People of Parsnip

There’s no better feeling than being part of an all-star team, in pursuit of a meaningful mission, where everyone excels at what they do, and where we love each other's company. We put people first above all else, and we relish beating down serious challenges together while not taking ourselves too seriously.

Interested in a career with us? Send an email to hello@parsnip.ai!

Andrew Mao 🇨🇦Co-Founder

Cooking evangelist, human-centered computer scientist, lifelong learner, cultivator of people, and table tennis aficionado. After following a winding path from business school in college to a PhD in computer science, Andrew realized that learning to cook is often harder than publishing scientific papers—but it doesn’t have to be.

Andrew's Favorite Recipe

Engagement Chicken

Legend has it that one can make a roast chicken so good that it makes your significant other propose. Want to give it a try?
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Andrew's Favorite Recipe

Engagement Chicken

Legend has it that one can make a roast chicken so good that it makes your significant other propose. Want to give it a try?
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Dan Sosa 🇺🇸Co-Founder

An AI researcher-turned-entrepreneur with too many culinary passions including: mixology, homebrewing, and Guatemalan cooking. Dan is a self-identified LLM hipster, and his PhD work was on how we organize and innovate on scientific knowledge using AI. Dan finds joy when art meets science, and it’s his life’s mission to make other people happier and healthier. For him, building Parsnip to empower others in the kitchen is the fulfillment of his life’s journey.

Dan's Favorite Recipe

Guatemalan Tamales

There are 3 things that make Guatemalan tamales special: first, they’re wrapped in banana leaf which gives them a floral-herbal flavor; second, the sauce inside uses roasted chilis, vegetables, and seeds to create a perfect balance of sweet and savory; and and third, the corn masa is extra velvety so once you start you can’t stop. It’s an irresistible combination.

Dan's Favorite Recipe

Guatemalan Tamales Colorados

The 3 secrets of Guatemalan tamales are: the herbal florality from the banana leaf, the sweet and savory roasted chilis and seeds in the sauce, and the extra velvety texture of the corn masa. They’re irresistible!

Ben Jones 🇦🇺Product Manager

After more than a decade of professional cooking, Ben was hired on the strength of his food writing and quickly found himself wearing the many hats required at a startup. His ultimate goal is to provide as many people as possible with the joy and freedom of improvising meals from a few random ingredients in a seemingly bare kitchen.

Ben's Favorite Recipe

Salmon Ikura Chirashi

I love the minimalism of Japanese food like this. The cold fatty salmon is perfectly offset by the briny bursts of the roe and the slightly warm, seasoned sushi rice.
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Ben's Favorite Recipe

Salmon Ikura Chirashi

I love the minimalism of Japanese food like this. The cold fatty salmon is perfectly offset by the briny bursts of the roe and the slightly warm, seasoned sushi rice.
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Alexander Tsoukias 🇬🇷Senior Advisor & Serial Startup Founder

Always looking for inspiration in new ideas, Alex loves investing in companies and and building new technologies. With his extensive experience at both startups and big companies, when he first heard about Parsnip’s vision, he instantly said “this is exactly what the world needs.”

Alex's Favorite Recipe

Spicy Tuna Roll

At first glance, I don't exactly look like a big fan of food 😉. But—if you offer me sushi, especially tuna, I will never refuse!
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Alex's Favorite Recipe

Spicy Tuna Roll

At first glance, Alex doesn’t exactly look like a big fan of food 😉. But—if you offer him sushi, especially tuna, Alex will never refuse!
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Dimitris Vlachos 🇬🇷Android Engineer

Dimitris cooks up Android apps the way a master chef crafts a signature dish — with passion, precision, and just the right amount of spice. He thrives on tough challenges, bold ideas, and a steady flow of caffeine, turning complex ingredients (aka code) into beautifully plated, high-performing apps. Give him the right recipe, and he’ll serve you an Android experience so good, you’ll be coming back for seconds.

Cory's Favorite Recipe

Guacmole

This is the BEST guacamole recipe as it’s simple to make and uses fresh, high quality ingredients. Authentic guacamole doesn’t contain fillers and unnecessary ingredients. Easy and delicious!
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Dimitris' Favorite Recipe

Chicken Fajitas

Chicken fajitas are my ultimate comfort food. Tender chicken, sizzling veggies, and that irresistible burst of spice all wrapped up in a warm tortilla — it’s a simple pleasure I’ll never get tired of.

