I (Harsha Vardhan Nemani) first interviewed for Precog at the start of my fourth semester—armed with little more than curiosity, some enthusiasm, and the vague sense that research might be worth exploring. The interview, to put it mildly, didn’t go particularly well. I walked out convinced I’d missed my chance. For months, I assumed that door had quietly closed. Then, unexpectedly, Prof. PK reached out. He had a project that happened to align closely with my personal interest in finance, and just like that, I found myself at Precog. What followed was not instant productivity. I spent nearly two years doing what could generously be described as “figuring things out”—switching…