The remarkable story of Stephen Wang, co-founder of Rotten Tomatoes
Resilience, passion and empathy
Imagine this: the co-founder of Rotten Tomatoes, the head of International Operations at WeChat, and a key figure behind Disney’s web designs all walk into a bar. It might sound like the setup to a joke, but in reality, these three roles are embodied by a single remarkable individual — Stephen Wang. His journey in the tech industry is nothing short of inspiring. And I am super lucky to have sat in his guest lecture for CS3216 where he shared his story with us all.
As a computer science student, I find Stephen’s story very relevant and insightful because he started with a similar aspiration to mine — using computers to solve problems, and then went on to create a lasting impact in our world. Here are some key lessons that I learned from his story.
1. Be flexible and resilient
Stephen’s career path shows that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all formula for success. He has worked with different startups, experienced both success and setbacks, and ventured into corporate environments.
After graduating from UC Berkeley with a computer science degree, Stephen founded a web design agency called Design Reactor. He and his colleagues then created Rotten Tomatoes as a…
