Kintsugi, a fast-growing Berkeley-based mental health startup, is scaling up across multiple roles and all levels of experience to help shape the future of mental healthcare.
We are a lean team of hard-working, thoughtful, and curious individuals. The work at Kintsugi is a mixture of highly independent and collaborative, where team members are excited about problem-solving and often take initiative for project ownership. At Kintsugi, members have an opportunity to create solutions and meaningful impact while being a part of a team that is passionate about scaling access to mental healthcare. We are excited to welcome ambitious and talented people into our empathic community. Today we highlight Samir Koppolu, our Business Operations Manager!
Samir graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with his Master’s and Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering. After leaving school, he joined Accenture as a part of Applied Intelligence and worked on life sciences and healthcare analytics projects across the Northeast. When he’s not busy with work, you can find him hunting down the next dessert spot on his list or spending time with family and friends.
About Samir Koppolu
University, Class, Major: Carnegie Mellon University
Master’s in Chemical Engineering (Class of 2015)
Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering Minors in Biomedical Engineering & Chemistry (Class of 2014)
Job title: Business Operations Manager
Fun Fact: Nowadays I love to learn new styles and dance socially, but once upon a time, I competed around the US and internationally in Bhangra!
Why did you choose Kintsugi when on your job search?
I stumbled upon Kintsugi during my job search in a crowded healthcare startup space but was immediately drawn to the mission of the company. With a novel voice biomarker technology being applied to a neglected field in mental health, I knew this was a team I wanted to join. The two co-founders, Grace and Rima, are two amazing women that elegantly showcase passion and execution. While building Kintsugi, they have managed to instantiate a warm, genuine culture that is so welcoming, and that solidified the decision.
What kind of projects have you worked on in your time at Kintsugi?
I am fairly new, but I have been lucky enough to partake in a lot of different workstreams! In an early-stage startup, you tend to be pulled in a few directions, but I have been excited about establishing a lot of the groundwork for our business development, process optimization, and plans for scaling. I plan to be proactive about addressing operational issues we might face in the future.
How has working at a mission-aligned, diverse company like Kintsugi shaped your career path?
It’s too early to make a call! But so far, working at Kintsugi has been unmatched from a learning perspective, and it is amazing to see diverse schools of thought mixed in a high-performing team. I can’t wait to see what comes next!
What words of advice would you give to new team members at Kintsugi?
Don’t be shy to ask for anything -- everyone is so welcoming and wants to help wherever they can.
Additionally, everyone seems to have a secret amazing talent/hobby so make sure to talk to every team member!
What are 3 words you would use to describe the Kintsugi culture?
Passionate, Genuine, Caring
Share a favorite All-Hands/video conference moment.
It is wholesome to see #kudos be given on the all-hands to all of the fantastic team members!
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