6/7/2007

Mint Team Spotlight – Atish Mehta

Name:

Atish Mehta

Title:

Software Engineer

Education & Experience:

Graduated USC with a B.S. in Computer Science. Did IT consulting in Los Angeles and a summer internship in Germany working on a Home Automation application. Worked at Walgreens in High school.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I’ve never been pregnant, never met Gorbachev, and was an alternate on the James B Conant High School Math Team, class of ‘01. I believe that the internet is the center of the universe.

Tell us something interesting about yourself.

I know how to play seven different instruments.

Best financial tip?

My advice to someone is to set a recurring transfer every month from your checking to your savings – pretend like you never even see that money in the first place. While you’re at it, every time you get a salary increase, put the difference away (or at least half of it) into your savings.

Worst financial move?

That $100 we spent at the hardware store to build that beer bong in college. Seemed like a good idea at the time… Should have used it to pay for food.

How do you handle your finances?

I hate to admit it, but before I joined Mint, I didn’t – I’m a great Mint user because I’m really lazy. I just checked my balance every month to make sure I had enough money to pay rent… but now, I use Mint.

What’s the funniest/craziest thing you’ve seen while working at Mint?

Seeing a fellow coworker getting out of a parking ticket (in the Bay Area) by hugging the meter maid. Also, one of our engineers chooses to stand while he works, that’s kind of weird.

Why are you working at Mint?

I work for Mint because I want to work for a company that makes a product that I will actually use, which really motivates me… Actually, the real reason I work here is because we have daily ping pong tournaments after lunch.

What do you do at Mint?

I am a software engineer. I work on aggregating data, talking to the banks/credit cards, and analyzing the overall health of the system… I also eat all the free snacks.

Favorite part about working here?

I love working with really smart people who are passionate about doing awesome things…and they’re cool to hang out with, so work is fun.

What don’t you like about working here?

I’d love to pull an Office Space and tear down these cubicles…

What do you do after work?

Create electronic music, see house DJ’s in the city, Wikipedia, Facebook, and Yelp. I guess technically, I do some of those at work also… shhh…

Do you have a website or a blog?

http://atish.net/wordpress/