# Yasin Ehsan

> Yasin Ehsan is a New York-bred software engineer turned edtech founder and venture scout. After winning 13 hackathons, landing a job at Capital One the week he graduated, and filing two AWS patents on the Eno chatbot, he co-founded Headstarter - an edtech platform that has helped generate 60+ six-figure job offers for undergrads. In 2025, he joined Andreessen Horowitz's Speedrun accelerator as a scout, bridging the gap between emerging technical talent and Silicon Valley capital.

- **Role:** Speedrun Scout at Andreessen Horowitz; CEO & Co-Founder at Headstarter
- **Organizations:** Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Headstarter, Capital One, Chrono Group
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.S. Computer Science & Quantitative Economics, Queens College, CUNY, High School Diploma, Brooklyn Technical High School
- **Known for:** 13 hackathon wins including 1st Place at HackNYU, IBM Call for Code, Estee Lauder Hackathon ($7,500 prize), HackCornell, Filed 2 AWS patents while at Capital One for machine learning cost-reduction models, Led AWS cost reduction for Capital One's Eno chatbot - ~$400K+ in annual savings

## Career timeline

- **2017** — Graduated Brooklyn Technical High School; enrolled at Queens College CUNY
- **2018** — First hackathon (October); participated in multiple NYC tech events including TEDx organizing
- **2019** — Became Google Cloud Ambassador; conducted workshops for 300+ students and professionals
- **2019** — Won 1st Place at IBM's Call for Code with Together platform (310+ participants); received all-expenses trip to Scotland for Clinton Global Initiative
- **2020** — Graduated Queens College one year early (August); founded Chrono Group digital marketing agency
- **2020** — Joined Capital One as Software Engineer - Conversational AI, within one week of graduating
- **2020-2023** — Senior Software Engineer at Capital One; built and led development of Eno chatbot customer-facing features; filed 2 AWS patents; led cost-reduction initiative cutting AWS spend by ~50% ($400K+ YTD); received CEO recognition
- **2023** — Co-founded Headstarter as CEO; platform focused on helping undergrads break into software engineering
- **2024** — Headstarter fellowship generated 60+ six-figure job offers for participants; became silent sponsor for Georgia Tech AI Hackathon (1,200 participants)
- **2025** — Joined Andreessen Horowitz as a16z Speedrun Scout; relocated to San Francisco

## Achievements

- 13 hackathon wins including 1st Place at HackNYU, IBM Call for Code, Estee Lauder Hackathon ($7,500 prize), HackCornell
- Filed 2 AWS patents while at Capital One for machine learning cost-reduction models
- Led AWS cost reduction for Capital One's Eno chatbot - ~$400K+ in annual savings
- Received Capital One CEO recognition for technical contributions
- AWS Certified Developer - Associate
- Won 1st Place at IBM's Call for Code with 310+ participants; awarded all-expenses trip to Scotland for Clinton Global Initiative
- Co-founded Headstarter which generated 60+ six-figure job offers for undergraduate participants
- TEDx Director: organized sold-out event with 180+ attendees, fundraised $1.5K+
- Selected as a16z Speedrun Scout - one of a select network empowering pre-seed and seed-stage founders
- Recruited 16 colleagues to Capital One through professional network
- Completed NYC Half Marathon
- Google Cloud Ambassador (2019) - conducted workshops for 300+ students
- Keynote speaker at Queens College endowment gala on culture and career empowerment
- Silent sponsor for Georgia Tech AI Hackathon with 1,200 participants

## Latest updates

- **2025-06** — Officially announced as a16z Speedrun Scout, joining the network that backs pre-seed and seed-stage startups through Andreessen Horowitz's accelerator program
- **2024-07** — Headstarter Software Fellowship announced generating 60+ six-figure job offers for undergrad participants
- **2023-01** — Co-founded Headstarter as CEO, focused on helping undergraduates break into tech careers

## Links

- Website: https://yasinehsan.com/
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/yasinehsan
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/yasinbuilds
- GitHub: https://github.com/YasinEhsan
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mellamoyasin/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/yasin-ehsan
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-07