Risheek Nawka: Creative technologist

Risheek Nawka is a 19-year-old creative technologist applying to the a16z Horowitz Academy founding class. Tagline: "I build things where art and technology meet." Key facts: Founder, Summer; Consulted for Adobe; 7 creative-tech projects shipped; Gap year, building full-time.

What I built

• Founded Summer, a home décor brand (The builder years). Started Summer to test whether people would buy home décor the way they buy fashion, with strong brand pull. Close to $16,000 in revenue in under six months from roughly $60 of initial investment. Drew investor attention. $60 → ~$16K: Summer · revenue in under 6 months.
• 7 creative-tech projects shipped (The builder years). Small, free, phone-first creative projects (software and hardware), each shipped publicly with a short reel. New ones are added as they ship. 7: creative-tech projects shipped.
• Platform to test brand ideas with AI (The builder years). Built a platform that lets brands like mine test designs, ideas and value propositions with AI, without much capex, to see what real customers want.
• End-to-end ad automation (The builder years). Built end-to-end automations that produce ads.
• Pet-care brand (The builder years). Built an innovative pet-care brand with a prebiotic formulation that helps dogs digest food better.
• Hand-coded Java inventory & meal-ordering system (High school). Built, by hand in Java and without AI, an inventory management system and a morning/lunch ordering system for a local business. 0 AI: every line written by hand.

Work and recognition

• Consulted for Adobe in San Francisco (San Francisco). Invited to San Francisco for a one-time consulting project for Adobe: go-to-market and competitive analysis for Firefly, and how consumers in India use AI in creative workflows. Adobe: Firefly go-to-market, India.
• Content that got me a pitch to a top Indian investor (The builder years). Started creating content on Instagram and LinkedIn. It brought one of India’s biggest investors (a "Shark") to the accelerator, and I pitched to her. Pitched: to a top Indian investor.
• UC Berkeley summer session: film and business (San Francisco). Spent a couple of months in the Bay Area for the UC Berkeley summer session, studying film and business. While there I joined build sessions and consulted for Adobe.
• Joined a startup accelerator in India (The builder years). Joined a startup accelerator and spent the next stretch building real businesses and products.
• Designed and taught a prototyping class (The builder years). Learned prototyping and design, built a framework around it with mentors, and taught it as a class sanctioned by my accelerator. External people attended too.
• Youngest at Product Folks Unconference 2025 (The builder years). The youngest attendee at the Product Folks Unconference 2025. They made an exception to invite me.
• Admitted to a top-30 US university. Visa said no. (The builder years). Wanted to study film and computer science in America. Got into a top-30 US university and could not go because of visa troubles. So I started building.

High school

• Founding vice president, National English Honor Society (High school). Founding vice president of the National English Honor Society (NEHS) chapter at my school, the only one in the country. Only: NEHS chapter in the country.
• Board, Science National Honor Society (first chapter in the country) (High school). On the board of the Science National Honor Society (SNHS) chapter at my school, the first one in the country. An honor society, not a club. First: SNHS chapter in the country.
• Head of the carbon-neutral project (High school). Led the school's flagship sustainability initiative: the carbon-neutral project.
• Thesis on electric motor propulsion (High school). Wrote a thesis paper on electric motor propulsion.
• Hosted the school's first official esports tournament (High school). Organised the first official esports tournament in my school, to promote esports.
• Research paper on stand-up comedy (High school). Wrote a research paper on stand-up comedy.
• Best-in-subject awards (High school). Awarded for being the best in my subjects in high school.
• Co-designed lesson plans with teachers (High school). Co-designed multiple lesson plans with my teachers.
• First to try to start a pet therapy initiative at school (High school). Was the first person at my school to try to build a pet therapy initiative. It did not get approved, but the attempt was relentless and we got quite far.
• Musical performances, stage fright beaten (High school). Played in multiple musical performances, overcoming stage fright and a fear of music.

Earlier

• International karate champion (Seisenkei Shitoryu) (Middle school). Won gold at the 4th International Karate Championship in 2018, competing in Seisenkei Shitoryu. Gold: 4th International Karate Championship, 2018.
• Performed in front of 2,000 people (Middle school). Performed on stage in front of an audience of 2,000, across theater, dance and performing arts. 2,000: people in the audience.
• Student council, grade 5 to grade 10 (Middle school). A member of student council from fifth grade until I left the school in tenth grade, winning elections and being nominated every year. Grade 5 → 10: elected and nominated every year.
• Robotics: Arduino and microcontroller projects, coded by hand (Middle school). Built many Arduino and microcontroller projects and coded them by hand, without AI, and represented my school in competitions.
• National science talent search: top position (Primary school). Placed among the top positions in the national science talent search examination.
• Academic Olympiads (Primary school). Won a long list of academic Olympiads.
• Best chess player in the school (Primary school). Awarded the best chess player in the entire school trophy in fifth grade.
• National art competition winner (Primary school). Won a national art competition.
• Called to the stage, every year (Primary school). From first grade until COVID, invited to every award ceremony and given an award, because I achieved something each year. Grade 1 →: an award every year.

Projects shipped

• Shot Planner: A Claude skill that turns a reel script into a shot list.
• Handwriting Font: Write a list on paper, take one photo, then type in your own handwriting.
• Doodle Alive: Snap a notebook doodle and the ink lifts off the page and wobbles in a 6-second story.
• Underline: Photograph a book page and swipe a line. A real-looking highlighter marks it.
• Look Up: Photograph the sky, trace the shape you see in a cloud, send it as a postcard.
• Pocket Booth: A 4-shot photo-booth strip from your camera. Share it or print at true size.
• Spotted a Cutie: Snap a street animal and get a goofy collectible card made for one friend.

Contact: risheeknawka@gmail.com. Plain-text version: portfolio.md, portfolio.json.