Hi my name is Aliraza, but you can call me Ali (Only my mother calls me Aliraza).

I graduated with a Bachelor's in Finance from Pace University but wasn't so enamored by the Financial Industry, so I instead started my own company. It didn't go as successfully as planned, but I learned a lot. After, I decided to intern at an actual venture backed startup (Stray Boots) to learn the ropes and get a real feel for what it's like. Before this, I worked as a "lobbyist" of sorts in the Telecom sector helping wireless carriers expand their wireless coverage. Prior to that, I was in medical school for two years overseas, but it wasn't a great fit for me. All in all, I'm happy with where I'm at and how far I've come, but I'm eager to explore and learn more.

I love to explore and travel; a life goal of mine is to travel to all 7 continents (yes even Antarctica) and visit every country in the world. Another goal I've been pursuing has been my dream to become ambidextrous. I'm not sure why, but I've always been jealous of people who are, so I've been training myself to get there. As of now I can brush my teeth and eat with my left hand, so I'm getting there. Writing, on the other hand, could use a lot of work.

I'm currently interning at a NYC based and venture-backed startup working on Marketing, Sales, Operations, Content, and just about everything in between. I consider myself more of a generalist or a man of many hats (though I'm not going to wear a fedora, I can't pull them off). I've taken this internship to learn as much as I can about startups and how to create and run a business.

Since I love learning new skills, I've started to teach myself how to program. Nothing too crazy, just trying to build a foundation in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Startups are almost always short on technical talent so adding these to my skill set never hurts.

Copy writing
Social Media
SEO/SEM
Web/Market Research
Financial Modeling
HTML, CSS, and Javascript (working on it)
and having an Entrepreneurial Mindset

Books: The Alchemist, The Kite Runner, The Catcher in the Rye, Mountains Beyond Mountains, Liar's Poker, The Future of Freedom, The Great Gatsby, the Harry Potter series, The Lean Startup, Re Work, Never Eat Alone, and The Fastlane Millionaire.

Movies: Jaws, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Schindler's List, The Shawshank Redemption, Office Space, The King's Speech, Fight Club, Zoolander, Role Models, Star Wars (not the prequels), Anchorman, Bridesmaids, Easy A, Batman, The Devil Wears Prada, Inception, Mean Girls, Casino Royale, and all the Harry Potter films.

Shows: Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Veep, Girls, Homeland, Shameless, Dexter, Archer, South Park, Family Guy, Modern Family, Happy Endings, Revenge, Community, Parks & Rec, The Walking Dead, and the Daily Show.

Music: Adele, Jay Z, Beyonce, Alicia Keys, Florence and The Machine, Coldplay, Rihanna, Ke$ha, Olafur Arnalds, Swedish House Mafia, Avicii, Kanye West, Macklemore, Childish Gambino, David Guetta, Foster the People, Helen Jane Long, Bon Iver, Katy Perry, M83, Justin Timberlake, and Robin Sparkles.

Food: Thai, Mexican, Italian, Indian, Greek, Turkish, and Chinese.

Wow didn't think it was possible but, I have more favorite things than Oprah.

- Morning Coffee/Tea
- Wikipedia
- Peanut Butter
- Phone
- Purell
- Indoor Plumbing

You want to add an energetic, highly-motivated, fun, go-getter, to help your company get to the next level. If you think I'd be a great fit, let's talk.