About

Hey, I'm Tommy!

I studied Industrial Engineering at UIUC, but I was always more drawn to finance and economics. That curiosity led to two summers at CBOE, which really opened my eyes to how deep and complex financial markets are. I got to work on research projects for new ventures like prediction markets, helped automate workflows and dig into data, and sat in on client calls with hedge funds, banks, and data providers. It gave me a strong foundation in markets and I liked the mix of technical and client facing work.

After CBOE, I started Georgia Tech's Quantitative Finance program. I'm still interested in the field, but I realized pretty quickly that grad school wasn't the right fit. The curriculum felt outdated, I didn't see a clear end goal for myself there, and I felt limited. I wanted to make an immediate impact somewhere instead of sitting in lectures. I stepped away to figure out what I actually wanted to build toward.

Right now, I'm looking for something I can put my all into, ideally an earlier stage fintech startup where I can take ownership, learn a ton, and explore the space.

Outside of work, I stay pretty active. I lucked out and won the lottery for the 2026 Chicago Marathon, and I'm planning to do a half Ironman once I'm fully healed from shoulder surgery. I also like camping, coffee, music, personal finance, and I recently started learning guitar. Still very much a beginner.