Our Team

Kortina studied Philosophy and English at the University of Pennsylvania. He founded Venmo with his best friend, Iqram. You can read some of his works here.

Iqram loves product design, and focuses on the user experience at Venmo. He studied Computer Science at the University of Pennsylvania.

Mike has made a career (if you want to call it that) of starting and growing new businesses. He went to Wharton -- this was many years ago. His passions are his wife, their two boys, their golden retriever, playing golf (no time for this), and running marathons.

Anthony studied Computer Science at Columbia University and was a researcher at Columbia's Bioinformatics Department. Prior to joining Venmo, Anthony liked to break things and make memes at Google. Anthony dislikes physical bills, which is why he joined Venmo.

Theresa is grateful for the people and knowledge she collected at Oberlin College, Zynga, the ACLU and all the jobs she's had since she started her paper route at the age of 13. She is trained in Japanese and French haircutting techniques, classical piano and ballet. She likes languages, her family, horror movies, good food and Taco Bell.

Amanda has worked in a wide range of places, including government, investment banks, and startups. She graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Information Science. In her spare time, she loves to dragonboat (ask her what that is), cook, eat, and drink wine - preferably in that order.

Simon is a jazz sax player, oneironaut, and metalhead hailing from Hershey, PA. He graduated from the University of Rochester last spring, and never-graduated Hacker School in August.

Jeremiah spent the past several years building DevOps practices in IT at Kansas State University. Prior to K-State, he mostly worked in unix admin and computer security roles, including malware research and secure network design. When he is not automating the building (or breaking!) of software and systems, he likes all to do all kinds of outdoor activities, and spend time with his family.

Iffat has experience in corporate recruiting, career counseling and workforce development. She studied Economics at Barnard College and is currently pursuing her MA in Organization and Leadership with a focus on Adult Learning and Leadership at Columbia University. When she’s not venmoing, she can be found taking long aimless walks around NYC, searching for good fiction, drowning her meals in hot sauce, and buying endless amounts of beads and earrings.

Dasmer studied Financial Engineering at Columbia University. He’s a frozen yogurt aficionado who loves running, basketball, and building great products. His goal at Venmo is to make payments more fun, easy, and delightful. If you want to chat about anything from building iPhone apps in Swift to becoming a player in the Fin-Tech industry, say hello on twitter @dasmersingh!

Katie is a Hacker School alum with a past life in astrophysics. As a NJ native coming to NYC by way of SF, she is excited to explore the city but refuses to stop wearing T-shirts in winter. In her free time, she endlessly refactors her Harry Potter-themed text adventure, plays board games, and reads comics. And in case you haven't heard, the truth is...she is Iron Man

After majoring in Computer Science, card games, and billiards at Carnegie Mellon, Tye took his talents to Chicago, where he eventually joined the Braintree/Venmo family. Talk to him about eating, cooking, pretentious cocktails, and definitely agree when he insists the Oakland Raiders will win the Super Bowl every year.

Selena received her Accounting degree from the University of Illinois - perhaps because it won her pick-your-major-coin-flip, but perhaps not. Prior to joining the team, she dabbled in accounting of the public sort and poked around in the hedge fund world. She enjoys summer days, thinking about her next meal, and spending more money than is fiscally responsible. Selena lives in Chicago because walking up hills leaves her winded.

Esther studied economics at Wellesley College and received her MBA from the Wharton School, where she learned to get a kick out of finite mixture models. She loves to play with dogs, surf, and think of puns. Formerly a consultant, Esther joined Venmo because she thinks it's the best way to get paid.

Amy is a Hacker School alum, where she worked on projects like compiling a Harry Potter-themed Python interpreter. Previously she studied pure math and did some data analysis and machine learning in Austin, TX. Besides math and programming, she also likes to play board games and read Dune.

Edmund is a California transplant to NYC. A recent Computer Science graduate from UC Davis, he is very excited to put his years of studying to use at Venmo. His life revolves around food, so expect to catch him trying out a new restaurant or cooking his ol' classic of steak and potatoes at home.

Contributor to various open-source projects including Django and Sentry, Chris sees himself as a product-focused engineer and is the creator of http://sayitagain.me. He likes urban history, espresso drinks, speakeasies, and classic 90s LucasArts adventure games. Ask him about Loom.

