specimen № 01resident
Kartikey
software · ML
Founding engineer @ Raya Health · HF0 W26 · ex-Intel / NASA / Snap.
ACRN
pronounced “acorn.” we live on Oak Street — the joke writes itself.
A small hacker house on Oak Street — one unit, a handful of people, most of them shipping something after dinner. Equal parts workshop and home.
01
the idea
An acorn is a small, stubborn thing that intends to become a tree.
ACRN is a house of people building — software, companies, side quests, whatever’s keeping us up at night. We share a roof, a kitchen, a whiteboard, and a habit of actually finishing things.
No mission statement. No deck. Just a handful of people, one unit on Oak Street, and a standing rule that you can knock on any door when you’re stuck.
field notes · house rules4 / 4 kept
[x]
Make the thing№ 001
Shipped beats perfect. The demo is the argument. Talk less about it at dinner, show it after.
[x]
Doors open№ 002
Stuck on a bug, a pitch, a decision? Knock. The house debugs together — that’s the whole point.
[x]
Leave it better№ 003
The kitchen, the codebase, the group chat. Small upkeep, no ego, clean as you go.
[x]
Plant for later№ 004
Play long games. Help with no scoreboard. Acorns don’t grow on a quarterly timeline.
02
the grove
Every tree in this grove is building something.
$ ls ./residents # pressed, labeled, alive
specimen № 02resident
Alicia
finance · accounting
The numbers brain of the house — iMAcc + Finance @ PSU · ex-KPMG.
specimen № 03resident
specimen № 04resident
Kanika
AI · UX
Founding AI engineer @ Raya Health · built a $35K-funded AR game on Spectacles.
specimen № 05summer · visiting
Ishaan
AI · automation
Tech Lead @ ML Club · 6× hackathon winner · keeps the Coffee Club’s books.
specimen № 06summer · visiting
Parth
AI · mobile
Founding AI engineer @ a stealth startup (a native iPad agentic IDE) · 5× hackathon winner.
specimen № 07summer · visiting
Lance
robots · orgs · agents
“I build stuff — robots, websites, drones, agents.” Co-founder @ Surge.
specimen № 08summer · visiting
Ujjwal
data · design
EEE + Biology @ BITS Pilani · data analytics (Tableau, Deloitte) · runs the books for two clubs.
specimen № 09summer · visiting
Shreyansh
software · hardware
Incoming MS CS @ UMD · builds at the software–hardware line — VR locomotion, edge AI, IoT · ex-Snap Spectacles accelerator.
plot № 10unclaimed
An empty plot, waiting for the right acorn.
say hi ↗// the scoreboard
hackathons won between us—and counting.
nine residents, one tally. every trophy came home to Oak Street.
03
the almanac
Quiet enough to work, social enough to matter.
where
Oak Street — our unit in the building (the house next door is good people too)
who
Engineers, founders, a finance brain or two — nine of us right now
vibe
A well-kept workshop at night. Kitchen always has coffee.
openings
We occasionally have room for the right person. No promises, no timeline — reach out.
contact
transmission · open
If you’re building something and want a room full of people who get it — tell us what’s keeping you up at night.
hello@acrn.space[ ok ] replies within a few days, usually from the kitchen.