Ivan Zhang

About Me

Stuyvesant High School graduate. UATX alumni. Computer Science at Harvard College. Dropped out. Focused on doing the hardest thing at any given moment. Burn the bridges, sink the ships.

Projects

Simulating the Transition to Simple Multicellularity

Worked on modeling the transition from unicellularity to multicellularity in biological evolution, focusing on mechanisms like clustering, information sharing, and cooperation, and tests the model's robustness to noise in fitness optimization.

LSM Tree

Built an write-optimized LSM Tree database from scratch in C++

athena

A website that provides financial incentives for users to ask and answer Web3 development-related questions.

- Z Fellows

Passport

App that allows restaurants to build loyalty with customers through transferable NFT loyalty cards

- Runner up for the $DESO prize at Miami Hack Week

DAOHub

App for DAO admins to solve the free-rider problem within their organizations by engaging with all members.

- Hackathon project and winner for 8VC's $BUILD hackathon

LunchTime - Eat Together

App designed to help Harvard students eat together and check the menu

Additional Links

App Store

Walki - Anything but Text

Social media app where users can only send 15 second voice messages

Additional Links

App Store

Storefronts

Frontend for site that aggregates products from local sellers and connects them to local buyers

- Private repository but sharable on request

Datacenter Fabric Simulator

C++ data fabric simulator to make it easier to identify network issues like bottlenecks

- Optimized simulator through parallelization as compared to the usual serial simulators
- Collaborated with graduate students from Harvard’s engineering school (SEAS)
- Project for a graduate CS course I took freshman year

Room Locator

Website where students can get directions between classrooms and map out directions for their entire class schedule (i.e. GPS for Stuyvesant High School)

PoliTracker

Website that aggregates information (contact information, news, and sentiment) for political representatives in a zip code and allows users to follow their representatives

CRUD Database

CRUD (create, read, update, and delete) database in C

Mesh and Shape Graphics Engine

Graphics engine capable of creating certain meshes on objects (i.e. surface of 3D object) as well as 3D shapes like cones and spheres

Pac-Snake

Pac-man but Pac-man grows by one (like Snake) after eating a ghost

Latest Posts

Tools For Fighting The Data Monster

Guest Post on Counting Stuff (2/2)

The Big Bad Data Monster

Guest Post on Counting Stuff (1/2)

Meta-Strategies

Repeatable business success

Risk vs. Reward

Why don't we maximize risk?

Decentralization: An Op-Ed

Just some thoughts and opinions on decentralization

View all posts →

Experience

AccelerateSF

Developer, September 2023 -

- Hackathon building AI solutions for SF's public sector challenges

Eric Newcomer

Contractor, May 2023 -

- Building features to improve Newcomer's sourcing and newsletter creation processes

General Catalyst (CVF Team)

Open-source Software Developer, May 2023 - December 2023

- Building internal tooling to better manage and profile data pipelines with Panda Patrol
- More details

Zettablock

Software Developer Intern, May 2022 - August 2022

- 8VC Fellowship

Various Startups

Freelance Developer (Remote), February 2022 - May 2022

- More specific details upon request

Amazon

Software Development Engineer I Intern (Remote), May 2021 - July 2021

Amazon

Software Development Engineer I Intern (Remote), June 2020 - August 2020

Skills

Web Development Languages & Frameworks

Python, Flask, Django, Typescript, Javascript, Node.js, Express, React, Mocha, Chai, Sinon, Java, Spring Framework, Ruby, Ruby on Rails, HTML, and CSS

Mobile Development Languages & Frameworks

React Native, SwiftUI, and Swift

Databases

MongoDB, MySQL, and GraphQL

Other Technologies

Docker, Localstack, Firebase, Google Cloud, Twilio, JSON Web Tokens, Stripe, and Amazon Web Services

Design

Figma and Adobe Suite

Other

HBS Online CORe Credential of Readiness

Past Books (From Jul 2022 onwards)

Atlas Shrugged

The importance of the individual + mind. Capitalism. Value creation as a means of life creation. Physical manifestations of creativity that generate value for others. Life is necessarily harder than death.

The Creative Act: A Way of Being (Audiobook)

Be an artist. Self. Understand the waves and harmony of the universe.

Elon Musk

Surge and then surge some more.

Make Something Wonderful

Fear pales in the face of death.

Thinking in Systems: A Primer

Take a step back. See the bigger picture. Everything is connected. Systems run the world.

Unscaled: How AI and a New Generation of Upstarts Are Creating the Economy of the Future

Market of 1.

God and Gold

Global system of capitalism and democracy. Individualism/Free play + capitalism = powerful blend.

The Inner Game of Tennis

It's always a mental game.

Man's Search for Meaning

Basically how I see meaning in life. Quotes to live by. There is only one thing that I dread: not to be worthy of my sufferings. The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails ... gives him ample oppurtunity ... to add a deeper meaning to his life. He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how. Responsibleness the very essence of human existence. Live my thoughts instead of putting them on paper. Doesn't the final meaning of life, too, reveal itself, if at all, only at its end, on the verge of death. A man who removes each successive leaf from his calendar and files it neatly and carefully away.

Stranger in a Strange Land

Outside looking in. Inside looking out. Political statement about religion. Weird component about religion at the end. Grokking. Age does not bring wisdom but it does give perspective.

Talent: How to Identify Energizers, Creatives, and Winners Around the World

Empathy. Venice and Athen intellectual environments. Address the confidence crisis. Enhance the productivity curve.

Presidential Leadership and the Creation of the American Era

The illusion of a perfect leader. Necessity to consider what is needed in the context of the time

The Hard Thing About Hard Things

Wartime vs peace time founder. The importance of the team, product, market, timing, and founder. Dealing with the invisible challenges (including emotional and psychological).