Great ideas rarely emerge from isolation

South Park Commons is a community of technologists ideating and validating what to build next. We believe this shouldn’t be done alone. Our members range from exited founders and highly-cited researchers to new graduates and first-time entrepreneurs. What unites us is ambition, ability, and a mutual commitment to helping each other navigate -1 to 0.

south park commons community

OUR Members

A Modern Day Xerox PARC


We focus on highly technical builders in the -1 to 0. Over the last decade, we have had 1,000 members join us to start companies, pursue research, and work on other ambitious projects.

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Scott
I'm currently exploring applications of Generative AI and advising startups on ML. Previously, I led ML at Amplitude and was a founding engineer at ClearBrain.
Michael
Michael Lai's six word story is “failed professional athlete, striving education entrepreneur.” He is currently building Tinycare, a network of micro daycares aiming to fix the childcare crisis. Previously, he built Promise, a nonprofit venture studio for early childhood development, Minerva Project, Google.org, and competed on Harvard's varsity golf team (where he was decidedly NOT the next Tiger Woods). His passion for education starts from the classroom — 6 years volunteer teaching preschool, elementary, and middle school.
John
1 molecular biology PhD + 1 decade investigative journalism + 8 years building software for defense and intelligence agencies as head of data science at Primer.ai + founding "Dance Your PhD" = me.
Tom
ex-DeepMind researcher interested in interpretability, data curation & foundation models (especially in new domains)
Ritesh
Born in India, spent the last 10 years building a fintech in London and now building in Compliance x AI. I am almost always up for a run and I can't do spice in my food (that's one way to say I have been converted from Indian to Brit)
Ani
Ani is the co-founder and Co-CEO of Orbital, building the ZoomInfo for companies selling to SMBs and midmarket. Previously led engineering at Cisco Meraki and held product and GTM roles at Polymail and Tivamo. Background in CS and business from Rice University.
Alexendar
I am CEO of Silico Therapeutics. My speciality is in software development for CRISPR target specificity. I hold a Ph.D in computer science. I hold an M.D.
Afrooz
Currently leads Apple’s Applied Acoustics ML team, building next-gen audio features across the ecosystem. Previously cofounded Syng and served as Head of HomePod Software Engineering, where he helped launch the 2nd-gen HomePod.
Jiachen
I pioneer the creation of autonomous agents for the long-term needs of diverse real-world applications. Ex-DeepMind, LLNL, Electronic Arts. PhD in Machine learning at Georgia Institute of Technology.
Saumitra
Sumo leads technology South Park Commons. Previously co-founded BuyingIQ (acquired by CarDekho) and held senior tech roles at Belong and CarDekho.

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What our members do


Our members have started 250+ companies, including several unicorns. Others have become core contributors to leading research organizations, open-source software projects, and academic institutions.

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