Summary
Vinayak Ranade is a technology leader and founder with 12 years of experience building product and engineering teams that scale consumer marketplaces and novel AI/robotics initiatives from San Francisco. He co-founded and led Drafted through product-market fit and acquisition by Instawork, pioneering referral-driven hiring and a Layoff Network that helped over 10,000 people connect to employers during COVID-19. At Instawork he moved between growth, product, labs, and robotics research roles—scaling consumer mobile users 1M→3M and leading strategic initiatives to expand economic opportunity for hourly workers. His background blends hands-on software and mobile engineering at KAYAK with research at MIT/CSAIL in spatial computing and energy systems, giving him uncommon depth across applied research and rapid productization. Now building at Vinayak Frontier Labs Ventures AI, he focuses on assembling exceptional teams to tackle big problems in technology and society. Colleagues would call him a fast executor who prioritizes team chemistry and durable impact over flash.
12 years of coding experience
16 years of employment as a software developer
Fergusson College
MEng, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MEng, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abhinava Vidyalaya
politically correct, Hindi, Marathi, English