Humans of SymSys: Ari Qayumi

Tell us about yourself!

Hi! My name is Ari Qayumi, and I am Managing Partner of Mindful Venture Capital, a Menlo Park based early-stage venture firm that leverages Applied AI and a proprietary actionable dataset of early-stage founders’ digital habits to find stage-specific, outperforming assets with high-growth potential. I have about a decade of experience investing in early-stage technology companies that leverage intelligent automation across infrastructure, healthcare, and financial services. I am a recent graduate of the Symbolic Systems program at Stanford University, and while at Stanford, I was Lead Researcher of the Behavior Design Lab where I studied with BJ Fogg. Outside of investing and researching, I love to hike The Dish and practice yoga!

What is your concentration and why did you choose it?

I studied Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) with a focus on Applied Behavior Design (ABD). I care about creating environments that help people help themselves and help them be successful. Studying Human-Computer Interaction directly influenced my ability to build tools that analyze, augment, and amplify human ability, use applied behavior design to help companies realize their full market potential, and facilitate founders’ ability to align behavior design to business models from the early-stage and beyond.

What's your favorite class that you’ve taken so far? (SymSys-related, or not)

Understanding Users (CS 377U). Frank Bentley and the TA team provided an excellent roadmap of skills that need to be expected of someone graduating from the Symbolic Systems HCI track at Stanford, especially for those who wish to succeed in founding their own ventures. This course empowers students to not only learn the fundamentals of applying scientific analysis to understanding users’ needs and how they interact with technologies, but also practice evaluating and architecting metrics and mechanisms that can be leveraged to facilitate positive behavior change.

Are you involved in research? If so, tell us about a project you are working on:

Yes, I currently serve as an Advisor to the Stanford Behavior Design Lab, led by BJ Fogg. One current research project that I’m keen about is the Rosetta Stone project, which is focused on accelerating the transfer of a technology concept from lab to usable product in industry.

What is your experience with applying SymSys knowledge in industry?

Outside of the Stanford bubble in the present day, a minority of people know what Symbolic Systems is. But the minority that do know, happen to be some of the most influential and impactful people across Academia, Industry, and Tech. Leveraging an applied Symbolic Systems approach to analyzing the relationships between individual/group behavior, Enterprise Technology, and applied AI in early-stage companies is central to my edge as an early-stage venture capitalist.

What is one piece of advice you'd like to offer to younger students?

Have a vision of the kind of world you want to live in one day, surround yourself with people who want to build this world with you, and form strong bonds with them during your time at Stanford.

What's the most memorable moment for you during your time at Stanford?

I was invited to represent Stanford at the HealthByTech Conference in Amsterdam and share my work on screen time and behavior change.

What do you like to do for fun during your free time? What activities were you involved in at Stanford?

I like comedy, whether it be movies, shows, and/or my friends – I love laughing! While at Stanford, I was involved with the Varsity Rowing team, Behavior Design Lab, Symbolic Systems Program, University Singers, and Memorial Church Choir.

What’s the coolest (loosely) SymSys-related topic that you’re excited about right now?

Taking an applied behavior design approach to venture capital by leveraging symbolic systems analysis has never been done to date. I’m excited for the early success we’ve already seen in applying this to venture capital, and I am eager to share/pay it forward to the SymSys community as we continue to break ground.

What are your future plans? 

My belief is that with the power of engineering and the resilience of economics, real world catastrophes can be hedged by not only further understanding human behavior, but also applying this knowledge in a variety of segments: policy proposals, business infrastructure, education systems, and so on. I intend to continue practicing as an early-stage venture capitalist and symbolic systems scientist.

Thanks so much, Ari! 

Check out mindfulventurecapital.com and Ari’s LinkedIn for more from her, and feel free to reach out at ari@mindfulventurecapital.com.