# Andrew Kortina

> Andrew Kortina is a New York-based software engineer, writer, and filmmaker who co-founded Venmo with Iqram Magdon-Ismail and Fin with Sam Lessin. His essays connect product design, liberal arts, automation, and human dignity; his more recent public work includes short films, filmmaking notes, and talks for MIT students.

- **Role:** Writer and filmmaker at kortina.nyc
- **Organizations:** Venmo, Fin Exploration Company, Fin Analytics, Betaworks, Bitly, iminlikewithyou (later OMGPOP), Oakland Film Club
- **Education:** Majors in Philosophy and Creative Writing; minors in Computer Science and Logic, University of Pennsylvania
- **Known for:** Co-founded Venmo in 2009., Co-founded Fin with Sam Lessin in 2015., Created VS Code Markdown Notes.

## Career timeline

- **2001** — Met Iqram Magdon-Ismail as randomly assigned freshman roommates at the University of Pennsylvania.
- **2005** — Graduated from Penn; built websites with Magdon-Ismail and worked on early software projects.
- **Before 2009** — Joined early team at iminlikewithyou; subsequently worked at Betaworks on Bitly.
- **2009** — Co-founded Venmo with Magdon-Ismail.
- **2012** — Braintree acquired Venmo.
- **2013** — PayPal acquired Braintree; helped create the Lucas Venmo advertising campaign.
- **2015-2019** — Co-founder and co-CEO of Fin during its assistant-service period, alongside Sam Lessin.
- **2017-2020** — Organized MIT IAP seminars with collaborator Rob on automation, consciousness, narrative, and film noir.
- **2019** — Fin discontinued its assistant service and focused on Fin Analytics.
- **2020** — Published his VS Code Markdown notebook workflow and an extension for linked notes.
- **2023** — Completed Telling Mattresses Stories with Rob and made Lost Gloves; delivered two talks to MIT student groups.
- **2024** — Published Lessons from Team Sports, originally delivered for MIT’s DEAL program.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Venmo in 2009.
- Co-founded Fin with Sam Lessin in 2015.
- Created VS Code Markdown Notes.
- Published an archive of Fin Assistant operations and lessons.
- Made short films including Lost Gloves and Telling Mattresses Stories.

## Latest updates

- **2024-11** — The public Oakland Film Club list records screening #202, Who is Michael Jang?, for November 12, 2024.
- **2024-08** — Published Lessons from Team Sports on August 21, based on a talk for MIT’s DEAL program.
- **2024-01** — Published his 2023 recap, covering completed short films, film courses, production work, and teaching ambitions.
- **2023-10** — Added a link to Sam Lessin’s retrospective to his Fin Assistant archive.

## Links

- Website: https://kortina.nyc/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kortina
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/kortina
- GitHub: https://github.com/kortina
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCok7ZdFAQHOvXIjRdxDPDPg
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/kortina

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/andrew-kortina
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-22