Huntley High School alumnus named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 list

HUNTLEY – A Huntley High School alumnus recently was named to Forbes magazine's 2018 30 Under 30 list.

Vinay Hiremath, who graduated in 2010, was named to the list in the category of enterprise technology after he co-founded a tech startup company, Loom. Loom co-founders Joe Thomas and Shahed Khan also were named to the list.

For Hiremath, the honor is a reminder to stay grounded and remember the entire team that helped the founders receive recognition.

“My first emotion was grateful, for sure, but the second emotion was a moment of clarity,” Hiremath said. “It’s awesome I made it on the list, but there were a lot of people that made this happen.”

Hiremath, 25, helped to create Loom, a video communication platform that enables teams to quickly record, edit and share complex information.

Users can select to record their desktop and a personal webcam at the same time to show people how to do different processes online.

The Chrome extension has been used by more than 250,000 employees at companies such as Airbnb, Dropbox and Zendesk. The 10-employee company is backed with $3.7 million in funding, according to Forbes.

After graduating from high school, Hiremath attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and studied computer science.

He worked for various tech firms in Silicon Valley before founding Loom in July 2016. Hiremath now lives in San Francisco.

Loom began after the founders started having people test software in October 2015. They created a platform called “The Expert Network” that had a network of product experts from tech companies such as Facebook, Google and Dropbox to look at user flow.

To give feedback, the experts had to record their screen, upload it and upload their notes, and the founders realized there was not a simple way of doing that. They created the Chrome extension, allowing people to record their screen, use their microphones and leave video feedback.

“From there, it really was just a Hail Mary and a lot of luck,” Hiremath said, adding that people have found a lot of purpose for the tool in various workplaces.

Hiremath hopes Loom helps people take complex information and makes it easier to understand.

“The video is instantly ready to share, and that part solves the problem of not having to type up a complex email or help center article to convey some info to a customer, another co-worker or prospective client,” Hiremath said.

The company’s vision statement is “Your best self at work,” and Hiremath hopes the company can branch out into other areas that will help people get their jobs done more effectively.

For future entrepreneurs, Hiremath said, he would encourage them to take a risk and work hard.

“Those are the two things you only have control over,” Hiremath said. “There will be stuff that comes up. Other competitors will come and try to steal ideas. People will try to sue you; and the only competitive advantage early on is how fast you execute and also your ability to take on a lot more risk than bigger companies.”