Student Founder Turned Down Microsoft And Google Jobs To Build Bae
Jordan Kunzika is a student and a first generation Angolan-American. He is also the CTO of Bae and senior at Dartmouth College. What’s unique about Kunzika is that he ditched top draw full time job offers from Google and Facebook to develop his own App.
Kunzika often was the only Black person in his computer science classes and therefore left with only himself to look up to. “I quickly realized that it was up to me to either let this negatively affect me, or let it motivate me to be successful, so that people who come after me will have role models who look like them” says Kunzika.
Kunzika is a Google Generation Scholar and has done internships with Microsoft and Intel, but when deciding what to do after graduation he chose Bae. “I was honored to get full-time offers from Microsoft and Google before even turning 21, but I knew that I could serve a higher calling to represent a paradigm shift in what a tech entrepreneur could look like,” he says.
BAE – Before Anything Else
Bae differs from other dating Apps due to the proprietary algorithm built by Kunzika. “What users like the most about Bae,” he explains, “is the quality of the matches and that it helps you find those you’re most interested in”. For example, if you prefer to match with someone who went to a similar school as you Bae will learn that over time as you swipe right for those potential matches.
The founders’ goal is for Bae to become the best Black dating app in the U.S. and across the African diaspora. Bae was accepted into Facebook’s FBStart Accelerate program and chosen as one of a select group of companies to present at F8, Facebook’s Developer conference. This month Bae won first place at TechCrunch’s Brooklyn meetup and pitch-off event.