Zachary Beukema 🇺🇸Head of Strategy

The son of a restaurateur, Zachary is a lover of cuisines and cultures who rarely leaves any food on his plate (especially dessert). His work in banking, consulting, and education has taken him around the globe, broadening his palate and honing his expertise in financial services. He now enjoys strategizing about how Parsnip can spread the joy of cooking to the home kitchen.

Zachary's Favorite Recipe

Spaghetti alla Carbonara

There is hardly a dish I don’t like but it’s tough to beat the richness and simplicity of carbonara paired with a glass of red.
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Zachary's Favorite Recipe

Spaghetti alla Carbonara

There is hardly a dish I don’t like but it’s tough to beat the richness and simplicity of carbonara paired with a glass of red.
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Artur Balabanskyy 🇺🇦Head of Engineering & Compulsive App Builder

Artur built his first app in elementary school at the age of 11; the start of a 20-year adventure in the world of technology. He loves bringing great ideas to life and finding solutions to hairy problems. Parsnip was love at first sight because it included two of his favorite things—delicious food and an awesome team united behind a powerful mission.

Artur's Favorite Recipe

Bograch

Rarely does a day go by that I don’t dream about another portion of Bograch 😋. It has a bright, rich taste, created by the combination of different types of meat and aromatic spices.
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Artur's Favorite Recipe

Bograch

Rarely does a day go by that I don’t dream about another portion of Bograch 😋. It has a bright, rich taste, created by the combination of different types of meat and aromatic spices.

Oksana Sova 🇺🇦QA engineer

A creative personality and a fan of both tattoos and exotic tastes, Oksana (”Ksu”) loves to travel to the East in search of new cultures. She is always ready to go to another corner of the world because she is convinced that tasting a fantastic dish is the best way to get to know a new country.

Oksana's Favorite Recipe

Beef Pho

If you woke me up in the middle of the night and asked “what are you hungry for?” you’ll hear the same answer every time—pour me a bowl of Phở bò (beef pho).

Oksana's Favorite Recipe

Beef Pho

If you woke me up in the middle of the night and asked “what are you hungry for?” you’ll hear the same answer every time—pour me a bowl of Phở bò (beef pho).
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Nazar Kvyatkovsky 🇺🇦iOS Engineer & Mobile Team Lead

Nazar loves work, sports, challenges, and delicious food; all preferably in large quantities. If you doubt that it’s possible to make a perfect mobile app in a single week, then Nazar accepts your challenge. For him to do the impossible, all it takes is a sufficient supply of food, and Nazar will amaze you with his work and leave your jaw on the floor!

Nazar's Favorite Recipe

Chicken Noodle Soup

It’s hard to choose a favorite dish when you just love to eat!. But if I had to choose, then ramen is what I’ve really fallen in love with.

Nazar's Favorite Recipe

Chicken Noodle Soup

It’s hard to choose a favorite dish when you just love to eat!. But if I had to choose, then ramen is what I’ve really fallen in love with.
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Max McCann 🇬🇧 Growth and Marketing Lead

Max has loved cooking since childhood, inspired by his chef dad. He’s grown a community of 2.6M followers and reaches 30M people each month through his food content. With 10+ years in sales, marketing, and running businesses, Max now brings his creativity and growth expertise to Parsnip, making learning to cook fun and rewarding.

Nazar's Favorite Recipe

Chicken Noodle Soup

It’s hard to choose a favorite dish when you just love to eat!. But if I had to choose, then ramen is what I’ve really fallen in love with.

Max's Favorite Recipe

Crispy Chilli Chicken

My go-to “fakeaway” - crispy, sticky, chilli chicken that tastes better than a takeaway, but is high-protein and low-calorie.
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Roman Rak 🇺🇦CMS Developer

Roman blends creativity with technology, moving fluidly between coding, design, and photography. A computer science graduate with a passion for building, he’s as comfortable crafting sleek web apps as he is capturing moments with his camera. Beyond the screen and lens, he enjoys fitness, experimenting in the kitchen, and discovering new delicious food.

