Eagle Wu, Horizons S’16
Quick intro
Your name: Eagle Wu
Age: 18
Where you’re from: Philadelphia, PA
Where you study: Babson College
Majors and Minors: Technology, Entrepreneurship, and Design
Three words that best describe you: STRIVE FOR MORE
8 questions for Eagle
1. When did you first get excited about the world of tech and entrepreneurship?
Tech: AP Comp Sci Day 1. I had never really coded before, but I remember making my first simple calculator program and thought: “wow, this is some powerful stuff…and I made this!”. Then I saw my first SpaceX rocket launch on Youtube and it became clear that the sky is literally no longer the limit for technology. And I get it, ap comp sci !== web apps && comp sci !== rocket science, but still!
E-ship: I started a company in High School. It crashed and burned. Pretty badly too. It was a really shameful moment and still pains me to this day, but I learned some of the hardest lessons in my life from that.
Call me crazy, but instead of being turned off by my failure, I actually wanted to try again! At Babson I started the Community of Developers and Entrepreneurs(www.babsoncode.com) — an incubator for tech startups. We have over 200 members, provide technology consulting services for start ups, connect student developers with contract work, teach students how to code, and have won grants to fund sustainability projects, and it’s only been our first year. The best lessons are always the hardest ones.
2. Why did you decide to take Horizons and what’s been your favorite part so far?
Pressure makes diamonds. I knew that the bootcamp atmosphere of Horizons will ‘pressure’ me to learn and create at my highest potential. And that’s been my favorite part. We freaking built facebook two weeks in. FACEBOOK. If you love creating stuff and you realize that after working 12 hours straight you are staring at your own facebook, you have to admit, it’s pretty exhilarating.
3. What does a successful version of you look like on graduation day? How about two years out of college?
If I start something that takes off in junior year, maybe I won’t see that day haha, jk,jk. Hopefully on graduation day I have a direction of where I’m going. Either that’s with a solid venture or working for a great company that I love.
Two years out of college, I hope to be in a start up, no matter the position. I love the atmosphere of a startup; I love being scrappy and challenged and at the exciting center of creating new horizons (pun intended).
4. Tell us what is one thing you believe is true that most people disagree with (the Peter Thiel question)…
1. If you’re not breaking certain rules, you may miss out on opportunities
2. A Great Team is more valuable than a Great Idea
3. Money Can’t buy a Great Team
4. One coder coding away all night is not a company. Even if you do manage to build your entire product (and you will not), you will still need a team to handle an insurmountable amount of responsibilities. Leaders will face more people-related problems than technical problems.
5. What has been the most important turning point / realization in your life so far?
When I was a kid, I had a lot of trouble speaking english (family emigrated from China) hence I was this awkward (still awkward today) introverted foreigner. Basically, I was picked on a lot and closed myself off into a shell. I didn’t ever think I could strive to anything, especially to a leadership position.
But I didn’t like being weak and started practicing public speaking. A lot. Also ran for leadership positions and failed a lot, until I became the President of a National Junior Honor Society. And I remember giving a speech to the parents of 300 new inductees and was facing a crowd of over 600 parents who were taking some of their time to listen to what I have to say.
At that moment, I realized something. I developed into somebody I had never imagined I could reach, I could influence people. And that realization, that your reality can change if you put your mind to it, that realization has stuck with me ever since.
6. What motivates you to work hard every day?
At some point it will pay off. At some point, all of the hard work will impact someone, make somebody’s life better (hopefully, including mine). Even if I die before seeing a single life being impacted, I know that if I have a mission in mind, and that mission is intended to help somebody in a certain way, all of the hard work I put in to reach that mission will improve somebody else’s life.
And that knowledge, that the harder I work the more lives I can try to improve or impact, that’s my greatest motivator.
7. If you were going to be famous, what would it be for?
Helping fight climate change. I’m pretty big on climate change (as you all should be, have you seen the global heat records?!). We have a lot of problems today, but if we don’t do anything to fight climate change, we’re going to have a hell of a lot more problems in the next few decades.
I don’t think anyone can singlehandedly defeat climate change (not even Elon Musk),and it’s not going to be cheap, but to be part of the group of people who tried to save our only planet, that’s pretty cool.
8. What is your advice to incoming freshmen to make the most out of their time in college?
- GPA Doesn’t Always Matter — I have a 4.0 right now. My Friend has a 2.7. The time I spent in the library, he spent networking and learning design skills. Guess who has a multi-thousand dollar internship at a hot start up and who’s in a coding bootcamp right now catching up on skills?
- If you’re going to party, do so responsibly.
- No means no
- Spend time outside of class with your professors — No, you’re not being a kiss ass. Your professors have decades of experience in their field. Their knowledge and networks are a GOLDMINE.
- “I don’t want to do {insert activity here} because {insert excuse}”
6. Just do it. Strive for More. Live life to the fullest.
7. “I don’t want to ask {insert name here} out because {insert excuse}”
Just do it damn it
9. Advice on leadership from my experiences (Bonus Question — if you do horizons, there will be a lot of bonus questions)
1. Be Really Devoted — If you’re going to lead a team and want to do it right, you’re going to spend a lot of time in your role. Be really devoted.
2. Your Team Matters the Most- You can have all the tech in the world, but your team will still determine your success. They should be a major priority; put your team above yourself.
3. No Easy Problem will come to you — Especially true if you start ballooning up: if it’s an easy problem, someone else has already solved it
4. Learn to listen — Most important skill next to being able to communicate effectively: learn to listen actively and don’t talk when you should be listening
5. Somebody is always better — Someone somewhere has experienced more than you. Learn from them and work with them
6. Courage is not living without fear. It’s doing the right thing in the face of it. No matter how afraid you are of the future, never compromise your morals.
7. Get used to screwing up — You will screw up. A lot. Embrace it and learn from it.
Thank you for reading.
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