TheBridge profile: Andrew Byrnes

Name: Andrew Byrnes

Current city: Redwood City, CA

Current job: Senior Director, Consumer Products at Uber

Past job: EVP, General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer, PresenceLearning; General Counsel, Shuddle; Chief of Staff, U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO); Partner, Covington & Burling

Q. Favorite spot for a coffee meeting? Caffe Bianco on Sutter in San Francisco

Q. Describe one way how a skill you learned in a previous job helped you in your new job. Years as a litigator taught me to read my audience, marshal the best arguments, and be concise, which has served me well as a senior Administration official and a startup executive

Q. Job advice in three words? Use peripheral vision

Q. How are you (or your company, org, nonprofit) currently bridging the gap between politics and tech? (*at the time of this profile, Andrew was at PresenceLearning.) PresenceLearning is democratizing access to life-changing care for students with special needs by connecting school districts with a nationwide network of quality clinicians who provide live online services using our proprietary telehealth platform. We work with regulators and legislators nationwide to help ensure that these children receive needed services, including through our innovative technology-enhanced model.

Q: Last time you were completely unplugged? On vacation in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco in 2017

Q: What can Silicon Valley teach DC? Moving quickly is sometimes better than bringing people along

Q: What can DC teach Silicon Valley? Bringing people along is sometimes better than moving quickly

Q: Startup to watch? MyDream Interactive (virtual reality + gaming + cryptocurrency)

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