Still Peaking

Welcome to another episode of Still Peaking, a series on non traditional career paths and taking leaps of faith in life. Today’s guest is Peter Kang, founder of The Lifestyle Banker, an online educational course for learning financial and excel skills . Peter started his path on wall street, but quickly moved into the streaming world with Hulu, and later founded his own gaming startup Whiplash.  Peter and I had a very real talk about his experiences, from working in a high powered corporate setting with a chip on his shoulder, why Hulu was overshadowed by Netflix, how happiness is not his primary goal, and why he built a course despite the negative connotations with online courses.  I hope you enjoy and thanks for tuning in.  1:05: The arbitrary way he chose NYU and ended up on wall street 2:44: Daddy issues and the chip on his shoulder 4:12 Deciding where to go after investment banking 8:10 Cringe way Peter manifested his “dream” job 9:38 When the magic faded from Hulu 11:53 Why Hulu fell behind Netflix 13:30 What a content strategist does 16:08 Regrets with leaving Hulu too early 17:27 Starting his gaming company Whiplash 18:40 Biggest learnings from being a founder 21:28 Taking a huge pay cut from wall street to entrepreneurship 23:58 Why he cares about making a lot of money 25:54 Happiness is not his number one priority 28:22 Floundering, and refinding identity and purpose after Whiplash 35:55 Stop complaining about your job  36:29 Being “cringe” and making an online finance course 38:47 How he grew his Tiktok audience

Today’s guest is Michelle Whang, who started in the first cohort of Visa’s APM program, and after becoming a full fledged product manager, quit her job to found Tether, physical play kits that help children connect with their cultural heritage. Michelle shares her advice and experiences as a founder from how to choose the right cofounder, funding a startup without VC money, how to think about growth and progress in the beginning, and ultimately how they decided to shut Tether down. If you’re considering starting a CPG company, you won’t want to miss this one.

What do you do after becoming a Harvard neuroscientist? You quit and open an award winning restaurant of course. In this episode, we have Ellie Tiglao, an art director, restaurateur, chef, software developer, and of course, former neuroscientist. We met through mutual friends who described her as “one of the most interesting people you’ll ever meet”, and that has held incredibly true. Ellie was the founder and owner of Tanám, a Filipinx restaurant in Boston best known for their unique Kamayan style dining (eating family style with your hands), researcher at Harvard Medical School, founder of Senryu Taiko, a traditional Japanese drumming group, and director of creative programs at Industry Lab, a coworking space for creatives, tech, and entrepreneurs. Some other fun tidbits- Ellie makes a different flavor ice cream each year for her birthday with some favorites being tobacco and kimchi crabapple. She also makes something called Vice Cream, which is ice cream made with psychedelics.

This week, we’re joined by Kunal Desai, who is a senior robotics software engineer at Nvidia. Although now firmly rooted in the heart of Silicon Valley, Kunal’s career path was anything but easy, having explored a variety of roles for over a decade after college to finally find the right one. Initially wanting to be a physics professor, Kunal worked over 7 years in national defense, got an MBA, a master’s in computer science, worked at Ford, NASA, Johns Hopkins, and several autonomous vehicle companies. Trying to find work you love can be an incredibly difficult path, and despite his current success, for Kunal, finding the right fit took over a decade. If you’re currently trying to figure out what to do in your next role, but struggling to even know where to start, this episode is for you.

What do you do once you quit a job you thought you wanted with nothing lined up? That’s what we get into with Cynthia Phan in this episode. Starting from her aspirations for law school and ultimately attaining both bachelor's and master's degrees in computer science, Cynthia's professional evolution has taken her through roles as an engineer and product manager, leading to her current role as Director of Marketing at Generation She. Tune in as she candidly shares her experiences in managing personal relationships, navigating career uncertainties, and embarking on a full-time road trip sabbatical to discover what she wanted to pursue.

Kicking off 'Still Peaking' with a deep dive into the journey of Eric Han. From his roots in a small Montana town to managerial stints at Bain & Company, Eric's career is nothing short of dynamic. His pivot led him to startups like Clubhouse and Cypherwallet (YC W22), and now he's the Director of Commerce at CommerceHub while also dabbling as an angel investor. Though now embedded in these high-flying roles, Eric faced his fair share of hurdles at Brown University, grappling with the demands of an Ivy League and navigating uncharted career waters with little guidance. In this episode, we touch upon: -Eric's move from Montana to the challenges of Brown University. -The thought process (or lack thereof) behind his internship selections. -Why Eric traded consulting and private equity for the unpredictable startup scene. -The balance between chasing recognition and genuine passion. -How the right life partner can amplify success. Tune in to understand the twists and turns of Eric's career path and the essence of continuously pushing your limits. If you're trying to figure out a path from corporate to startups, this is for you.