I first came to USV one year ago, almost to the day, as a hackNY fellow. Fred, Brad and Albert gave a talk about venture capital, with a special emphasis on the New York tech ecosystem. I’ve been following them ever since.

My name is Alexander Pease, although most everyone calls me Zander. Along with [Brian](http://content.usv.com/pages/brian-watson), I am excited to be joining the USV investment team. I’ve just graduated from Princeton with an A. B. in Physics. I wrote my thesis on [light-matter interactions in superconducting photonic circuits](http://alexanderpease.com/interests/physics.html), attempting to engineer the fundamental building blocks of quantum information for practical use. I am looking forward to switching gears and studying, at the opposite end of the spectrum, the behavior of the vast networks of data underlying our investment thesis.

Having just exposed my nerdiness, I might as well also mention that I love to code. As a [hackNY fellow](http://hackny.org/a/students/) I worked as a developer making social games for [Vostu, Inc.](http://vostu.com/) Afterwards, I did a bit of freelance for [Today’s Kicks](http://todayskicks.com/). The previous summer I worked at the MIT Media Labs, writing the first iteration of iOS software for [NETRA](http://eyenetra.com/). I am also the founder of [MetroGnome](http://metrognome.co/), interactive music education software for the iPad. There’s quite a bit of work left on this project but I’m encouraged by the progress to date.

A bit about me: I’ve been lucky enough to spend a good portion of my life in Asia, living in Beijing, Shanghai and Singapore for about 9 years. I’ve studied classical piano, the perfect instrument to wedge into a small Manhattan apartment, throughout my entire life. And I grew up playing tennis but somehow became a long jumper on the Princeton track and field team.

Central to USV’s culture is blogging and the debate of ideas, trends and insights. I am grateful to be part of such an intellectual atmosphere and look forward to contributing on usv.com, my [personal website](http://alexanderpease.com/) and via my [Twitter](https://twitter.com/#!/AlexanderMPease). My new email address is [alexander@usv.com](mailto:alexander@usv.com) and I look forward to hearing from all of you.