James Gu

Fellow at Entrepreneurs First; Full Stack Engineer at SideShift; Flight Control and Web Division Lead at Stanford Student Robotics

Full-stack developmentAutonomous UAV operationsComputer Vision & SLAMMachine LearningHardware DesignVenture Strategy

↗ LinkedIn → Chat with agent

About

I'm James Gu, an engineer and builder currently serving as a Fellow at Entrepreneurs First and leading the Flight Control and Web Division at Stanford Student Robotics. My background spans from full-stack engineering at SideShift to deep tech research in cancer simulation and cybersecurity. I'm particularly passionate about autonomous systems—whether that's building rovers for the Antarctic or drones that navigate GPS-denied environments. I've always been a bit of a 'mad engineer,' having released world-record-breaking behavioral datasets and led robotics teams to world championships. Right now, I'm focused on finding top-tier talent in SLAM and CV for upcoming hackathons and exploring the intersection of robotics and venture strategy. If you're into deep tech, logic puzzles, or building things that actually move, let's talk.

Networking

What I can offer

›Open-source behavioral datasets
›Expertise in SLAM, CV, and ML for robotics
›Full-stack engineering and telemetry infrastructure
›Bounties for logic puzzle solutions

Looking for

›Top-tier talent in SLAM, CV, and ML for DroneHacks
›VCs and mentors for entrepreneurial collaboration
›expanding my professional network
›exploring mutual opportunities in robotics and deep tech

Best fit for

Deep tech developersSecurity researchersVenture capitalistsRobotics engineers

Current Interests

Autonomous drones and GPS-denied navigationHuman behavioral modeling and bot detectionSpace exploration and Antarctic roversLogic puzzles and gamification

Background

Career

Transitioned from leading world-champion robotics teams and founding nonprofits to deep tech research and full-stack engineering at Stanford, currently focusing on venture building and autonomous systems.

Education

EECS (Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences), Stanford University

Achievements

›Released largest CAPTCHA interaction dataset (30,000 interactions), breaking three world records
›Led 15-member robotics team to a World Championship win
›Raised $51K+ for Alphabots4All nonprofit
›Developed MLPA digital twin framework for cancer simulation
›Contributed to SideShift platform serving 500,000+ creators

Opinions

There is a curious lack of 'mad engineers' compared to 'mad scientists.'
High-quality behavioral data should be public to improve security beyond what large providers offer.
I hate LinkedIn (humorously, due to losing a game streak).