Luba Yudasina

Luba Yudasina grew up in Belarus and later moved to Canada to study. She recalled in 2023 that she began singing opera at age 11. Superhuman’s profile of her states that she earned a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Waterloo.⁠[1][2][3]

She recalled that chemical engineering internships in her first and second years showed her that she did not want a long-term career in the field. Encouraged by friends studying computer science, she began teaching herself to code, starting with CodecademyCodecademyCodecademy is an online coding education platform founded in 2011 by Zach Sims and Ryan Bubinski. It had more than 40 million sign-ups by the end of 2021, and in April 2022 Skillsoft completed its acquisition in a cash-and-stock deal worth about $525 million, with Sims joining Skillsoft’s executive team.Open the full entry’s web development course.⁠[4]

She learned to program during a year-long academic exchange in Munich, worked part time as a developer at a game publisher and built Android apps with classmates. Her own résumé also lists volunteer work organizing the push conference in Munich in October and November 2013.⁠[4][5]

From April to August 2014 she worked on Showroomer, a Bosch and Siemens Home Appliances project that used iBeacon and augmented reality to guide shoppers through products in stores. Her résumé states that the client responded positively to the prototype and considered using it in a real product. In October 2014, at Calhacks at the University of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, BerkeleyThe University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) is a campus of the University of California system; the University of California was founded in 1868 through a merger of two institutions and moved to Berkeley, California, in 1873.Open the full entry, she led four developers in building Kard, an Android app for sharing digital business cards, in 36 hours.⁠[5]

Her public résumé lists volunteer work with Women Who Code from January to April 2015, in a role given as Host relationship.⁠[5]

While working at AirbnbAirbnbAirbnb is a travel platform for booking stays, experiences, and services, co-founded by Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia, and Nathan Blecharczyk and headquartered in San Francisco, United States; its Class A common stock trades on Nasdaq under the symbol ABNB. The business began with hosting guests in the founders’ home in 2007, then joined YC’s Winter 2009 batch, and gradually expanded into local experiences, services, and boutique hotels.Open the full entry she started Life of Luba, sharing videos about learning to code, job hunting in tech and life in Silicon Valley. In a 2023 post she named 2018 as the year she began creating on YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry, and an October 2018 Codecademy interview already mentioned her channel.⁠[2][4]

In an October 2018 Codecademy interview she recalled setting a technical internship as the test of her career change, building projects while preparing for technical and mock interviews. She said a YelpYelpYelp is a local business review and information platform founded in San Francisco in 2004. Listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker YELP, it is led by co-founder and chief executive Jeremy Stoppelman. The platform offers reviews, photos and local business information and lets users request service quotes and book restaurant tables.Open the full entry recruiter had viewed her LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry profile without contacting her; she reached out to ask about internships and was offered an interview.⁠[4]

On October 16, 2018, a Codecademy interview introduced her as a software engineer on Airbnb’s Homes Platform team. She described her work as building reusable backend services, discussing architecture across teams and supporting listings-related business. She later also served at Airbnb as chief of staff and product manager, working on fraud prevention, government regulation and community policy.⁠[4][6][7]

A 2022 Superhuman interview states that she left Airbnb in 2020 after nearly four years there. She wanted room to explore her next stage and used the pandemic to rethink how her career goals related to her daily life.⁠[3]

In an On DeckOn DeckOn Deck is a founder community and program company launched in June 2019 by David Booth and Erik Torenberg, connecting founders with peers, capital and advice; its first program was the Founders Fellowship (ODF). It raised a $20 million Series A led by Founders Fund in March 2021 and cut staff twice in 2022 as it narrowed its business.Open the full entry interview she described the founder community as a catalyst for leaving her job: few people around her had taken the startup path, and the community gave her support and a network to ask for help. She said she stayed in touch with participants after the program and could turn to the community with specific questions, such as advertising.⁠[6]

She founded Zarta in 2021. She told Net Influencer that she had considered a subscription model but worried about having to produce content constantly; after selling a single video on landing a Silicon Valley internship, she saw demand for pay-per-view and developed that experience into a platform.⁠[8]

On January 4, 2021, On Deck’s profile listed her as the founder of Loka, which connected Eastern European engineering talent with startups. The official Hack the North 2020++ event page also listed her as co-founder of Loka and founder of Life of Luba.⁠[6][9]

Superhuman introduced her at this time as co-founder and CEO of a video startup in stealth mode who also ran a YouTube channel and sang opera. In the interview she discussed how she plans her work, batches communication and reduces distractions.⁠[3]

Zarta announced a $5.7 million seed round led by a16z, with participation from Endeavor, AirAngels and Dragonfly Capital. Anne Lee Skates’s investment note confirmed that she and Sriram Krishnan took part in the investment and highlighted Yudasina’s experience running her own creator channel.⁠[10][11][12]

