Code Story: Insights from Startup Tech Leaders

S4 E7: Dan Robinson, Heap

Feb 16, 2021

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At 18 years old, Dan Robinson was 100% convinced that he was going to be a mathematician. He went to college at Stanford, and when he got there, he realized that math beyond high school was very different.. and as such, he didn't want to make that his day job. He always enjoyed making stuff, specifically with computers, and he started leaning into computer science and deep learning projects.

He loves to hike, and be outside with his friends. Recently, he has gotten addicted to chess online - though he claims he's not any good at it. So addicted, that he had to have his close friend hold onto his account password for him.

Dan is originally from Boston, which is his excuse for being direct and difficult to work with. In fact, he finds it so strange that people don't interrupt others more in the bay area.

Previously, the CEO of Dan's current venture was a PM at Facebook - and he couldn't get basic answers to how people used the platform. Similar problems were popping up for Dan at Palantir, causing long cycles just to get a single question answered. They both were thinking - there HAS to be a better way.

This is the creation story of Heap.