Reflections on six weeks in Palo Alto

In February 2026, I moved to Palo Alto for six weeks to work in person with the Sycamore team. I plan on splitting my time between the Netherlands and California in the near future, and I wrote this blog post on the last day of my first trip as part of the founding team and Head of Product at Sycamore.

The Commute as meditation

100 miles a day. A few hours in the car. 50 miles each way… the longest commute of my life, and somehow one of the most valuable parts of my day.

Music, audiobooks, silence.

For the first time, I had 2 to 3 hours of forced nothing-time every day. No Slack, no code, no meetings. Just thinking. I don’t get that in my normal life, and I didn’t realize how badly I needed it.

Learning from Sri

Sri is the founder and CEO of Sycamore, and was previously the CTO of Atlassian and Groupon. One of the biggest reasons why I joined Sycamore was to work closely with him.

I asked Sri during my feedback session before leaving: how does he stay so calm? When things break in production during important demos, things that would make me visibly frustrated, he just… removes himself emotionally and does the practical thing. He’s always kind, always steady.

I want to learn to be like that. That kind of emotional regulation under pressure isn’t something you can read about. You have to see it up close.

Missing Sukriti

This is the longest we’ve been apart since 2019. We did long distance for three years when I was studying in the Netherlands and she was in India, months without seeing each other, so we know how to do this. But it still hurts.

What made me proudest: watching her thrive without me. She had a social life, cooked, cleaned, took care of herself, and stayed fully herself. She missed me, and I missed her, but she didn’t need me for her to be okay. That makes me feel okay.

The honest part: I kept myself so busy, 5:30 am to late night, every day, that I didn’t give myself the chance to feel the missing. I buried it in work. I know that about myself now.

The room

I came here wanting to learn from people smarter than me. I got that, and then some.

But the thing I didn’t expect was how much I’d missed being in a room. After half a decade of remote work, I’d forgotten what it feels like; everyone focus-working, then someone has an idea, chairs turn around, and suddenly you’re jamming at the whiteboard, talking over each other, riffing. Impromptu. Unscheduled. Alive.

Sri’s stories over lunch were the most special part. Not formal mentorship, just wisdom shared over food, on a roundtable, with the team. That can’t happen on Zoom.

One story that stuck with me: when Sri was a kid, he went to a Kannada-language school. When he moved to a big city, the school taught in Hindi and English, neither of which he knew. He literally only knew the ABCs. He had to learn Hindi by watching TV. Imagine being a kid in a classroom where you don’t understand a single word anyone is saying. From there to becoming CTO of a public company. That’s the kind of story that rewires how you think about what’s possible.

Now I’m going back to remote, and I know what I’m missing. That’s harder than not knowing.

From founder to… something new

I’ve been a founder for a decade. Oswald Labs, Melangebox, Pabio, FirstQuadrant. After FirstQuadrant, I was left with: what am I if I’m not a founder?

These six weeks answered that.

When I posted the Sycamore launch on LinkedIn, it hit me that everyone would know. I’m not a founder anymore. I work for someone. First time in my life. That’s a big identity shift.

But I also made the logo, built the website, ran the PR, got named Head of Product. So although I’m surrounded by Cornell PhDs and Stanford researchers, and I’m “just a guy”, I’m their guy. I belong in this room. The imposter syndrome is there, but underneath it: I know what I am now. I’m part of the founding team of something special, and I chose to learn from people smarter than me. That’s not a step down.

The identity crisis is over.

The gym

I started working out almost every day. Wake up, proper workout, then commute to work. During one of the busiest periods of my career, I proved to myself that taking care of my body is possible. I want to keep this going when I go back.

Family

I stayed with my uncle and aunt, and my cousins Dev and Raghav. They fed me, did my laundry, made me feel at home, even though I was a ghost who left at dawn and came back at night. Every time I’m in the Bay, they treat me like family. Because I am. I never felt alone, and I’m grateful for their love and support over the years.

Hearts in two places

When I got here, I felt like I’d left a part of my heart in the Netherlands with Sukriti. I couldn’t wait to feel whole again.

Now that I’m leaving, I’m taking most of my heart home, but leaving a small piece in Palo Alto. With the team, the brotherhood, the late nights and the whiteboard sessions and the lunches.

I don’t want to lose that. The friendships, the connection, the feeling of being one of the guys. I want to keep talking to them outside of work, keep feeling like part of the team even from 9 time zones away.

I feel grateful. I feel lucky. I feel ready to go home.