Hi, I'm

Quincy Karns

I have a background in strategy consulting and software engineering and a strong passion for building things at the intersection of business and technology.

Quincy Karns

New York, NY

About Me

I graduated from USC's Viterbi School of Engineering with a B.S. in Computer Science and Business Administration. I chose to pursue a dual degree because I had an interest in both building cool things and understanding their application in the business world.

At Microsoft, I interned as a software engineer on the Teams platform, working in performance-critical infrastructure serving 1M+ calls a day. That's where I built a strong technical foundation by learning what developing production-ready code really demands.

Currently, I'm a technology strategy consultant at Strategy&, advising private equity firms on technical due diligence and value creation initatives. Each engagement is an opportunity to analyze the technology profile of a company and identify where tech can be applied to improve the business.

In my free time I enjoy playing poker, soccer, and video games. I also like building fun personal projects that combine my interests in technology and business.

USC
USC
Strategy&
Strategy&
Microsoft
Microsoft
Poker
Poker

Experience

Associate, Technology Strategy (Deals) · Strategy&, PwC
October 2025 – Present
New York, NY
  • Embedded with client teams across 10+ technology due diligence engagements, assessing product architecture, infrastructure, and technical debt to size investment risk.
  • Ran technical discovery with target-company engineering leaders, then translated findings into commercial recommendations for partners and private equity investment committees.
  • Identified $10M+ in operational bottlenecks under compressed deal timelines with incomplete information.
Software Engineer Intern · Microsoft
May 2024 – August 2024
Redmond, WA
  • Led development of a performance-critical feature within Microsoft Teams supporting 1M+ daily calls, reducing transfer time by 20% and improving call success rates by 15%.
  • Partnered with product and engineering leads to prioritize feature rollout based on user impact and operational risk.
  • Built automated test framework (50+ tests) to stress-test edge cases and improve system stability under peak usage.
Explore Intern (New Technologists) · Microsoft
May 2023 – August 2023
Redmond, WA
  • Designed and shipped a backend decision engine in Express.js integrating OpenAI APIs into a consumer product, increasing user engagement by 50%.
  • Built a full-stack personal styling web application using ReactJS, JavaScript, and Bootstrap.
  • Selected as 1 of 50 out of 2,700+ applicants to join the innovation academy and explore the full product lifecycle.

Projects

In my free time, I like to build personal projects that combine my personal interests with the technical skills I've developed. Here are a few with Github links attached:

Poker Hand Analyzer screenshot
In Progress

Poker Hand Analyzer

Reviews a poker hand and shows where your play differed from the mathematically optimal line, and when going against it would have actually made you more money.

PythonGame TheoryPoker
Gamertag Lookup screenshot
Planned

Gamertag Lookup

Look up a player once and get their stats from every game they play, pulled together from each platform's separate database.

PythonREST APIsData Aggregation
Steam Item Options Pricer screenshot
Planned

Steam Item Options Pricer

Takes historical prices for Counter-Strike skins and builds options chains on top of them, treating the skin market like a tradable asset.

PythonDerivativesTime Series

Poker

Poker is my favorite hobby. From my first time playing with my friends in their college dorm room, to taking on thousands of professionals at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, I have never lost my love for the game.

Poker combines complex logical and mathematical reasoning, with deep understanding of human psychology and emotion. These skills help me in my everyday and professional life by allowing me to make better decisions with incomplete information.

You can find me grinding at the local $1/$3 and $2/$5 tables at casinos and home games around NYC. Occasionally, I take shots at tournament series like the World Series of Poker (WSOP) and World Poker Tour (WPT).

Stats

$35,000+

Lifetime Profit

$75/hr

$/hr

40%

ROI

0.38

Sharpe Ratio

72

BB/100

Transferable Skills

Risk Management Expected Value Probabilistic Thinking Decision-Making Under Uncertainty Emotional Discipline Bankroll Management Pattern Recognition Game Selection

Skills

Languages

C++ C# Python JavaScript Java SQL HTML/CSS

Frameworks & Platforms

ReactJS Express.js Node.js Flask SpringBoot Azure Git Pandas NumPy

Customer-Facing

Technical Discovery Requirements Gathering Stakeholder Communication Executive Presentations Technical Due Diligence Solution Design

Foundations

Data Structures & Algorithms Systems Design Product Strategy Applied Statistics

Get in Touch

I'm always looking to connect with interesting people. Whether it's a project, an idea, or just a good conversation, don't hesitate to reach out!