Hi! I am Varun 👋
I’d love to be HVL’s next Assistant Director for the Opportunity & Access track.
My career across housing policy, education, and AI has been dedicated to expanding access for marginalized communities. Joining Terner Labs to scale the Opportunity & Access track is my dream job, and I’d be honored to work alongside Kara, Tyler, and the rest of the team to help your founders thrive.
Current work
I am currently working on several housing efforts in a volunteer capacity until I find the right organization to align my work and interests with. I will sunset some of these time-consuming efforts if I take up the role.
Board Member, House Sacramento Volunteer
I meticulously analyze City code and State law, proposed policies and legislation, and findings from recent affordable housing research. Synthesizing and leveraging these, I activate the membership to lobby planners and elected officials to enact policies that will produce more inclusive and affordable housing for all. Additionally, I put on housing tours and other events around the YIMBY ethos.
In the process, I galvanize Greater Sacramento’s elected officials, public, urban planners, service providers for people experiencing homelessness, and the developer community to come together and advocate for infill projects and rental + home ownership opportunities for people of mixed income levels.
We have successfully collaborated with the City to pass the most progressive zoning reforms in all of California, and are actively advocating for relaxed development standards of missing middle housing products. This experience directly maps to cultivating partnerships with public agencies and community organizations.
Researcher, "Target-costing for rental-rate stability and development certainty"Independent Research
I want to do for housing what manufacturers of mobile phones do: establish aggressive target costs first, then engineer solutions to meet them. If we set target rents, ownership costs, and fair housing outcomes as a starting point, we can reverse engineer a policy framework that could actualize multifamily projects penciled with high-certainty, low-underwriting risk, and achieve exceptionally affordable units for all.
This will create a reliable, repeatable, and prescriptive way for cities to procure housing units at a price afforable to every person, and bring functional homelessness down to 0 individuals. This directly tackles the challenge of multifamily development and renter stability.
Creator, "What Can I Build" app Independent Research
I am building a tool for the City of Sacramento’s Planning Department which lets developers know the maximum development potential of any lot in the city within 30 seconds.
The tool goes beyond sharing FARs, setbacks, and zoning limitations; it:
- Does deep algebraic 2D analysis of lots and 3D analysis of neighboring building envelopes,
- Considers state laws and local ordinances, and
- Calculates highly complex pro formas with real permit + impact fees and property taxes for a large number of unit mixes to offer the developer the densest and most profitable options
In other words, in brute-force testing the feasibility of hundreds of thousands of scenarios per lot, it outperforms an entire team of development analysts, architects, and real estate professionals in a few seconds.
Builder, ADU Impossible Full time
I am the primary developer, architect, engineer, and builder of possibly California’s most affordable one-of-a-kind non-conversion ADU being built. The 635sf project is on budget to be completed by end of July 2026 for under $49,000.
This is a multi-year effort as a solo builder without any subs. I took up this project to understand the fine details of Type V construction, ADA compliance, and discover cost-cutting opportunities in industrialized construction.
Certifications: Building Industries Construction Fundamentals (2022), Title 24 HERS Rater (2024)
Organizing Committee Member, Small (Housing) Development Incubator Volunteer
In many ways, small developers are founders, and their housing projects are ventures. I am a committee member who helped organize a workshop and bootcamp for individuals entering small development. I mentor them on building practices and how to make projects pencil.
Co-founder, Shelter First Independent Research
I wrote a proposal for a model in which the city offers project-based vouchers to property owners to temporarily shelter pre-filtered medium- to low-vulnerability unhoused people in scattered-site environments similar to public shelter sites.
Core strengths
Former YC-backed founder
As a former Y Combinator founder (W14) mentored by Paul Graham and Sam Altman, I deeply understand the founder journey. In working closely with other founders in later years, I have served as a true thought partner, helping founders navigate:
- Product-Market Fit: Designing solutions that end-users actually crave.
- Go-to-Market Strategy: Advising over two dozen startups on outbound sales and scaling.
- Mission Integrity: Prioritizing deep impact and mission over reckless growth.
Research-oriented and deep technical construction know-how
I blend academic research with daily, hands-on construction experience. I voraciously consume research on affordable housing, poverty, unsheltered homelessness, multifamily construction, and economic development. I can help ventures rapidly navigate:
- Regulatory Ecosystems: Deep knowledge of building codes, zoning reform, and structural engineering.
- Project Financing: Translating complex underwriting and financial models for capital providers.
- Cost Engineering: Accurately pricing construction practices and supply chain material choices.
Execution and fundraising support
I am really well positioned to support ventures with both operational guidance AND help with fundraising. My academic background is in process improvement centered around humans. Along with strong rigor with unit economics, I am capable of diving deep with founders to unlock their highest potential.
Beyond VC pitches, my experience securing institutional philanthropic funding and writing successful grant proposals as a nonprofit founder gives me the tools to tailor each venture’s pitch with their unique voice and core strengths.
High-efficiency communicator, planner, and coalition builder
I am thorough with communication and planning (leaning towards over-communication). I am highly disciplined at tracking milestones, designing program curriculum, and managing cohort operations.
I thrive in complex, high-volume environments that overwhelm most, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks. My comfort in new social settings, strong listening skills, sense of humor, and understanding of diverse stakeholder goals makes me best suited for coalition and partnership building.