Alex studied Computer Science and Economics at Brown University, and likes his development the way he likes his pancakes - full stack. He's fascinated by urban planning and architecture. Alex enjoys going to the gym, movies, comedy shows, and concerts, but probably spends too much time on Reddit.

Born and raised in New York City, Amanda briefly defected from the East Coast to get her Computer Science degree from Stanford, but has now returned to her hometown. When not at work she can be found playing board games, singing karaoke and conquering the world in Civilization 4.

Cynthia was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago. She studied Political Science, Economics, and Spanish at North Central College. She enjoys reading and has a major sweet tooth. You can find her eating some delicious chocolate, sipping on an expresso based drink or finding the best donut.

Byron is a randonuerring and camping enthusiast living in Chicago with his wife Bridget. Before Venmo, Byron worked for Apple. Before that, he graduated from Southern Methodist University with a degree in Theatre.

Michael is obsessed with recording music and probably spends way too much time staying awake at night binge watching Netflix and thinking about the next pizza he is going to eat.

James worked at Kansas State University in both unix administration and devops positions for years. He enjoys running in his time off.

Born in China, Zihao grew up as a huge OKC Thunder and OU football fan in Oklahoma. He studied finance at the University of Pennsylvania and has investment banking experience in technology coverage and mergers & acquisitions. He dreams of going walletless in the not so distant future.

Craig graduated Boston University and worked in start-ups, the British Consulate, and dabbled in financial consulting. In his free time, Craig scuba dives, kills it at trivia, and collects maps. Having suffered an unfortunate archery incident at summer camp, he now blames it on a shark attack.

Nav has a background in Quality Assurance, Release Validation and Support. He graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a degree in Engineering. Nav enjoys EDM (Porter Robinson), cooking, photography and good coffee. Most interesting fact about him: he has been skydiving three times.

Kevin studied Computer Science at Michigan Tech University—way up north—and moved straight to NYC after graduating. Since then he's worked for a number of tech companies, including Huge and Squarespace. In his free time he enjoys camping or catching a Mets game. His favorite band is The Hold Steady.

Eileen was born and raised in New York. She studied Computer Science at Hunter College, and is adamant about clean code. She enjoys board games, coffee, the season fall, and Reddit's Aww page. Her latest obsession is zombies and she secretly hopes for a zombie apocalypse.

Kate graduated from Bowling Green, where she studied political communications and journalism. When she’s not falling over in yoga class, you can find her eating French fries, cheering on Detroit sport teams, and slowly learning Mandarin.

Roopak studied Computer Engineering and has an MBA and an MA in International Studies from the Wharton School. Roopak has been to over 70 countries and loves road-tripping, including an epic trip from Philadelphia to Alaska. In his downtime he runs, plays tennis and hits the gnarly mountain slopes.

Hailing from Southern California, Mark has been programming in some regard for 15. When he's not parked in front of a glowing display, you can find him playing guitar, cooking or watching baseball. Say hey! @hyperspacemark

Francesco's work with international aid and technology startups has contributed to successful microfinance initiatives in 3rd world countries and the growth of industry leaders. Also an artist, he's an expert in antiquarian photographic processes and is obsessed with cameras of all kinds.

Lionel is a French software engineer working on iOS. He likes trying new stuff on iOS and new restaurants. When he is not programming or eating, you can find him playing tennis or running.

Margo studied math and neuroscience at Kenyon College before moving to New York City to do experiments on guinea pigs. After realizing science might not be her true calling she attended the Recurse Center (then Hacker School) and now loves to experiment with web technologies.

Heather is an artist and musician who likes graphic novels, soul music, and late 80's/early 90's horror and sci-fi movies.

Michael has origins in the Indianapolis area, graduated from Purdue University with a degree in Environmental Science, enjoys attempting to play guitar like Jimi Hendrix (even though we all know that's far from possible), exploring music and art of all genres, sipping a frosty mug of fine craft beer, and learning the basics of Italian, his third language (English, Spanish, Italian). In his free time, he like to explore rooftop bars and offbeat locales in Chicago and make progress on a cultural clothing design project he is working on.

Tyler is originally from Boston, but doesn't have the accent - though he can slip into it wicked quick. He's a writer and musician, surfer and kickboxer, and will argue tooth and nail that Scar from the Lion King is one of the greatest movie villains of all time.