Nazar's Favorite Recipe

Chicken Noodle Soup

It’s hard to choose a favorite dish when you just love to eat!. But if I had to choose, then ramen is what I’ve really fallen in love with.

Roman's Favorite Recipe

Borscht

Deep red, hearty, and always better with sour cream on top. Every family has their own recipe, and that’s what makes borscht feel like home.When I have enough time, I always go back to dumplings (or pierogis or samosas). I fell in love with these dumplings while in Berlin.
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Zoriana Ivaniuk 🇺🇦iOS Engineer

Zoriana crafts iOS apps the way a curious chef experiments in the kitchen - with creativity and a love for vibrant beauty. Whether on aerial silks, in the kitchen, or in code, she enjoys turning complexity into something graceful. Complexity doesn’t scare her - it excites her. She loves building apps that can make a big impact and is proud to help create one that might teach people around the world how to cook delicious dishes.

Cory's Favorite Recipe

Guacmole

This is the BEST guacamole recipe as it’s simple to make and uses fresh, high quality ingredients. Authentic guacamole doesn’t contain fillers and unnecessary ingredients. Easy and delicious!
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Zoriana's Favorite Recipe

Strawberry and Vanilla Mousse Cake

The 3 highlights of this cake: silky vanilla mousse, fresh strawberry mousse, and a tender sponge.

Azeem Sarwar 🇵🇰Frontend Engineer

Azeem has been creating things for as long as he can remember — from early sketching and a love for visuals to digital design, UI/UX, and eventually full-stack development. He enjoys turning ideas into real, functional experiences and learning something new along the way. When he’s not working, he’s either playing badminton or enjoying a delicious meal.

Nazar's Favorite Recipe

Chicken Noodle Soup

It’s hard to choose a favorite dish when you just love to eat!. But if I had to choose, then ramen is what I’ve really fallen in love with.

Azeem's Favorite Recipe

Chicken Biriyani

Azeem can never say no to chicken biryani. It’s spicy, aromatic, comforting and basically everything great in one plate.
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Ihor Tsyurpita 🇺🇦Frontend Developer

Front-end developer who once worked in a real kitchen and now cooks only in code. Swapped frying pans for frameworks, but still works on a project tied to cooking — just with fewer burns and more TypeScript.

Cory's Favorite Recipe

Guacmole

This is the BEST guacamole recipe as it’s simple to make and uses fresh, high quality ingredients. Authentic guacamole doesn’t contain fillers and unnecessary ingredients. Easy and delicious!
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Ihor's Favorite Recipe

Pizza Margarita

Pizza Margherita is a classic Italian pizza made with a thin crust, fresh tomato sauce, creamy mozzarella, and fragrant basil — simple, authentic, and full of flavor.

Interested in joining us? Get in touch!

Photo of 4 people around a dining table, chatting, eating and drinking.

6 people in a kitchen with aprons and chefs hats working with lots of food and ingredients on the table

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2 men in a kitchen working with their hands

Asian man in a home kitchen slicing food on a cutting board

9 people around a table in a professional kitchen, wearing aprons and chefs hats, smiling at the camera

3 men and 1 woman in protective safety hats holding various tools

3 men in a professional kitchen working with ingredients on the table in front of them

2 men working in a home kitchen. One is cooking eggs on the stovetop while the other is filming him work

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Our Investors

A wider community of culinary rockstars, startup gurus, experienced technologists, and world-class academics is also helping bring Parsnip to life.

Luis von Ahn

Co-founder and CEO of Duolingo, inventor of reCAPTCHA, and MacArthur fellow

Severin Hacker

Co-founder and CTO of Duolingo

Mark Miller

Author of 11 cookbooks, renowned culinary anthropologist, and founder of Coyote Cafe & Red Sage

Mark Curfs

Food & restaurant consultant, former General Manager at Bouchon Bakery (Thomas Keller NYC restaurant)

Barry Huang

Chief Growth Officer at TravelBank

Beibei Li

Professor of IT & Management at Carnegie Mellon University

Zach Goldberg

Serial CTO and author of The Startup CTO’s Handbook