Strategic leader
My graduate studies had a heavy dose of business strategy and use of design, technology, and market understanding to establish competitive strengths in any market. I have helped nonprofits and for-profits with this, and will share some of these understandings with both ventures and Terner Labs for our shared success.
Versatility to move between big picture and extremely fine details
My key skill here is being able to do a lot of context switching, and translating between planners, policy analysts, elected officials, construction crew, architects, real estate professionals, and funders. I can talk at length about details of building code reform seconds after sharing the vision for a new bill aimed at promoting first-time homeownership opportunities.
In the realm of CDFIs, I have navigated complex interactions with CalHFA, California Community Reinvestment Corporation, Century Housing Corporation, and Housing Trust Silicon Valley.
Additional benefits
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Lived experience, wealth-building, and foundation in homelessness
Having lived in public housing, relied on public benefits, and hopped between temporary hostels while struggling to build credit, my drive to solve the housing crisis is deeply personal. This lived experience fuels my passion for models that expand access and wealth-building—such as cooperative housing, lease-to-own incentives, and credit-building tools. Beyond advising on Common Interest Developments (CIDs) and Cottage on Wheels ordinances to preserve affordable options, I have spent four years deeply engaged in resolving unsheltered homelessness:
- Community Engagement: Participating in Continuum of Care boards and volunteering for PIT counts.
- Data & Evaluation: Reviewing HHAP grant applications and analyzing housing data to track program outcomes.
- Strategic Synthesis: Connecting the dots between housing supply, innovation, and racial equity in fair housing.
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AI, permitting streamlining, and democratizing data
Increasingly, ventures applying to be a part of the lab, primarily in the Opportunity and Access track, will rely on AI to expedite operations, lower costs, and eliminate bias from access to housing. I used to build the underlying machine learning technology that modern LLMs are based on, which allows me to help founders navigate the ethical and regulatory implications of AI in tenant screening or mortgage lending to ensure fair housing compliance. Furthermore, I am deeply aligned with the track’s goal of reducing development timelines and democratizing data; I actively advocate for permitting efficiency through Streamline Sacramento, and have worked directly with Zillow’s public data to envision systems that make rental markets transparent for tenants and small landlords alike.
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Information designer and Author
My most fundamental training is as a designer. I started doing digital design, web design, interaction design, information design, and usability design from a very young age. This background—coupled with being the author of a technical book ("Artificial Intelligence in Schools", Routledge 2021)—proves my ability to translate highly complex, technical concepts into accessible language for external audiences. I can seamlessly draft compelling case studies and market briefs that envision relationships between space, people, and technology.
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Climate resilience and environmental justice
I have a profound interest in environmental justice, particularly in how we protect vulnerable communities from climate change. I am deeply knowledgeable about retrofitting existing housing stock—from seismic readiness (hold downs and hurricane ties) to advanced insulation and weather barrier techniques that improve the building envelope, prevent moisture trapping, and drastically improve indoor air quality for residents.
Past work
CEO, OpenCurriculum
OpenCurriculum is an edTech nonprofit that makes research-based K-12 curriculum planning tools for teachers and school district administrators. It recommends curricular and instructional design choices for teaching, with a goal to bridge the gap between jurisdictions with high and low R&D investment.
I founded the company, engineered and designed the product and many internal data-rich tools, did sales, led extensive research on pedagogy worldwide, and trained teachers on its use. My 8+ years as CEO directly translates to leading the curriculum design, workshops, and cohort activities for the HVL track. I know exactly how to structure educational and acceleration content for founders.
Senior AI Product Engineer and Manager, Baidu Research
Baidu is China’s Google, and in the 2015-20 period, was one of the most advanced AI research labs in the world (run by Andrew Ng).
Here, I led and architected productization of many AI services the for Chinese market, working closely with research scientists and engineers, along with guiding success and adoption of Baidu’s deep learning platform.
Since so much of the raw material used in housing today comes from China, I strengthened my cross-cultural understandings which will be extremely useful in working through a supply-chain analysis for housing production in the US.
Various education technology projects and short-term gigs
I have worked on many education technology projects and companies in different capacities from my high-school days. Some of these are listed here: varunarora.com/work
Academic background
Masters in Information Systems Management
Coursework concentration in product management, organization strategy, entrepreneurship & venture financing, design, and economic development.
Fellowships: David Lingren Fellow, 2011-12 • Anne Lewis Fellow, 2012-13
Bachelors of Science in Information Systems
Coursework concentration in computer science, communication, information design, and statistics.
Lagunita course on American Poverty
Availability
Current location: Sacramento (Hybrid)
When not in the Terner Labs’ Oakland office, I can help make introductions and setup meetings of HVL ventures with people in the legislature, public agencies, and other policy organizations.
Availability beginning: End of August 2026 or later
I am aware the Summer Cohort would benefit from this role being filed. I am open to part-time availability until available full time.
Ideal work split
HVL operations
I anticipate spending the lion's share of my time driving the day-to-day excellence of the Opportunity & Access track. Leveraging my decade of curriculum design and firsthand founder empathy, I am excited to build rigorous cohort programming and serve as a trusted thought partner for ventures navigating complex regulatory and go-to-market hurdles. From tracking operational milestones to translating our founders' work into compelling case studies, I am ready to get into the weeds to ensure the Lab's continued impact and growth.
Affordable public housing access + construction innovation research
I believe there is no better way to tie the two tracks of HVL’s focus than the research project I have already embarked on. I would love for Terner Labs to be the new home of this effort.
