Suggestions
Roja Bandari
Engineering Manager - Credit Intelligence at Stripe - Hiring Full Stack Engineers
Professional Background
Roja Bandari is a distinguished leader in the development of machine learning and data products, leveraging both her technical expertise and strategic acumen to enhance cross-functional projects. With a strong emphasis on collaboration, Roja has successfully navigated complex work environments, driving innovative solutions that have made substantial impacts in the field of technology. Her extensive career has seen her take on prominent roles in several leading companies, including serving as Engineering Manager for Credit Intelligence at Stripe, where she marries her knowledge of electrical engineering with the dynamic landscape of financial technology.
Before joining Stripe, Roja's deep passion for machine learning and data analytics led her to hold the pivotal role of Head of Machine Learning and Data at Lyra Health. In this role, she was instrumental in implementing data-driven methodologies to enhance healthcare outcomes through advanced analytical frameworks. Her tenure at Apple is particularly noteworthy, where she served as both a Machine Learning Engineering Manager and as a Data Scientist, playing a crucial role in the design and development of cutting-edge data solutions.
Roja's impact on the tech landscape is further complemented by her diverse experiences at significant organizations such as Twitter, where she utilized data to enhance user engagement and improve product features. Additionally, her academic contributions as a Postdoctoral Scholar at UCLA and her role as an Academic Mentor showcase her dedication to nurturing future generations of engineers and scholars, solidifying her reputation as a mentor and leader in STEM fields.
Education and Achievements
Roja Bandari's educational foundation is rooted in excellence, having completed her Bachelor of Science (BS) in Electrical Engineering at the esteemed University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She showcased exceptional academic prowess, achieving a remarkable 3.94 GPA in her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) program, specializing in Signals and Systems at the same institution. Prior to earning her PhD, she also completed her Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, maintaining an impressive 3.93 GPA. This rigorous academic background provides Roja with a robust understanding of complex systems and analytical problem-solving, which she applies to her professional endeavors.
Apart from her academic accolades, Roja's involvement in various organizations speaks volumes about her commitment to the field of engineering and technology. Her role as an Academic Mentor at both the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics and UCLA not only demonstrates her dedication to education and mentorship, but also highlights her ability to foster talent among her peers. Further, her practical experiences gained through internships, including her time as a Research Associate at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories and as a Teaching Assistant at UCLA, have given her a well-rounded perspective on real-world applications of theoretical knowledge.
Notable Achievements
Roja's career accomplishments are as varied as they are impressive, reflecting her multifaceted interests that span math, art, media, and politics. Her extensive experience in machine learning and data science has positioned her as a thought leader in utilizing technology to improve everyday life. Through her strategic planning efforts, she has not only contributed to the success of her teams but has also inspired a movement towards making the world a better place through innovative practices in technology.
In addition to her professional achievements, Roja is deeply passionate about applying her skills in ways that promote social good. Her enthusiasm for integrating technology with domains like media and politics shows her commitment to leveraging the power of data and machine learning to address larger societal challenges. Whether through enhancing user experiences or developing algorithms that improve data accessibility, her work aims to create impactful solutions that resonate far beyond the confines of the tech industry.
Roja Bandari's impressive journey through academia and her professional career is a testament to her relentless pursuit of knowledge and innovation. Her leadership roles, along with her academic achievements, not only showcase her qualifications but also her potential to influence the future of machine learning and data products significantly.
Highlights
Hi folks, there are a few solid Stripe engineers in my org who were hit by the #layoffs. Let me know if you have open roles for great backend or full stack software engineers.
I have a short list of DOs and DON’Ts for any young people or underrepresented folks who were laid off this week, mainly because I have been part of a mass layoff in the past myself. Even if you were not impacted by a layoff, please share with folks who you think might benefit from reading this.
This post is focused on emotional well-being, but I’m also happy to help folks get connected to work opportunities independently. Leave a comment below for my network to see you were affected and are open to roles.
-
Before I start: You GOT this. It’s hard, but you can get through it. Other people have been where you are and have experienced this pain. You are not alone. Rely on your friends and connections. You got this.
-
DO extend yourself a lot of self compassion right now. This is your NUMBER ONE JOB. Talk to people who see how amazing you are. Listen to former colleagues who tell you you were doing an awesome job. Make a list of what you do well, what people have always said you do well.
-
DON’T look for feedback about what you didn’t do well: yes, sure, it’s good to get feedback and become better but NOW IS NOT THE TIME to seek feedback or see what you could have done to avoid being laid off. A great time to get feedback is when you are in a steady place and have people who care about you tell you what you are doing well and how you could do even better. Almost all the women I talked to this week wanted to know what they could have done or should improve to avoid this in the future. No, again, now is NOT the time.
-
DO accept the somewhat arbitrary nature of life in general. We each get lucky and unlucky all the time. We want to be in a fair and just world where everything is optimized and people get rewarded only based on merit. Some of us work very hard to make the world (and our workplaces) that way. But the world is not fair, not just because of malice (there is of course malice in the world) but also because even good, well meaning people don’t have full information when they make decisions that impact lives, so they don’t have perfect judgement. Systems are not set up perfectly, and there is often not enough time to make the process optimal. I have seen companies layoff their best, most productive people. I personally have not been involved in any layoff decision making in my career but this is what I have gleaned: Layoffs are not surgical, they are fast and probably crude with big brush strokes. The main logic is cutting cost.
-
DON’T question your worth or blame yourself. If your company was not able to keep you, it’s on THEM not you. They gave up because they couldn’t afford you.
-
DO talk to more experienced folks who have seen or been through layoffs. They can give you perspective. (Only nice people though, don’t talk to jerks, like ever).
Finally, I repeat: YOU GOT THIS!! ♥️♥️♥️
#layoffs #underrepresented #womenintech
People also viewed
Related People
Mesh is a relationship management platform that serves as a personal CRM, helping you organize and deepen both personal and professional relationships. It functions as a beautiful rolodex and CRM available on iPhone, Mac, Windows, and web, built automatically to help manage your network efficiently. Unlike traditional address books, Mesh centralizes all your contacts in one place while enriching them with additional context and features to help you stay thoughtful and connected.
Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
- Network Strength: Visualizes the strength of your relationships relative to others in your network
- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
- Smart Search: Allows you to search using natural language like "People I know at the NYT" or "Designers I've met in London"
- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
Nexus is Mesh's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Mesh isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Mesh instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Mesh is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Mesh can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.
People also viewed
Related People