about

I’m Osama Khan, a Canadian engineer and roboticist. I lead product development at durable.co. I’m a Menlo Fellow and build autonomous machines in my free time.

Previously, I built burrata.xyz, a compliance and identity startup. Before this, I led product and engineering @segment, @streamlabs and @acl. I started my career as a Petroleum Economist and later worked as a Private Equity Analyst across the Middle East and Africa.

I’m on a perpetual leave from @gtcomputing, where I studied distributed systems and machine learning. I have an MBA and a prior undergrad in computer science, where my research focus was machine learning and robotics. I’m a NASM-Certified Personal Trainer and Nutrition Coach.

I invest my money and have been fortunate to write small checks to some great founders/friends across deep tech, AI, developer tools, and crypto.

My favorite emojis are 🫡:salute:, 🤦🏻‍♀️:facepalm:, and 🚀:rocket:.

Fun fact: I had the voice of a teenage girl till I was 33 (listen).

Having never lifted weights before and after one year of powerlifting, my current one rep max: 305lbs squat, 210lbs bench, 405lbs deadlift.

∎ socials

∎ principles values

Values are words that mean different things to different people. I strive to embody these principles:

  1. Assume good intent
    Trust that people mean well and seek to understand before reacting
  2. Extreme ownership
    Take full responsibility for outcomes, good or bad
  3. Lead with joy
    Approach challenges with enthusiasm and positivity
  4. Radical candor
    Be direct, honest, and kind in giving and receiving feedback
  5. No ivory towers
    Stay grounded, approachable, and lead by example
  6. Always ask why
    Challenge assumptions and seek deeper understanding
  7. Be a learning machine
    Continuously improve, adapt, and seek knowledge
  8. Action precedes motivation
    Take the first step; momentum will follow
  9. Know thyself
    Self-awareness is the foundation of growth and leadership
  10. Naive optimism wins
    Believe in possibilities, even when others doubt
  11. Be a force-multiplying lionheart
    Lead with courage, amplify others, and drive impact
  12. Focus on outcomes
    Prioritize results and impact over effort and process
  13. Be a high bitrate person
    Strive to be and like high bitrate people
  14. Improve you mise en place every day
    Stay organized, pay attention to details, be prepared and strive for continuous improvement
  15. Find the third door
    When faced with a choice, find the third door that is better than the other two. Sometimes, not making a choice is a choice
  16. Sleep on it
    Not much will change if you call it night and come back to it tomorrow with fresh eyes

∎ bookshelf

  1. Courage to be {Disliked, Happy} by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga
  2. Six Pillars of Self-Esteem by Nathaniel Branden
  3. I Don’t Want to Talk About It by Terrence Real
  4. Ikigai by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles
  5. The Surrender Experiment by Michael Singer
  6. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
  7. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig
  8. Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy
  9. Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
  10. The Art of Doing Science and Engineering by Richard Hamming
  11. Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke
  12. Mastery by Robert Greene
  13. Algorithms to Live By by Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths
  14. Behave by Robert Sapolsky
  15. Outlive by Peter Attia
  16. Trillion Dollar Coach by Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg, and Alan Eagle
  17. Skin in the Game by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

∎ patents, papers and awards

∎ talks, press and media

∎ licenses, non-credit courses and certifications