Princeton's first national marketing conference

Advertise This was the first thing I ran that felt like a real operating challenge. Over two semesters we grew membership from 350 to 650. We cut attrition from 60% to 18%. We ran 13 events in eight weeks. And we raised $16,000 for Princeton's first national marketing conference, which brought more than 20 marketing executives and 300 students to campus. That was a lot of logistics, a lot of cold outreach, and a lot of decisions about what to prioritize when everything felt urgent. It was a compressed version of what running a startup would later feel like.

I also helped found the Princeton University Energy Association, wrote for the Daily Princetonian, and spent time in groups including the Asian American Students Association, Cap and Gown, and residential life.

By the time I graduated I had spent meaningful time in academic research, student organizations, journalism, and three industry internships. That variety turned out to be useful. It kept me from getting locked into a single identity too early. The 2014 Santos-Dumont Prize for Innovation and Innovation Magazine's 2015 25 Under 25 were early signals that the mix was working.