Currently building the future of creative expression through world-building and real-time interactive video. DreamLoom is pushing the boundaries of what's possible in digital storytelling and creative collaboration.
Through Atman Ventures, we're building & incubating a portfolio of cutting-edge projects that push the boundaries of technology and creativity:
What started as an experiment in AI storytelling turned into a three-week sprint to acquisition. I pioneered efficient LLM deployment techniques on consumer GPUs, scaling to thousands of users and reaching 5-figure ARR before exit.
Built an autonomous AI influencer platform that evolved into a web3-enabled community hub. Our token ($SOULS) reached a $5M marketcap post-acquisition, validating our vision for AI-driven community building in the crypto space.
My journey began with a series of experiments and ventures that shaped my builder's mindset. Each project was a stepping stone, teaching invaluable lessons about product development, market dynamics, and user psychology:
Led the evolution of Instacart's advertising infrastructure, focusing on measurement and experimentation platforms. My work directly impacted the company's multi-billion dollar ads business.
Spearheaded critical data infrastructure projects during the crypto boom. Engineered a MongoDB to Parquet Spark Pipeline for business-critical financial data, achieving remarkable reliability metrics.
Built the foundation for migrating micro-services from pull-based to event-driven architecture using Lambda and Kinesis. Significantly improved data refresh times and reduced system load while setting up pathways for future scalability.
Designed and implemented systems to migrate from AWS Redshift clusters to an in-house Parquet-based S3 Data Lake. Built tools that significantly improved Data Scientists' productivity.
Co-led project exposing critical event data through an Elixir microservice. Built foundational services for the company's microservice architecture transition.
Re-engineered service authorization flow, improving response times by over 300%. Implemented rate filtering and bot filtering features, reducing service load by over 7%.
I've been meaning to start writing more and this is my first step. No concrete plans on what's going to be up here but my guess is it'll be a combination of thoughts & musings on tech, space, spirituality, neuroscience, the human experience, and anything else that grabs my attention.
A little about myself if you don't know me: I'm a 26-year-old builder living in Downtown Toronto. After selling my AI storytelling platform RealmPlay and wrapping up my time as a Senior Software Engineer @ Instacart, I've been heads down building DreamLoom and other exciting projects under Atman Ventures. When I'm not obsessing over new technologies or diving deep into AI research, you'll find me at board game nights or raves with friends.
My journey's been a bit unconventional - from mining ETH at $35 and building viral YouTube channels to engineering data platforms at companies like Coinbase and Instacart. Most recently, I've been fortunate to have two successful exits with RealmPlay and SoulBazaar, both in the AI space. Each venture has been a stepping stone, teaching me invaluable lessons about building products that matter.
Right now, I'm all in on exploring the intersection of AI and creativity. Through DreamLoom and our other ventures, we're building technology that helps people earn through their creativity rather than labor. While I write to share my experiences and realizations, I hope these posts bring you value, spark joy, or offer a new perspective. Welcome to my corner of the internet, and I hope you feel right at home.
Whether you're interested in AI, building products, or just want to exchange ideas, I'm always open to meaningful conversations. Reach out at nikshepsvn@gmail.com or nikshep@dreamloom.ai
book a chat →