Hi, my name is Jeevan Kalanithi – I am an entrepreneur and technologist. I love devices and I love culture.

I am the Chief Product Officer at 3DR, North America’s largest drone company – not military stuff  by the way, but consumer and commercial. Drones are one of those rare technologies that truly extend the reach of the average person – at 3DR, we help people see their world from above.

Previously, I was co-founder and CEO of Sifteo inc. – we built and shipped a totally new game system made of amazing interactive blocks.  Sifteo cubes were sold in retail stores across the USA. 3DR acquired Sifteo in 2014. (woo!)

I am blessed: I get to work with great people to build products and share ideas we truly want to see in the world.

I like to spend time with my lovely wife and baby Eve, draw & play music when I get the chance, and eat from time to time.

Here is a timeline* in bullet form:

• 1970 My parents get married in India. This story begins with them.
• 1985 I get an Optimus Prime, and learn that robots with leadership skills are the best
• 1995 I jump off a bridge because my friends are doing it; find it exhilarating
• 1997 Programming is awesome! See 1985
• 1999 Form a band; rock band + senior year in college = win
• 2000 Stanford BS in Symbolic Systems complete
• 2003 Begin a short, accidental & wondrous career acting in TV commercials
• 2003 Meet Emily who is now my wife
• 2004 Go to Park City UT to both present a brain research paper at a conference and see a screening of a movie I worked on at Sundance (I painted sets. Powerful creative contribution); realize I should probably do work that combines tech & aesthetics instead of doing them in parallel
• 2007 Finish MS at MIT Media Lab; hardware is awesome! See 1985 
• 2008 Form TACO LAB with MIT buds; we built product concepts for Hallmark cards & redid Sequoia Capital’s website & worked in a sunless basement
• 2009 Form SIFTEO INC with Dave Merrill, see 2007, see 1985
• 2011 #1 daughter Eve is born
• 2011 Sifteo cubes are featured in an exhibit at MoMA & sold in their stores at the same time; neato.
• Now (2013) 2 products shipped, Sifteo cubes sold nationwide; so lucky to be building and leading an awesome company, see 1985
• 2014 3DR acquires Sifteo: we take our team and technology to the skies. ROBOTS! see 1985

*Observation: personal timelines are awfully self-centered. I guess that’s the very nature of a personal timeline. Alas.