Pranam Kolari

VP, Search, Discovery & p13n @ Coupang — machine learning, retail, leadership. Dad to 2! PhD Computer Science. Previously Yahoo!, Walmart Labs

[Pranam Kolari @kolari]

Machine learning is arguably the best example of “learning from failure” (aka the loss) — repeatedly, consistently, relentlessly.

[Pranam Kolari @kolari]

@bryan_johnson Good experiment — Curious — Did 61% less take you below ideal numbers? Was this over-abundant earlier beyond point of saturation?

[Pranam Kolari @kolari]

Mentoring tip:

Be fully available for your mentees at major forks on the road, changing locations, teams, orgs, career shift, ..

When they ask for time at the fork, call them right away, no future scheduling. 30 mins invested at the fork is higher value than 300 mins elsewhere

[Pranam Kolari @kolari]

@anthonysoohoo Different things, but both (have/can) drive profound efficiency gains on the planet

1994+ — changed how humans communicate with other humans, at scale

2023+ — changes how humans communicate with machines, at scale

[Michelle Obama @MichelleObama]

This year for #CollegeSigningDay, I’m wearing a college shirt from @UMBC, an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution in Baltimore County, MD.

Students, I want to hear from you! Share your plans for the future using #CollegeSigningDay! 🎉

[Pranam Kolari @kolari]

4yo: “Dad, are you a leader?”

Me: “Yes”

8yo: “Everyone is a leader, you are a leader of yourself”

Glad the next generation gets this simple truth much earlier than the previous.

[Pranam Kolari @kolari]

“The guests can wait for the food, but the food should never wait for the guests” — wisdom from Chinese Chefs — source: @SpicesofLife stir-fry suppers

[Pranam Kolari @kolari]

Leaders strive for 10X improvements, and don’t act.

Most 10X improvements come from stacking 3 2X improvements.

Don’t ignore your 2X changes. Act on your 2Xs and get to the 10X.

[Pranam Kolari @kolari]

Belief is critical to elevate, promote and measure in organizations. If you don’t believe you will win, you don’t win. When hiring, assess self-belief.

[Tim Finin @timFinin]

New open-access Nature paper on "Swarm Learning", a decentralized machine-learning approach uniting edge computing, blockchain-based peer-to-peer networking, and coordination that gives confidentiality w/o needing a central coordinator. #AI #privacy #ML https://t.co/PiyqDfVL0X

[Pranam Kolari @kolari]

How so true —

[Orange Book 🍊📖 @orangebook]

Most people expect too much from others and not enough from themselves.

[Pranam Kolari @kolari]

Insightful discussion between @MarcLore & @guyraz on retail - including how the team convinced a reluctant P&G to be a supplier of diapers, and an all-in mindset in pursuit of a mission.

[Marc Lore @MarcLore]

A few months back I sat down with Guy Raz to talk about the first 30 years of my career. Take a listen, let me know what you think, and get ready for another story that’s just beginning...

#HowIBuiltThis #Entrepreneurship #StartupStandup

https://t.co/ObkTiCCDU7

[Pranam Kolari @kolari]

Empowerment and accountability are well balanced duals in effective organizations.

Accountability without any empowerment is micro-management.

Empowerment without any accountability is disorganization.

[Pranam Kolari @kolari]

The ability to timebox actions is a highly underrated yet critical skill, especially for the deep thinkers. When this skill becomes habitual, bias for action naturally flows for the important-not-urgent.

Nothing is perfect.

[Pranam Kolari @kolari]

@gaberivera Formal: Thank you again
Semi-formal: Thanks again
Informal (Smile): Sent with more Thanks

[Pranam Kolari @kolari]

Good study from MSFT validating meeting scheduling hacks:
- Turn 30 mins into 25
- Turn 60 mins into 50
- Make 1:1s walking meetings (this one is mine)

Focus on sustained curiosity and creativity.

https://t.co/Piw54XACRg

[Steph Smith @stephsmithio]

If you weren't convinced of Zoom fatigue yet, Microsoft's Human Factors Lab measured brain activity of workers in 4 back-to-back meetings.

The result?

Without breaks, lots of stress.

This is your friendly reminder to Marie Kondo your calendar.

🔵 less stress
🔴 more stress

[Pranam Kolari @kolari]

Let’s go get more legos for the kids — no more reasons to think twice!

Fun apart; NERL — Never Ending Reinforcement Learning is a great area to watch

[Sergey Levine @svlevine]

Fri 6 am PT & 1 pm PT, check out the poster by Charles Sun, @ColinearDevin, @abhishekunique7 @jendk3r & @GlenBerseth on how to get lifelong learning RL robots to autonomously learn navigation & manipulation to clean up a room! At NERL workshop #ICLR2021

https://t.co/VkNGqn73gP

[Pranam Kolari @kolari]

Common sense is uncommon with machines — excellent write up from @MelMitchell1 on state of progress in AI and the springs and winters to follow.

[Melanie Mitchell @MelMitchell1]

New paper by me: "Why AI is Harder Than We Think". https://t.co/kfhr85Gb9U

Feedback is welcome!

[Pranam Kolari @kolari]

As India fights and recovers from the ongoing crisis, please donate to the Help Bangalore Breathe efforts:

https://t.co/vnxJnXzu2C

A number of decentralized efforts are in play across the country. I am familiar with the plan by this team with a heightened sense of urgency.

[Pranam Kolari @kolari]

Non-intuitive for an outsider, but technology driving productivity gains in new areas

[Halter @halterHQ]

We're stoked to have the exceptional @blackbirdvc lead our recent NZD$32M Series B round, with participation from existing investors @DCVC @PromusVentures @UbiquityVC @Peter_J_Beck @the_icehouse

Have a read of our recent @SmartCompany feature!

https://t.co/V8LdEhk9eq

[Pranam Kolari @kolari]

A good roster of upcoming AI-centric companies, cutting through the noise of everyone and everything being AI.
Application themes:
1. Navigation/Robotics
2. ML Infra/Annotation
3. Drug discovery
4. Fraud/Security
5. Customer Service
6. Speech/Language
..and more.

[Konstantine Buhler @Konstantine]

1: Most “AI companies” have very little “AI” (real technology) or very little “company” (real business). That's why we made the @Forbes #AI50: Real AI. No Snake Oil. https://t.co/vPyei1g4kl @alanohnsman @kenrickcai @jillianiles @HelenASPopkin