Hello, I’m Avand.
I’ve been working on the web for over a decade and am passionate about building great products.
My last job was with Airbnb, where I focused on internal products
that helped teams measure the quality of the software they were building. I also built internal tools for employees
to stay more connected, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Before that, I was lead engineer at
Mystery Science, the #1 way in which science is taught in U.S. elementary school classroms.
For a while, I also taught with General Assembly, teaching aspiring developers
the basics of front-end web development.
I was born in Boston, grew up in Salt Lake City, and spent many years living in Chicago. Now, I call San Francisco my home
and Mariposa my home away from home.
I enjoy the great outdoors and absolutely love music and dance. Cars have been an lifelong obsession of mine,
especially vintage BMWs and Volkswagens. I’m the proud owner of a 2002 E-250 Sportsmobile van,
and he and I have enjoyed many trips to beautiful and remote parts of the West Coast to create good vibes.
What can I do for you?
The Greatest Hits
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Budget to a “Free House”
The story of purchasing my first home and how budgeting made it possible. As I drove over the Bay Bridge, returning to San Francisco from the Sierra foothills, I stared admiringly…
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Hacking Human Connection: The Story of Awedience
This is the story of how Airbnb employees stayed connected during a time they had never felt more apart. In this post, you’ll learn how an idea turned into an internal product…
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One man’s search for the perfect job
As we wrapped up Sunday night dinner at my apartment, my neighbor remembered, “hey, it’s Pi Day tomorrow, we should head down to Pi Bar for a few slices to celebrate…
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Thirty
Ever since I was 15, I wanted to be 30. Nobody listens to you when you’re a kid. You have no means and no experience so you’re doing everything for the first time. And unless…
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Hypothesis-driven development
I’ll bet that you can’t explain why you’re working on whatever it is you’re working on right now. Scary, right? Because we know that the why of what we’re doing is perhaps…
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Momentum
Startups move fast. They’re young, loud, and disruptive – a room full of excited twenty-somethings willing to burn the midnight oil to get a release out the door. Startups are enticing…