Hi! I am Varun 👋
And 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 small 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 summarize research, organize membership, and put on housing tours + more events to help produce more inclusive and affordable housing, with a YIMBY ethos. In the process, I help galvanize Greater Sacramento’s elected officials, public, urban planners, service providers for people experiencing homelessness, and developer community to come together and advocate for rental and 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 new missing middle housing products. This experience directly maps to cultivating partnerships with public agencies and community organizations.
Target-costing for rental-rate stability and development certainty Independent Research
I want to create a reliable, repeatable, and prescriptive mechanism for cities to get housing units at a price that can bring affordable housing to every person, and can bring functional homelessness down to 0. I am beginning research into using the economics principle of target-costing to develop a policy framework that could actualize multifamily projects penciled with high-certainty, low-underwriting risk, and achieve exceptionally affordable units at predetermined target rents and ownership costs. This directly tackles the challenge of multifamily development and renter stability.
What Can I Build 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 in 30 seconds. It goes beyond sharing FAR and zoning limitations; it does deep algebraic analysis of lots, uses state law and local ordinances, and calculates highly complex pro formas with real permit + impact fees and property taxes for a large number of unit mixes and hundreds of thousands of scenarios to offer the developer the densest and most profitable options. This aligns closely with crafting community development policies that place housing at their core.
Builder, ADU Impossible Full time
I am the primarily developer, architect, engineer, and builder of possibly California’s most affordable one-of-a-kind-design non-conversion ADU being built. This is a multiyear effort as a solo builder without any subs. I took up this project to understand the fine details of Type V construction and opportunities in industrialized construction.
Expected completion: July 2026
Small Development Incubator Volunteer
In many ways, small developers are founders, and their work ventures. I am a committee member that helped organize a workshop and bootcamp for individuals entering small development. I mentor them on building practices and how to make projects pencil, from time to time.
Shelter First Independent Research
Shelter First is 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. I worked on this proposal for city leaders.
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. I serve 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 based in process improvement centered around humans and general strong rigor with unit economics allows me to really dive deep with founders and 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 really meticulous 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. For example, I have navigated complex interactions with CalHFA, California Community Reinvestment Corporation, Century Housing Corporation, and Housing Trust Silicon Valley. I can talk at length about details of building code reform moments after sharing the picture vision for a new bill aimed at promoting first-time homeownership opportunities.
Additional benefits
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Solid foundation of understanding on homelessness
I have spent four years deeply engaged in understanding how to resolve unsheltered homelessness. My hands-on experience includes:
- 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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Deep AI expertise
Increasingly, ventures applying to be a part of the lab, primarily in the Opportunity and Access track, will rely on AI to expedite their operations, lower cost, and eliminate bias from access to housing opportunities and economic mobility. I used to build the underlying machine learning technology that modern LLMs are based on, and have a very deep technical expertise on how these systems are designed. This allows me to help founders navigate the ethical and regulatory implications of AI in tenant screening or mortgage lending to ensure fair housing compliance, and help public agencies build tools to do more with less amidst budget cuts.
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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.
Past work experience
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 lab 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, 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.