I’m enjoying reading Fei-Fei Li’s The Worlds I See. I usually reserve my book recommendations until the end of the year, but if you’re looking for one this summer, this is it. As a recognized AI expert, Fei-Fei provides fresh insights into an industry moving at a whiplash-inducing pace.
I found many similarities between her journey and mine. No, I’m not saying I have a lot in common with a Princeton-educated, CalTech PhD, ACM Fellow, Stanford Professor. But I can relate to the journey of a teenager making it from a distant land to the US on the coattails of immigrant parents who uprooted themselves to give their only child the best shot at success they could.
We’re at the midpoint between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. While it may not be everyone’s story, it’s a good time to reflect on the role supportive parents have in founder stories. Microsoft, Apple, Shopify, and Belkin are famous examples of the proverbial parents’ garage. There are many more that don’t make it to popular public folklore.
The home garage is just one symbol of the role that the homes of parents play in the founding moments of a company. And they don’t have to be entrepreneurial dreams. It is the need-a-break career pause, the mid-career back-to-school, the no-career gap year, choosing undeclared/undecided as the major, and the find-a-career college dropout. Our parents have supported it all, providing sometimes imperfect advice but always couched in unconditional love.
Here’s to our parents, who first incubate us and then our dreams.