This week’s student spotlight, Rohan Baishya, is Co-Founder & CEO of PAIR Virtual Stylist LLC, an artificially intelligent personal stylist coming to app stores this year! Rohan is a rising senior at the University of Colorado at Boulder studying Computer Science, with minors in Business, Engineering Entrepreneurship, and Engineering Leadership.
“I’ve had the best time at . There are so many resources available to us, as entrepreneurs and as whatever you want to be.”
Rohan is a great engineer but has always been more of a “big picture guy” and business-oriented. Because Rohan has always been interested in starting his own venture, he knew that he wanted to have the technical skills to bring his ideas to life. This combination of studies increased a lot of the opportunities which were at his disposal and gave him the opportunity to play a lot different organizational roles. And this year, he is bringing his first venture to life.
Introducing PAIR
is a personal stylist phone app that uses artificial intelligence to help you optimize your wardrobe. Being colorblind, Rohan had always struggled matching his outfits correctly. He wanted a personal stylist to help make his life a little simpler, but usually, this comes with costs. So Rohan decided to create his own! This free app is accessible to anyone and is made to style and recommend clothing that fits you.
Shop smarter not harder
Users take a picture of anything in their closet and based on their intro quiz, style preferences and factors such as season, PAIR searches the web for current fashion trends. The app will then show you outfits that include your clothing item, so you can style accordingly. See an outfit you like? Swipe up and PAIR will show you exactly what items are in the outfit and you can even shop similar items from your preferred brands and price ranges.
Shift to remote work
Rohan and his team have been very involved around campus. As a part of Catalyze , a Boulder startup accelerator, they found a lot of value in in-person workshops and events. So, the transition to remote work has been difficult, like it has been for many businesses at this time. But, with some time and dedication, PAIR has continued to push through and is working to get their beta released in September. This early access will be available to the first 10,000 sign ups via their website!
Advice to current students
“Everyone’s skill set is limited and that holds people back because they're like, ‘I can't make a business out of this. I don’t have all the tools.’
My advice is to send it with what you have so far and the rest follows. You'll never have all the tools and you'll never know until you just dive in. Eventually you'll find the right people for your team that cover the weaknesses that you have, you'll find opportunities and resources that help in areas, the first step is just diving in.”