Meet Igor Khalatian
PURPOSE | MOTIVATION
Meet Igor Khalatian
An Armenian national , but living in
New York , serial entrepreneur Igor Khalatian was 23 when he secured his PhD in computer science and kicked off his working life at AT & T Bell Labs . Within a few years , Igor was developing his own tech products and companies , and has since founded four startups ( SCLAB , HelpMeeting , LiveLook and Iris ) and is the author of 13 US patents . “ I ’ ve always been passionate about research and technology and the goal throughout my career has been to leverage technology to make people ’ s lives easier ,” he says .
After selling LiveLook to Oracle in 2014 , Igor became VP of Development at Oracle , and later co-founded his latest startup – Iris , a dating app that uses AttractionDNA technology to match users based on the physical preferences they find attractive in a partner .
“ I ’ m curious about how we as humans are attracted to one another , so I used
my passion in technology to solve the issues people experience while dating , especially online ,” he says . “ At Iris , our goal is to help everyone find their perfect match faster and create a safer dating environment by eliminating catfishing and other toxic dating behaviours .” Iris only shows users other users they would find physically attractive , cutting down on time wasted endlessly swiping , with the app ’ s algorithms making it 40X more likely than other apps to find a match .
Igor is passionate about climbing and has summited 200 high peaks , including Mount Everest .
“ I was drawn to mountain climbing by the promise and excitement of taking risks . I have never been one to shy away from a challenge and climbing presented the perfect opportunity . Entrepreneurs , who are excited by a challenge , often seek out this kind of thrill in their personal lives ”
Igor Khalatian Entrepreneur , VP of Development at Oracle , and the first Armenian to summit Mount Everest forward , to learn new skills , to take risks , and to leverage the resources and skills she had from her experience as a psychologist to find solutions and navigate obstacles .
“ It ’ s so important for me to have purpose , because when there ’ s purpose , there is no limit to what you can achieve ,” says Nelly . “ No obstacle is insurmountable , and you learn how to navigate any uncertainties . You can always find a way when you are living your purpose .”
Climbing has reinforced this even more for Nelly , who has endured all sorts of storms , obstacles , and challenges on her climbs to the top . “ Climbing has helped me realise how
64 November 2022