Welcome to our new blog series, Sync with Symbians! Our team at Symba is growing and we would love for you to get to know us.
With each post, we’ll highlight a rockstar team member of the Symba team. You’ll learn a lot about the people who make Symba, their journey so far, what their day looks like in their role at Symba, and much more.
Meet Nikita Gupta, who works as the CTO and Co-Founder at Symba. Nikita has been with Symba since its founding, and is in charge of Symba’s technological needs, as well as its software research and development. Outside of work, Nikita loves cooking, scuba diving, and spending time with family and friends. Come, let’s learn more about Nikita and her journey so far - professional and personal!
- What brought you to Symba and what’s been keeping you here?
I met Ahva Sadeghi in Washington D.C while I was working at my previous job at another startup, and immediately fell in love with the idea of remote internships. As a South Asian woman in tech, I wanted to see more representation in tech roles, and one of the only ways for companies to do that was to start early with internships. Ahva and I wrapped our heads together and co-founded Symba to help companies launch remote internships to diversify their candidate pool. It’s been an incredible journey helping companies scale their early talent programs.
- How would you describe Symba’s work culture?
At Symba, we honor transparency and accessibility. It is a super collaborative environment, with many members working together across multiple teams. It’s fast-paced and exciting, and everyone is striving towards the same mission.
- What does a day in the life of Nikita look like?
I wake up around 6:30am and start my day with reading Slack messages, answering emails, and checking in with our engineering team based in India. Then I head to the gym around 7am and work out for an hour. I’m either working from home or from a WeWork in NYC until about 7pm, followed by dinner with family or friends. After getting the evening to myself, I’ll work for about an hour before heading to sleep. The exciting part of work is that no day is ever the same!
- Proudest moment at Symba?
When we signed our first paying customer in 2020. It was a momentous event. Both Ahva and I hopped on Zoom to sign the contract together and were extremely excited about the impact we were making with Symba.
- How’s it like to be a ‘remote worker’ at Symba?
The best part of being remote is having flexibility. It’s also a great opportunity to practice what we preach at Symba, which is to promote remote or hybrid teams. With remote work, we don’t have to worry about commuting or wasting time. Instead, we can meet so many people from all over the world in the same day!
In addition, at Symba we host monthly social events such as cooking classes, cocktail parties, escape rooms, and so much more. This helps us get our team together in remote settings to foster deeper relationships amongst our team.
- What’s your personal mantra and why is it important?
“Don’t follow the recipe, follow your gut.” No startup has ever gone through the same journey, so it’s really important to not be stuck on one method of doing things. As first time entrepreneurs, we deal with a lot of advice, and while we respect all of it, we have to be considerate about what we absorb.
- Any advice for future Symbians?
- Working at any startup may be stressful at first, but in the end you’re going to learn so much more compared to any corporate level job. Take this opportunity to get your hands dirty on different projects, meet new people across multiple teams, and hone in on your skill sets.
- At Symba, we’re all about being Symbiotic. We’re here to collaborate together, celebrate each other, and grow in our careers together!
Now for more fun stuff!
- Favorite book: The Secret
- Favorite TV show: Scandal
- Favorite cuisine: Indian
- Favorite vacation spot: Visiting my family and home in India
- Favorite cause: Education empowerment, especially to young women