Lindsay is a McGill engineering dropout in a committed relationship with her Macbook. She likes making cool stuff happen on the web and can often be found playing online capture the flag way too intensely. Send her all the music / recommend all the TV shows @levlinds!

Ny was born and raised in Denver, where she learned how to snowboard and run long distances, a mile high up! She enjoys the outdoors, especially backpacking and rock climbing. She also likes learning about what drives people to do things and creating experiences that make life easy. AND she love spicy food!

Zhuoshi studied Design at Carnegie Mellon University and enjoys solving problems and generating ideas. On the side, she's a ballroom dance-sport competitor. In her free time, she likes to bake breads and bagels.

Mila loves discovering awesome hole in the wall restaurants and heading to the beach with her dogs Pablo and Noah. Her goal is to one day be able to sit through a horror film without covering her eyes. You can find her scooting around the office or breaking a sweat playing Pop-A-Shot. A native of the lower west side of Chicago, she maintains that Pilsen is the greatest neighborhood in Chicago!

Josh studied Theatre at the University of Illinois. Despite being born and raised in Illinois, his most recent job before coming to Venmo was out in Southern California at a video game company. He's a huge fan of soccer, hockey, music, video games, and terrible jokes.

Eric was born and raised outside of Chicago. He wanted more excitement than what the suburbs had to offer, so he decided on the cornfields of Iowa where he studied Political Science and Communication Studies. When not nerding out over recent trends and current events, Eric plays the saxophone, and rides his bike for fun. Someday he plans on perfecting doing both activities at the same time!

Allison was born and raised in the Chicago are. Before Venmo she worked for Groupon. Outside of work she spends a lot of time with her family, watches terrible reality shows (Teen Mom is a favorite!), and enjoys good food and wine.

Born and raised in Korea, Miri moved to the US to get her MBA at University of Michigan (Go Blue!), and then moved to SF in search of better Korean food. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, watching cooking videos on YouTube, and stalking people's food pictures on Instagram.

Joel is perpetually curious, which is what draws him to the wild world of data. After finishing his masters in stats, he took a detour in option trading before finding his passion in tech. Joel has had every hobby imaginable, and currently aspires to be a cheese monger.

Amy is an onion enthusiast from Olympia, WA. She enjoys wandering unfamiliar city streets, putting things into neat piles, and challenging people to eating contests. Her goal is to develop a stare that is at least half as sultry as the one Lucas sports.

Clay Goodpasture is a good ole southern boy that likes dogs and bourbon... and dogs that drink bourbon.

Originally a simple bumpkin from the suburbs of Chicago, Nick has since quit his jug band and gotten baby bangs, and has been educated in musical theater, improv and sketch comedy. He also likes to help you. Yes, YOU. Go Illini!

Hassan attended Harvard Business School and has worked in various strategy roles in Chicago, London, and finally New York. Hassan believes frictionless payments and great meals with friends can make the world a better place. He loves traveling with his wife, playing squash and well, cake.

Jacob is a Bay Area native, and back in SF after pit-stops in Chicago and NYC. He has a background in payments and ecommerce, is a sucker for a good sandwich and lover of all things outdoors.

Julia is a self-taught Product Designer, working in startups (and game studios) for the past eight years. She was born in Russia, raised in Israel and now lives in NYC with her husband. Food, film, techno, foreign languages and fashion are her favorite things!

Kerrie studied cognitive science and computer science at the University of Georgia. She loves the Boston Red Sox, board games, and her long maintained delusion that she could maybe make it as a rapper. She’s most proud of her penmanship and the IMDB page for her Jeep.

Travis loves good music, good beer and good food. Perfection then, is having good people to share them with.

Ron graduated from NYU Poly specializing in computer security. For the last six years he has been identifying security flaws in software for some of the largest technology and financial organizations in the world. He also enjoys eating burgers and trying to teach his shih tzu to fetch him a beer.

Chilean that enjoys nature, discovering new places, movies, board games, bass guitar and laughing. Originally from Santiago, Gonzalo moved to SF in search of new challenges (especially English!). He is still on a mission to find the best Ceviche and Pisco Sour from SF.

Dave is a self taught programming who loves Swift, Objective-C, iOS, OS X, and learning new technologies. His diverse background also includes Windows/Linux systems administration, finance and economics. A runner since 2001, he has run over 22,000 miles burning more than 2.6 million calories.

