Editor’s Note: Nataraj recently came under the radar of the HackerNoon editorial team for a very interesting concept: the constant need to experiment with AI. Impressed by his decision to play around with AI for 100 days, the HackerNoon editorial team decided to showcase his work. Over the next few months, Nataraj will be sharing his insights on what he’s learned by pushing the boundaries of what AI can and cannot do. Be on the lookout for his posts and learn a bit more about the man behind the series, below.
So let’s start! Tell us a bit about yourself. For example, name, profession, and personal interests.
My full name is Nataraj Sindam. I am currently a Product Manager at Microsoft Azure. I believe humans are not built to do just one thing, specialization is for ants not humans. Humans can excel in more than one thing. So outside of my day job I host a podcast about startups and investing called Startup Project. I am also an investor in 20+ companies across the world and currently a venture partner at $10M SaaS Fund called Incisive.vc where I help invest in pre-seed stage SaaS companies.
Interesting! What was your latest Hackernoon Top story about?
I have decided to focus on learning and writing about AI in 2024. As part of this I started 100 Days of AI as a forcing function. So for 100 days each day I am spending 1-2 hrs a day on learning AI. And as I learn about AI I am documenting my experiments, ideas, thoughts & future predictions for AI in the form of blog posts here on my website and on Hackernoon. My most recent post was about how to create "Chat with You Data” applications using Langchain, Chroma DB & Open AI’s Gpt-4. Its one of the most popular use case of AI which every individual and organization is looking to use at scale. The post also introduces basic concepts that are the cutting edge of these applications like retrieval, data spitting, vector databases, embedding and more.
Do you usually write on similar topics? If not, what do you usually write about?
I usually write about technology businesses but not about my own experiments that involve writing code. I write a bi-weekly newsletter called Above Average, which is meant for people working in tech and want to know the second order reasons, behind the scene strategies & future predictions related to the technology business. As some one who works at a big technology company while at the same time interacting with startups and reviewing 1000+ pitch decks a year I try to bring a unique vantage point of view in my newsletter and opinions that are not usually discussed elsewhere. The idea is that the reader should get ideas & thoughts that provoke them to think differently and are not found elsewhere. In a world where information is ubiquitous having an informed unique point of view is an edge and my goal is to provide that edge to my readers.
Great! What is your usual writing routine like (if you have one?)
My process of writing can be described as everywhere & all the time. I maintain google docs that are focused on writing new things. I obsessively take note of the smallest idea from a topic to an experiment to a funny sentence that I should use. For my weekly post I pick the latest three ideas that I find my self most attracted towards or opinionated about. Once I come up with basic draft, I follow some basic editing tips I have accumulated over time.
Being a writer in tech can be a challenge. It’s not often our main role, but an addition to another one. What is the biggest challenge you have when it comes to writing?
I am an idea person, when it comes to writing. I generate ideas for articles everyday. The most challenging part about writing is not finding enough time to bring those ideas together into an article form. Time is the scare part of my writing journey.
Wow, that’s admirable. Now, something more casual: What is your guilty pleasure of choice?
I watch a lot of content. As I grew up in India and am fluent in three languages (English, Hindi & Telugu) and follow movies in 2 other languages (Tamil & Malayalam). I have plenty of context across diverse geographies that I watch. This means my music diet is also pretty diverse.
Do you have a non-tech-related hobby? If yes, what is it?
Last couple of years I have been going to CrossFit, I am still a beginner but that’s my non-tech related hobby these days.
What can the Hacker Noon community expect to read from you next?
I will be writing about AI & the business of technology. I will be talking about the strategies behind the move tech companies are making with my newsletter Above Average and bring some of those ideas in the form of individual posts to Hackernoon. Apart from that, the current focus is to complete the journey that I stared with 100 Days of AI in 2024. So expect a lot more interested ideas, experiments, predictions & simple products using AI from me on Hackernoon.
What’s your opinion on HackerNoon as a platform for writers?
HackerNoon as a community is a writer friendly platform, I have been interacting with the team on & off since the past 4 years and have always had positive experiences. They have created a unique corner on the internet which allowed technologists channel their creativity. There is no other platform that I have see that enable this.
Thanks for taking time to join our “Meet the writer” series. It was a pleasure. Do you have any closing words?
Keep up all the great work you are doing with HackerNoon. If your audience is interested in following my work as part of 100 Days of AI, please follow me on Twitter, LinkedIn or bookmark this page.