about

I’m Osama Khan, a Canadian polymath. I lead product development at durable.co as CPTO and try to 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 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 almost two years of powerlifting, my current one rep max: 315lbs squat, 210lbs bench, 405lbs deadlift.

I maintain a README for people I work with here.

∎ 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
  17. Live your truth
    Minimize internal conflict as close to zero as possible, be honest with your self and live an authentic life

∎ bookshelf

  1. Courage to be {Disliked, Happy} by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga
  2. Six Pillars of Self-Esteem by Nathaniel Branden
  3. Boundaries by Hengry Cloud and John Townsend
  4. Attached by Amir Levine and Rachel Heller
  5. I Don’t Want to Talk About It by Terrence Real
  6. Ikigai by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles
  7. The Surrender Experiment by Michael Singer
  8. A Classic of Indian Spirituality Collection (Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads, Dhammapada) by Eknath Easwaran
  9. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
  10. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig
  11. Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy
  12. Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
  13. The Art of Doing Science and Engineering by Richard Hamming
  14. Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke
  15. Mastery by Robert Greene
  16. Algorithms to Live By by Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths
  17. Behave by Robert Sapolsky
  18. Outlive by Peter Attia
  19. Trillion Dollar Coach by Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg, and Alan Eagle
  20. Skin in the Game by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
  21. How will you measure your life by Clayton Christensen, James Allworth, and Karen Dillon
  22. Living Tantra: A Journey into Sex, Spirit and Relationships by Jan Day
  23. The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin

∎ patents, papers and awards

∎ talks, press and media

∎ licenses, non-credit courses and certifications