About Me
I grew up in the Bay Area but now live in New York City as a student at NYU; I call both places home and appreciate how both environments continue to shape me as a person. The entrepreneurial nature of Silicon Valley nurtured in me an admiration for new waves of thinking that stretch the imagination; the hustle and bustle of New York is instilling within me a bias towards action and making things happen.
I've been a sports junkie for as long as I can remember. I started a sports blog in the third grade to combine my love for sports and writing, and have been doing that ever since.
I'm passionate about the intersection between sports and business and how sports is filled with nuggets and lessons which can be applied to any business or organization. This was the key idea that drove my 2nd book, Surrounding Factors 2.0: Beyond Skillset.
More recently, I've become fascinated by the cross-pollination of ideas from different disciplines and how they can drive innovation in the sports world. This has lead to a deep interest in startups, mental models, decision-making, and probabilistic thinking.
I’m on the leadership team for NYU Stern’s premiere entrepreneurship organization, EEG, working to further embed the club in the New York City startup & tech ecosystem.
Working at Starburst Aerospace / Starburst Ventures instilled in me an interest in deeptech and an admiration for missionary founders working to build a future version of the world that is radically better than what exists today.
Working at Antler was where I cultivated a drive to increase the sum total amount of brainpower devoted to building generational companies. I think that the people are the most important factor in any entrepreneurial endeavor, and thus I believe the holy grail of venture is finding brilliant people who are obsessed with solving a problem that truly matters, and equipping them with the jet fuel needed to build an enduring company that makes a dent in the universe.
I'm a voracious reader and will always take time from my day to enjoy a good book. Some of my favorites include Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger by Peter D. Kaufman, Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, and When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi.
I'm an avid coffee drinker. My all-time favorite Bay Area coffee shop is Philz Coffee and my go-to coffee shop in NYC is Think Coffee, but I’m always open to new suggestions!
There’s nothing I enjoy more than learning, and there’s nothing that excites me more than being able to learn from people who are deeply obsessed and passionate about what they do. If that’s you, send me a note at proby.shandilya@nyu.edu — would love to chat (coffee on me if in NYC).