Upside: What brought you to Upside?

Khalil: I wanted to find a fast-moving, mission-driven team of exceptional people. Upside felt like the place to push the boundaries of what’s possible in retail — and from my first conversations, the energy and momentum were real. Not long after those conversations, I decided to invest my time and skill set to help accelerate the company. Long story short: my intuition was right. Surpassing $1 billion in cashback to users, signing key partnerships, and iterating on the user experience every day confirm I found what I was looking for.

Upside: How has your role evolved since joining?

Khalil: People often hear “Finance” and think budgets or financial reporting. My role is much broader: partnering across product, partnerships, and operations teams to bring a strategic finance lens to decisions. My role is cross-functional, shaping tradeoffs and informing roadmaps based on business impact in the spirit of driving high velocity, high quality decision-making across the company. 

Upside: Which of our values do you connect with the most?

Khalil: “Be an owner.” Ownership gives you the agency to think, plan, act, and deliver and it also means you own the outcome, right or wrong. That mix of confidence and humility is where growth happens, which resonates with me

Upside: Do you follow any sports teams?

Khalil: Penn State… We Are!

Upside: What is the most powerful lesson you’ve learned personally?

Khalil: As a person excited by technology, I am naturally drawn to new ideas, but I’ve learned the power of fundamentals. Trends come and go; focusing on high customer value, simple metrics, and execution helps navigate change without getting distracted by the new shiny thing of the week.

Upside: What are your hobbies outside of work?

Khalil: Muay Thai (when my knees allow it), golf in the fall (when it’s hardest to find your ball), and F1 — working my way through every circuit.

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