Zarta let creators set a free preview for each video, with viewers paying per video to unlock it instead of subscribing to a whole channel. The revenue split in March 2023 was 75% for creators and 25% for the platform; only a few creators were testing it at the time, with Epoch Philosophy and The Credit Brothers named as trial channels.⁠[11]

In a March 16 interview she said the product was still in private testing and that the funding would go toward hiring and iteration; the platform focused on creators with loyal audiences who could keep delivering valuable content. Uploaded videos were subject to content review, and she was interested in the potential of AI for moderation.⁠[8]

Quoting a discussion by a16z’s consumer team about AI and social, she posted on X that she looked forward to combining artificial intelligence with in-person dating through Paloma. The post shows she was publicly involved with Paloma by then; it does not mean the product fully launched that day.⁠[13]

Paloma’s terms of use, marked as updated July 13, 2024, name TapTap Labs, Inc. as the provider of the website and app and list Luba Yudasina as the copyright agent. The terms identify the service provider; on their own they do not establish a legal name change or asset transfer between Zarta and Paloma.⁠[14]

On October 4, 2024, the Santa Monica Daily Press reported that Yudasina, as founder and CEO of Paloma, was organizing the first Date Week LA. Paloma partnered with businesses in Santa Monica, Venice and West Los Angeles to help singles meet in person through fitness classes, social gatherings and other events. The listed schedule included Penmar and Hotel Erwin in Venice and a SoulCycle singles ride on October 7. She linked the initiative to users’ fatigue with endlessly browsing dating profiles.⁠[15]

The San Francisco Standard reported that Paloma soft-launched in October 2024 with in-person singles events in Los Angeles and was preparing an SF Date Week for November. She explained that the platform learns users’ preferences on goals such as marriage and children, recommends matches by text message and shares contact details once both sides agree; the design aims to cut the time spent browsing profiles and on fruitless messaging.⁠[16]

Paloma and the event organizer Spice King co-hosted Love in the Stars, a pre-Valentine’s Day event in San Francisco. Yudasina said people in the Bay Area wanted in-person connection; Paloma also reaches members and non-members through events such as Date Week.⁠[17]

On April 18, 2025, as founder and CEO of Paloma, she appeared on Conceivable with Noor, hosted by Noor Siddiqui, to discuss dating products, long-term relationship goals and modern dating behavior. Paloma’s website describes a process of applying, being screened for introductions, connecting by text message and meeting once both sides are interested; it emphasizes curated introductions and in-person meetings.⁠[7][18]

The Luba Show is published on Apple Podcasts under Luba Yudasina’s name as conversations with people in technology and other fields. The public episode list includes guests such as Ann Miura-Ko and Michelle Lim. Her X account, checked on September 8, 2026, showed a walking interview with Packy McCormickPacky McCormickPacky McCormick is a writer and venture investor who founded the Not Boring newsletter and Not Boring Capital. He previously worked in investment banking and the flexible workspace business, turned in 2020 to writing focused on technology and business strategy, then took up angel and fund investing, and has been involved in an energy podcast and collaborative writing.Open the full entry, founder of Not Boring, with links to YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. The interviews focus on the experiences and thinking of founders and investors.⁠[19][20]

Besides her work in tech and content creation, she sings opera at concerts and private events. When checked in September 2026, her X bio listed New York and a birthday of October 19 and linked to the Life of Luba channel; she has not made her birth year public.⁠[7][21]

The education section of her LinkedIn profile lists chemical engineering and computer science studies at the University of Waterloo. The Superhuman interview explicitly records a chemical engineering degree, while her early videos stress that she entered the software industry without a computer science degree. Public materials are not enough to establish the graduation dates of the two records or whether they represent two completed degrees.⁠[5][3][8]

Luba Yudasina runs the Life of Luba channel (@lifeofluba) on YouTube. It began with videos on learning to code, tech careers and life in Silicon Valley, and since December 2025 has published The Luba Show interviews. As of November 7, 2026, the channel’s Videos tab listed 156 videos. The tables below list, newest first and grouped by year, the 56 videos with named guests, 56 guests in all (guest names as given in the video title or description); guests identified only by first name are not listed.⁠[22]

Life of Luba: Her video channel. Official link: https://www.youtube.com/lifeofluba (opens in a new window)⁠[21]

The Luba Show: Interview program. Official link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-luba-show/id1858312769 (opens in a new window)⁠[19]

Paloma: Dating service she founded. Official website: https://paloma.club/ (opens in a new window)⁠[18]

University of Waterloo: Chemical engineering degree and other studies. Official website: https://uwaterloo.ca/ (opens in a new window)⁠[4]

Airbnb: Former software engineer and product manager. Official website: https://www.airbnb.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[4]

Yelp: Former software engineering intern. Official website: https://www.yelp.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[4]

On Deck: Member of the founder community. Official website: https://main.joinodf.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[6]

LinkedIn: Public profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yudasinal/ (opens in a new window)⁠[5]