From "Ligma" Prank to AI Powerhouse: The Story of Rahul Sonwalkar
Rahul Sonwalkar gained notoriety for the "Rahul Ligma" prank at Twitter headquarters. However, beyond the prank, Sonwalkar is a serious tech entrepreneur. He's the founder of Julius, an AI-powered data analysis startup making waves in the data science world.
Sonwalkar, a former Uber engineer and Y Combinator alum, developed Julius to democratize data science. The platform allows users to analyze and visualize large datasets and perform predictive modeling using natural language prompts.
Julius: An AI Data Analyst for Everyone
With over 2 million registered users, Julius offers similar functionality to tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. Its ease of use and powerful capabilities have attracted attention from prominent institutions, including Harvard Business School (HBS).
Iavor Bojinov, an assistant professor at HBS, was so impressed with Julius that he integrated it into a new required MBA course, "Data Science and AI for Leaders."
We compared several platforms, including ChatGPT, and Julius performed the best.
This adoption by HBS, a leading business school, is a significant win for the 12-person Julius team.
From Uber Engineer to Startup Founder
Sonwalkar's journey includes a stint at Uber and a logistics startup developed during his time at Y Combinator. He later pivoted to focus on Julius, which has since secured a seed round led by Bessemer Venture Partners' Talia Goldberg.
While the "Rahul Ligma" prank brought him initial attention, Sonwalkar's focus remains firmly on Julius and its potential to revolutionize data analysis. He's building a powerful tool that empowers everyone to access and understand data, proving there's much more to him than a viral prank.
