Aiden Appleby

Entrepreneur, Startup, Student, Technologist, Web guru

Hi there! my name is Aiden Appleby. I'm an 18-year-old Australian, now living in the Bay. I became the president of TEDxDesignTechHS two years ago, being the technical director for the previous productions. I moved to the United States 9 years ago, and ever since, I've loved approaching challenges and roadblocks head-on. I love to build things through my passion for woodworking, code building apps and websites, and I'm a Bay Area entrepreneur founding my first startup Grindstone. Whenever I can get away from school and work, I love to wind down with the family up at Bear Valley and go skiing. I've been engulfed by the appeal of the fast-paced environment of Silicon Valley and all things "startup". As a student myself, I know how hard it is to get work experience, which is where my startup Grindstone steps in–building a professional network for students where they can find tangible work experience at a young age, kickstarting their futures. I cannot wait for this year's event; it will be truly magical, although not in person. Looking forward to seeing and interacting with everyone on May 22nd! See you there.

I like to think that I have a wide variety of passions which allow me to tackle problems to multiple angles. Woodworking has been a design outlet, allowing me to watch as a sketch on paper turns into a physical product in front of my eyes. Coding has allowed me to take massive concepts and tackle them from a technical standpoint. I always ask myself how I can approach an issue utilizing modern day technology and what reins it can give us. I love building things from the ground up. Just last year I was fortunate enough to lead a creativity hub project on my school's campus wherein we built a broadcasting studio after spending months doing public fundraising. It was truly an amazing experience and taught me so many valueable lessons. I think the biggest of which was the fact that I love taking a smidgeon of an idea and growing it into something people couldn't imagine it being. What started out as a way to connect our community during COVID-19, tured into a platform for discorce amongst our peers through thick and thin.

App Design, App Development, Communications, Public Speaking, Team Leadership, Web Design, Web Development