Last week, my colleague Hadley Callaway (CC'21) announced that we were now accepting applications for the second cohort of our Hsing Fellowship for Young Alumni in Tech, funded by a $10,000, two-year commitment from our Grants program. We’re truly thrilled to meet next year’s class: apply here!
As we look ahead towards our second cohort, I also want to make sure we reflect on the person in whose memory we’ve named the fellowship program.
The Peter We Remember
The first time I met Peter Hsing was at the Starbucks in Mountain View over the summer of 2012. One of my classmates had introduced us, and he agreed to meet while I was interning in Silicon Valley. We must have talked about entrepreneurship and tech at Columbia, and my interest in venture investing, because he followed up to introduce me to people who could be helpful on each topic.
Most of all, though, I remember feeling more confident that work and life in tech could be a path for me. Having grown up in the part of New Jersey where all the adults I knew were immigrants working in life sciences, I had never met a venture investor. Before my interview with Addepar, I’d never been to Silicon Valley. Peter was living proof that someone whose life intersected at one point with where I was at the time–a sophomore at Columbia–could go on to leadership at Microsoft and general partnership in venture capital.
The second time I met Peter Hsing, I brought a group. My summer out west convinced me that the most ambitious and impactful people were working in technology, and when I got back to campus, I wanted my talented classmates to consider the field. As part of our entrepreneurship society (CORE, still a partner of CIT today), we put together a dozen-and-a-half of us to fly to San Francisco during spring break to learn from people on the ground–and apparently, to make some short video interviews, too. Gary Lin (SEAS’17), who is second from right in the photo below, recalls: “I remember how generous he was with his time, how humble he was, and how genuinely interested he was in helping the next generation. I was eager to reach out to him and follow up.”
What a talented group. Four have since become venture-backed founders (Gary, Sahir, Anshul, Sarah). Product and engineering leaders at Notion, Plaid, Zora, Riot Games, Intel.
When I moved to San Francisco a few years later and started working as a VC, Peter introduced me to two young investors around my age, who helped me get through the ups-and-downs of venture associate life and remain friends to this day. He invited me to his firm holiday party at the Marriott, and on our elevator ride up to The View, he tried to warn me that Amplitude was crushing their competitors and would someday go public… but I was too much of a blind Mixpanel fan to listen.
In the years before and after, Peter was always a source of perspective and a welcoming presence. He’d receive me on my visits to Palo Alto, and share his take on whether I was making good progress in building product skills at the startup I worked for. We got to judge the StartupColumbia pitch competition together one year; he was there for wisdom, I was there because I paid. My wife and I even ran into him at a friend’s wedding, where it’s always fun to see what people are really like.
The last time I spoke with Peter, it was April 2020. The world was locked down, and no one really knew what would come next. My roommates and I were stockpiling steak in anticipation of an apocalypse, during which we would presumably still have access to our gas stoves. We couldn’t get the community together in person, but Peter agreed to speak with our Columbia in Tech friends by Zoom.
“I felt inspired by Peter not only in his professional career, but by how he prioritized giving back and staying connected with young Columbia alumni.” – Cherie Luo (BC’17), top row second from left
Just a couple months after we got to see him, we were putting the final touches on a much-delayed thank you gift when I heard that Peter had passed away suddenly. Over the years, I’ve found loss to be numbing in the moment, made real only over time in those short moments where I think to reach out to him, or wish I had his perspective, and have to remind myself that he’s moved on.
The Fellowship We’re Building
About a year ago, we started a pilot for a Fellowship program. We’ve experimented over time with many different formats to make mentorship connections between alumni young and experienced, but we seem to have found the right formula with the Hsing Fellowship. A selected cohort commits to meeting regularly for nine months, sometimes just between themselves, more often with the guidance and participation of more experienced alumni.
Our first cohort got to know each other through bonding events and activities–including suffering in the August heat through a puzzle hunt of our own design. We learned from engineering, product, marketing and other leaders about the realities of working in “big tech,” the growth stage, starting your own company, or building deeper expertise in grad school. We’ve received some glowing feedback, but the most compelling proof point to me is that one of our Fellows loved the experience enough to step up and run the program herself. Thank you, Hadley!
"Prior to the fellowship I didn't realize how strong and accessible the community of Columbia technologists is. Just meeting these people made me feel more confident in my path.” – Matthew (CC’22), software engineer at a Series A startup
Peter showed many of us that we could have an impact in technology, and he also set an example in sharing hard-won knowledge and opportunities with the next generation. Without him, I’m not sure that many of us would be involved as volunteers, and therefore whether our growing Columbia in Tech community would exist at all. Peter’s contributions ultimately catalyzed this Fellowship in the first place–and hence it’s only right that we should name it in his memory.
We’re deeply grateful to our first class of Fellows for joining us in this experiment, and staying involved as we build on a sound foundation for the future. Peter’s children Brandon and Nicole have graciously agreed to our use of his name, a dispensation for which we feel a deep sense of responsibility. Just as Peter has brought us together in this and other efforts, we hope the Fellowship will foster a sense of connection and loyalty that helps each generation of alumni learn and achieve more than the last.
