Hello, friend!
To begin with, my real name is Nikolay ("Николай" in russian), but Nicolas is also nice, isn't it? ) I like how it looks as well as how it sounds. Moreover, as far as I know it's a bit easier for foreigners to pronounce and to remember (all for you, guys!), so I'd be absolutely happy if you refer to me by this name ;)

I'm a humble programmer, graduated from MSU in 2014 and from Skoltech in 2016. Currently I'm working in a small american startup (replika.ai) that harnesses the magic of neural networks to make computers talk. I like my job since it's super technical and gives the humanity a little glimpse to the future.

Another big part of my life is devoted to our educational startup (kespa.ru): along with my friends and friends of friends we are building online English school. That is a great chance for me to create something from scratch, make it useful for a lot of people and then scale to prosperity. We are still super small (~100 students and ~20 teachers) but for me that's probably the most interesting phase of development.

More about my interests is written below and oh! just recalled an important addition: I'm a vegetarian, hence I don't drink alcohol and don't smoke.
:)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

That's a good question! )

The main reason is my curiousity, I guess. After numerous stays in hostels and hotels it is interesting for me to check out another type of accommodation. Is it that different? Is it safe enough? Does it change your comprehension of the journey anyhow? And is it really a good way to meet new amazing people?

I don't know the answers to these questions yet but I'm looking forward to start out my discovery.

Overall I'm into the idea of shared economy in general and CouchSurfing in particular, cause sharing is caring.

Interests

Ok, let's clear this out. Two main passions in my life so far are "cool science" and "cool services".

Cool science is comprised of programming, math and physics - all that is more or less technical and at the same time breathtaking. To make it clearer - I'm a fan of machine learning (especially neural network, especially reinforcement learning), blockchain technology and theory of relativity.

Cool services can be anything practical that is cool - a site (like CouchSurfing), a program (like Google), a school (like Udacity) or a store (like Amazon). This point corresponds to an entrepreneurial part of my essence: if I'm not a scientist I'd prefer to be an entrepreneur to create stuff as cool as named above.

Some other interests that are also important to me: I love drumming and singing sentimental songs and I'd love to dance nicely, but didn't succeed in it so far :| Last but not least, I enjoy public speaking, especially in English (hello, Toastmasters! :)

• startups
• drumming
• neural networks

Music, Movies, and Books

"Einstein's Cosmos" by Michio Kaku - a blessing for geeks

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Met Victoria – my amazing girlfriend ❤️

Teach, Learn, Share

Share a run: https://runkeeper.com/user/NicolasIvanov
Share a code: https://github.com/nicolas-ivanov
Speak English: https://kespa.ru/

What I Can Share with Hosts

I would gladly teach my host the basics of
- programming
- juggling
- penspinning
- handstanding
- talking & laughing
- other "things-do-ing"

Countries I’ve Visited

Belarus, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Syrian Arab Republic, Ukraine, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Russian Federation