Yasyf Mohamedali

The process of matching startup founders with venture capital investors is a necessary first step for many modern technology companies, yet there have been few attempts to study the characteristics of the two parties and their interactions. Surprisingly little has been shown quantitatively about the process, and many of the common assumptions are based on anecdotal evidence. In this thesis, we aim to learn more about the matching component of the startup fundraising process. We begin with a… Show more

The process of matching startup founders with venture capital investors is a necessary first step for many modern technology companies, yet there have been few attempts to study the characteristics of the two parties and their interactions. Surprisingly little has been shown quantitatively about the process, and many of the common assumptions are based on anecdotal evidence. In this thesis, we aim to learn more about the matching component of the startup fundraising process. We begin with a tool (VCWiz), created from the current set of best-practices to help inexperienced founders navigate the founder-investor matching process. The goal of this tool is to increase efficiency and equitability, while collecting data to inform further studies. We use this data, combined with public data on venture investments in the USA, to draw conclusions about the characteristics of venture financing rounds. Finally, we explore the communication data contributed to the tool by founders who are actively fundraising, and use it to learn which social attributes are most beneficial for individuals to possess when soliciting investments. Show less

The World's Hardest Game is a Flash game made popular online in 2007. It features a simple square player, whose goal is to navigate a series of levels by traveling from a designated start area to a designated finish area, avoiding deterministically-moving enemies and collecting all coins on the map. While the game results in a rather frustrating experience for most human players, I propose teaching a computer to play (and master) the game, using Deep Q-learning with Experience Replay.

We present SNARL, a suite of tools that is able to simulate a user’s typing pattern with the goal of exposing the vulnerabilities of new biometric based identification techniques. Researchers have known for many years that password based verification systems are insecure, in part due to security holes in applications, and in part due to users (e.g. password reuse). In an effort to bolster security, some applications leverage additional data; we are particularly interested in the merits and… Show more

We present SNARL, a suite of tools that is able to simulate a user’s typing pattern with the goal of exposing the vulnerabilities of new biometric based identification techniques. Researchers have known for many years that password based verification systems are insecure, in part due to security holes in applications, and in part due to users (e.g. password reuse). In an effort to bolster security, some applications leverage additional data; we are particularly interested in the merits and drawbacks of biometric data. Biometric identification schemes are in some aspects very secure, because a person can often be uniquely identified by some combination of biometric factors. On the other hand, if somehow this information were to be stolen, akin to a password being leaked, it is nearly impossible to change, since they are often either physical traits that exist from birth or habits developed over many years. Our paper demonstrates a system that is able to rapidly learn and simulate user password typing habits, and suggests that keypress timings should only be used as an inexpensive technique that does not significantly boost security. Show less

This paper details the motivation, design, and field testing of FishBowl, a mobile iOS application that initiates and encourages social media interactions with strangers. The idea for this application was developed after an initial survey regarding social media and its role in maintaining and creating relationships.