aka using DNA to store computer data — At Pesto we preach “Programming Deliberately”, meaning engineers should understand every line of code that they write. It’s not sufficient to write code that works. A good engineer should be able to explain in detail why it works. To develop a better understanding of why things work, it’s useful to…

We are thrilled to announce a new initiative at Pesto, the Pay It Forward Fellowship! The Pay It Forward Fellowship is a chance for female students to be paired up with a sponsor to cover moderate living expenses while participating in our career accelerator program. Why At Pesto, our mission is…

My start up failed and I had no money to pay rent. Three weeks later, having sold almost everything I owned, I boarded a plane to Bangkok with a one way ticket and a carry on backpack. My financial situation didn’t worry me. I only had a couple hundred dollars…

My start up failed and I had no money to pay rent. Three weeks later, having sold almost everything I owned, I boarded a plane to Bangkok with a one way ticket and a carry on backpack. My financial situation didn’t worry me. I only had a couple hundred dollars…

Tests aren’t just for catching regression bugs. A good test suite should also serve as documentation for your code. Any engineer should be able to skim over your tests and know exactly what the code is supposed to do without even looking at the implementation. There are many different types…

Everyone has heard the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover”. It has become so cliche that in today’s society, it has lost much of its influence and is easily forgotten. This story was originally told to me three years ago by my high school psychology teacher, Mr. McAllister…

As I finished up the first day of my summer internship at the Vaynermedia New York City offices, I came to reflect on what an amazing opportunity I have been given. I want to share the story of how I got here: It all started in 2011 when I was…

Two years ago I raised $50,000 in investment capital. I was 19 years old. I dropped out of school at Purdue University where I was studying Chemical Engineering and started Kyk Energy, my first real company. Armed with $50,000 in cash, a product already validated by paying customers and a…

It was a year ago today that I walked out of my last due diligence meeting for my company, Kyk Energy. To date, that meeting has been the worst ass kicking that I have ever experienced. I walked into the conference room high on excitement leftover from delivering, “the best…