Nov 1A Look Back on a Decade of Diversity in TechIn October of 2013, I wrote a piece on Medium titled “Where are the numbers?”, decrying Silicon Valley’s lack of transparency around diversity data, and it went unexpectedly viral. …Diversity3 min readDiversity3 min read
Aug 27, 2020Ask Me Anything About Reddit’s Cesspit of Toxicity[content warning: violence, trauma, harassment] The irony is not lost on me that I incited a tidal wave of harassment from Reddit’s cesspit of toxicity because I went in there to talk about working on anti-harassment software. It was the perfect case in point for why we’re building what we’re…Harassment14 min readHarassment14 min read
Feb 21, 2020Member-onlyWhy Female Founders Will Outlast the MenTracy Chou says being sexually harassed, threatened, and stalked has been her entrepreneurial endurance training — I recently hit an 11.5-mile rocky trail run through the desert, up 1,600 feet of elevation gain. As I traversed through unknown terrain, up rocky inclines and through dried-out river washes, my feet slipping through the sand and gravel, one thought kept drifting through my mind. A mile on this…Female Founders5 min readFemale Founders5 min read
Feb 6, 2020Trail runningA meditation on being a startup founder — It’s been almost 20 years and I still remember the dread of Mile Day in high school gym class: four terrible loops around the track, greeted at the graceless end by the rest of the class long awaiting us, some of the cool popular athletic girls laughing in that mean…Startup5 min readStartup5 min read
Jan 1, 2019</2018><2019>The best things I did for myself in 2018: Got Lasik. Reclaimed singleness. Invested in friendships that have been far more fulfilling than any romantic relationships I’ve ever had. Froze my eggs. Read lots of books. Set myself free from my 100 miles/month running goal and worked through all of Kayla BBG weeks 1–12 and 13–24 instead. Visited lots of countries. Learned to love solo travel. Presented in an art show. Learned GraphQL. Started hand lettering. Moved to London.20181 min read20181 min read
Dec 31, 20182018 Reading List75 books 📚 41 non-fiction 🖊 18 by female authors 🤦🏻♀️ A more global perspective this year, reflecting my travels — including Zimbabwe, Botswana, China, UK, Sweden, Czechia, Germany, Portugal 🌍 One theme around trauma, abuse, and sociopathy — very enlightening, very resonant, a good area of learning and growth for me this year…Books3 min readBooks3 min read
Oct 1, 2018Your Step-by-Step Guide to a Crazy Rich Birthday on a BudgetBy Tracy Chou @triketora and Elisa Mala @elisa_mala Step 1. The invite. Watch Crazy Rich Asians. Not once, not twice, but three times, each. Between two of you, that’s six times altogether. Maybe even go to the LA premiere and interview some of the cast on the red carpet. …Crazy Rich Asians6 min readCrazy Rich Asians6 min read
Aug 26, 2018A non-apology for my obsession with Crazy Rich AsiansI’m unexpectedly emotional when it comes to Crazy Rich Asians. The last time I could see even a reflection of myself in a movie’s main character was Mulan, 20 years ago. And now! Here is Rachel Chu: an ABC who grew up in the Bay Area, went to Stanford, now…Asian American3 min readAsian American3 min read
Apr 14, 2018System malfunctionA well-respected figure in tech recently asked me if I might like to co-author a piece with him on the subject of diversity. As we sat down to brainstorm, he joked, as an almost apologetic preface: “Just to be clear, I haven’t sexually harassed anyone, so I’m not doing this…Entrepreneurship5 min readEntrepreneurship5 min read
Jun 29, 2017A reformed techie (me) considers the value of a fuzzy educationIn 2005, the late writer David Foster Wallace delivered a now-famous commencement address. It starts with the story of the fish in water, who spend their lives not even knowing what water is. They are naively unaware of the ocean that permits their existence, and the currents that carry them. …Education6 min readEducation6 min read