Noam was born and raised in Tel Aviv, where he studied Film (only to become a risk manager for PayPal). He spent 5 years there before moving to Brooklyn with his wife and daughter. Other than working for Venmo, he plans to continue following his passion for Rock n' Roll, movies, sports and good food.

Patrick is a resident of Ridgewood, Queens and is working towards a BS in Computer Science at Pace University. His interests include coding, music, baseball, and Sushi (his dog - but the food is good, too). When not on his computer, he can be found cruising around in his 18-year-old station wagon.

Christina studied Computer Science at VA Tech. Her area of focus was in Human-Computer Interaction. After graduating she worked in a variety of groups at AOL (Advertising, Games.com, Mobile) and worked at Amazon in both the Appstore and AWS Mobile organizations.

Hiro blends experience with the creative process, a Wharton MBA and his background in engineering to drive the creation of compelling user experiences. In his downtime, he is either chilling with his wife Laura and dog Yoda or out by the ocean looking for surf.

Daniel had a lot of different jobs before falling in love with software: taxi driver, newspaperman, range cart operator, wine steward, and graphic designer to name a few. When he's not working with code, he enjoys making art and playing soccer. His art is average. His soccer is extremely suspect.

Todd loves to know how things work, and given a bag of tools, will likely take stuff apart.

Emily recently returned from an overseas adventure and is entering tech again by problem solving for others (i.e. consulting). She studied Information Science at Cornell and spent years playing with data at Squarespace. Current hobbies include cardio kickboxing and attempting to bake fancy things.

Oded joined the Tel Aviv PayPal office as a Risk analyst four years ago, and he has about 6 years of experience in data. He was a member of the "social justice movement" in Tel Aviv. He owns a piano, four guitars, two ukuleles, a xylophone and a few more instruments, and plays them all badly.

Basil grew up as a Third Culture Kid, easily moving between two different worlds. This life experience provided him the necessary skills to become a successful leader. With 20 years in software development, he's spent the past 13 years at AOL overseeing various software and test engineer teams.

Rob is Venmo's head of legal. When not working, Rob enjoys spending time with his wife and son, working out, and catching up with friends over drinks (and using Venmo to charge anyone abusing his tab). Lawyer jokes are welcome.

Ke is a coder and a basketball fan. In his mind, "geek" is a compliment and Michael Jordan invented basketball. He studied CS at USC and had a MBA from Smith. After graduating, he worked at Aol. He's enjoying coding on Android since 2009, but he's an iPhone user, life never lack paradox.

Mike has a thirst for knowledge and cream soda. He graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in Economics. When Mike isn't at Venmo, you can find him doing Kaggle competitions in his apartment. But he's not antisocial: he has a dog.

Israel-born, New York-raised. After earning my degree in Neuroscience, I decided to pursue a career in data science. I love to travel, write and listen to music, learn new languages (currently working on Japanese), and discover new cultures (especially through food).

Neil grew up reading Stephen King books, listening to the Ramones, and programming computers. He studied at Johns Hopkins and worked on a variety of internet technologies at AOL from usenet and dialup to AIM and games.com. He would write code 24 hours a day if he could and sometimes does.

Dane graduated from the University of Missouri with a Joint BS in Electric and Computer Engineering. Venturing west he made his way from GPUs to software and now excited to be on the venmo team. If you venture to his neighborhood you will surely find him in the karaoke bar.

Melanie studied information science at Cornell and has spent her post college years in a variety of roles doing product management, operations, strategy and tech consulting. She loves traveling, running, good food, good coffee and a good dad joke.

Israel-born, Canada-raised, lives in Teaneck NJ. Spent the past 5 years growing YouNow out of nothing, wow lessons learned. When not working to bring products to life or helping everyone I can in the office, I am a loving father of 3 and married for 18. Soccer and Aikido are just 2 of my passions.

Nate lives in Portland, OR. His cat is named Unix and she is the best cat. He is a poet and uses software to generate cut-up poetry from large piles of text. In a past life he was a performing harsh noise musician.

Born in a barn in Arizona and raised by wildcats. Studied MIS at the University of Arizona, with a background testing mobile & desktop products. Unaccomplished cellist. Adjunct shuffleboard professor at Trump University.