Sima Sistani has been getting through the coronavirus outbreak¡¯s shelter-in-place order the past month in many of the same ways others have: home-schooling her 7-year-old, trading off parenting shifts with her husband, and jumping from room to room to find a quiet space for phone calls.
¡°I¡¯m basically in whatever room my kids are not in,¡± she said. But Sistani¡¯s work life has been dramatically changed in one way that¡¯s unique: as co-founder and chief executive officer of video-chat app Houseparty, which has surged in popularity since early March, she¡¯s suddenly leading a company that has evolved from a low-pressure way to chat with friends to a legitimate lifeline for those unexpectedly stuck indoors.
¡°I used to always tell people, like, ¡®hey, we¡¯re not curing cancer here,¡¯¡± Sistani said in an interview-conducted over Houseparty from her home in San Francisco this week. ¡°This is the first time where I feel like, wow, we have such a responsibility and an obligation right now to maintain this service because people need it. It¡¯s critical for them right now.¡±
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