furniture assembly, handyman work, moving help, and much more. Acquired by IKEA Group - the world’s largest furniture retailer - in 2017 At Taskrabbit, we want to make your neighborhood a little more familiar. Whether it’s a handyman (or woman!), a housecleaner, moving help or delivery person, we’re imagining a world where everyone will have a go-to team to make everyday life easier. As a company we celebrate innovation, inclusion and hard work. As a pioneer of the sharing economy, Taskrabbit was founded on the premise of neighbors helping neighbors. Since then, our network has grown to eight countries and 75+ cities, yet our core mission of creating a better everyday life for everyday people has remained the same. Together with IKEA, we’re creating more opportunities for people to earn a consistent, meaningful income on their own terms by building lasting relationships with clients in communities around the world. We are a group of mission-minded people. Our culture is collaborative, pragmatic, and fast-paced. We’re looking for talented, entrepreneurially-minded and data-driven people who also have a passion for helping people do what they love - and have a ton of fun while they’re at it.

  • Led the engineering team that built tools for business clients, developed algorithms to process inbound worker applications, and built support tools.
• 

  Clarity Consulting

  Software Engineer

  Apr 2007 - Feb 2008

  Perficient acquired Clarity Consulting in 2016. Perficient is a leading technology and management consulting firm serving Global 2000 and enterprise customers throughout North America. Our digital experience, business optimization, and industry solutions enable clients to improve productivity and competitiveness, strengthen relationships with customers, suppliers and partners; and reduce costs. Since 1998 we have grown from a startup to an industry leader serving clients from a network of offices across North America and with global delivery centers in China and India. Deep domain expertise with a wide array of technology platforms, strong partnerships with the world's leading vendors, dedicated industry expertise, and a broad solutions portfolio sets our firm apart.

  • Staffed on client engagement projects such as Crate & Barrel's Point of Sale (PoS) and Echo Global Logistics' marketplace integrations and performance.
• 

  Peregrine Financial Group

  Junior Web Developer

  Sep 2005 - Apr 2007

  PFGBEST is a financial services and technology company that began as Wasendorf & Associates in 1980. It was incorporated in 1990 as Peregrine Financial Group, Inc. (PFG), and the brand evolved to PFGBEST in 2008 to represent industry leadership. PFGBEST is a member of the National Futures Association, and is registered with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a Futures Commission Merchant and Forex Dealer Member. The company phone number is 1-855-PFGBEST (734-2378). The Chicago office is at 311 W. Monroe, Suite 1300, Chicago, IL, 60606. The Iowa headquarters office is an innovative green building located at One Peregrine Way, Cedar Falls, IA, 50613. Full service trading desks are staffed around the clock in New York and Chicago. PFGBEST products, services and technologies are geared to traders and investors. The company is a leader in sustainable investing through diversified products including managed funds, futures, forex, options, full-service and discount brokerage, research, online trading, precious metals, wealth management services, and education. PFGBEST is one of the largest non-bank, non-clearing U.S. Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs). Ranked annually as one of the “Top Brokers,” PFGBEST has more than $600 million dollars in customer assets and its distribution network includes nearly a thousand affiliates including Introducing Brokers, with brokerage offices and customers in more than 80 countries.

  • With the help of my IT peers, learned to code and built and maintained several internal company websites.
• 

  Peregrine Financial Group

  Help Desk

  Sep 2004 - Sep 2005

  PFGBEST is a financial services and technology company that began as Wasendorf & Associates in 1980. It was incorporated in 1990 as Peregrine Financial Group, Inc. (PFG), and the brand evolved to PFGBEST in 2008 to represent industry leadership. PFGBEST is a member of the National Futures Association, and is registered with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a Futures Commission Merchant and Forex Dealer Member. The company phone number is 1-855-PFGBEST (734-2378). The Chicago office is at 311 W. Monroe, Suite 1300, Chicago, IL, 60606. The Iowa headquarters office is an innovative green building located at One Peregrine Way, Cedar Falls, IA, 50613. Full service trading desks are staffed around the clock in New York and Chicago. PFGBEST products, services and technologies are geared to traders and investors. The company is a leader in sustainable investing through diversified products including managed funds, futures, forex, options, full-service and discount brokerage, research, online trading, precious metals, wealth management services, and education. PFGBEST is one of the largest non-bank, non-clearing U.S. Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs). Ranked annually as one of the “Top Brokers,” PFGBEST has more than $600 million dollars in customer assets and its distribution network includes nearly a thousand affiliates including Introducing Brokers, with brokerage offices and customers in more than 80 countries.

  • Worked within the IT department to help manage office PCs, help employees with issues, manage corporate email, built & maintain servers, and fix miscellaneous hardware issues.