Hi! I’m Dana.
I’m an entrepreneur, working on AI-powered projects in finance, software, and digital media, with my main project being Banana Stand, an in-house trading application for my own family office.
I’m based in Melbourne, Australia, but travel for three to six months a year, partly to keep myself feeling alive by immersing myself in local culture, and partly to practise some of the languages I speak (six well, and another few OK).
In my spare time, I dabble in fighting sports (mostly Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, sometimes boxing), ride and work on motorcycles, cook increasingly ambitious things, dance, and do whatever else tickles my fancy (guitar/music, horse riding, and other things).
I write about it all on various blogs, including this one, on my travel/language blog Discover Discomfort and my motorcycle blog, Motofomo.
I’m also a coffee nerd, a former start-up/tech guy and consultant, and generally a nice guy.
More broadly, I’m a lifelong learner. I like other people who try new things, are passionate learners, and are humble. Is this you? I’m always up for meeting kindred spirits. Get in touch!
I’m an expert in (and/or just really passionate about):
- AI and the Future of Things. I’m not a big “futurist” nerd, instead focusing on what tech will change for us over an immediate 1-5 year timeframe. I try to ride those waves.
- Culture and languages. I have lived in dozens of countries and more than ten languages (and counting), though some are always rusty. I write about language learning and culture on Discover Discomfort.
- Riding and fixing motorcycles (at a hobbyist level) plus anything on two wheels. I write about this stuff on my motorsports-related website, Motofomo.
- Tech operations. This was my day job, and the experience helps me run my own company. I’ve spent my entire career in tech ops and finance, from ground operations (which I did even at a senior management level) up. I bridged the gap between reality and the boardroom for companies in ride sharing, scooter sharing, and drone delivery. I still help friends with this.
- Digital investment. These days, I focus more on building and investing in online businesses, from affiliate sites to advertising-focused content sites to apps. I write a lot about it on this blog.
- Writing for the web. I’m a good writer; millions of pageviews (and people who tell me) attest to this.
- Coffee. I don’t write about it much, but I can talk your ear off about it. I no longer roast because roasters these days are much better than I am.
- Weightlifting. My “total” was slightly north of 1,000 lbs the last time I checked. I’ve been doing it for years and have written a bit about it.
- Jiu Jitsu / MMA. I’m very early on the path to becoming a total weapon. Right now, I’m more of a slightly blunt pocket knife. Useful, but not epic!
I’m interested in other things, too.
If you want to get in touch, please do so via my contact form.
Dana Hooshmand’s Brief Resumé
I’ve deactivated my LinkedIn as I’m sick of the social media side of it.
Here’s my fuller resume here. But in brief:
- 2025+: Private family office. Now managing my own money through AI-powered trading systems.
- 2024-25: Co-founder, Lumic Ventures/Adaptic.ai. Worked with Mehran Granfar to create a series of AI-powered companies in finance, software, and media.
- 2018+: Founder/owner, Disco Media. Manage and grow portfolio of advertising and affiliate websites.
- 2018-2024: Operations Consultant, 100Nxt. We bridged the gap between investors and ground operations, working to make rapid growth and expansion of operations-heavy businesses into reality.
- 2016-18: Head of Ops, Lyft Retail (San Francisco, US). Built the retail arm from idea into concept, including establishing the culture and building the tech stack myself (our engineers were busy!)
- 2014-16: COO for a private family office, Hong Kong/Beijing ($1B USD AUM family office/PWM firm), helping move money around.
- 2013-14: Founder, Pilgrim Coffee, a cafe-finding community app. Sunsetted.
- 2012: Full-time Chinese student, Beijing. Got fluent, more than I’d ever need to be (and yes, I still speak Chinese).
- 2011-12: GM, Revenue Operations, Groupon China, Beijing. Made sure the deals made the page and that the vendors got paid.
- 2008-11: Consultant, Bain & Company (Australia, Singapore, Thailand). Stayed up all night making urgent slides for meetings that were usually postponed.
- 2007-08: Analyst, Accenture (Australia). Learned how to buy a suit. Attended many well-catered training sessions.
- 2000-2006: Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Engineering, Monash University (Australia) — Honours, First Class. Slept my way through Engineering, but fought tooth and nail to get through Law.
- Languages spoken (Business fluent): English, Spanish, French, Mandarin Chinese, Persian, Italian. I can get by (colloquially) in Korean, Egyptian Arabic, Hebrew, and Swahili. In progress: German, Russian, and Japanese. In the future: Hindi? When? I don’t know!
How is this site built?
I have built this site on various technologies since I first started. Originally, it was built with Ghost, but in late 2023 I moved this site to WordPress, hosted on BigScoots (that’s my affiliate link), a host with exceptional uptime and customer service on which I host most of my sites.