Celebrating AAPI Heritage Month at SPC

As May comes to a close, SPC celebrated Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month by sitting down with some SPC AAPI members, alumni, and staff to hear their personal stories, what they’re exploring, and reflections on how their cultural background has shaped their journeys.

Ashita Achuthan

Ice-breaker: Favorite Asian snack / food

Pani Puri

Tell us a bit about your background

Grew up in Mumbai, India.  Growing up, I was a huge trivia and book nerd and eventually I would go  on to write Harry Potter fanfiction. My greatest accomplishment is learning to follow what motivates me internally rather than looking outside myself.

What are you currently working on or exploring?

I’m building Fantoons.xyz - a comic creator tool that lets anyone who is a fan of something continue to live with those characters long after that movie or book or tv show is done. We started Fantoons as an experiment a few weeks ago and it’s quickly grown to 8000 users.

How has your cultural background shaped your journey and choices thus far?

Growing up Indian, the expectation was always to have the right answer, choose the safe path. But startups, like life, are an unexpected unfolding. Comfort with uncertainty and experimentation are essential to thriving in startups. I had to learn that for myself and let go of some of the cultural beliefs with which I was raised. I think it’s also important to respect the work ethic with which I was raised - the discipline has allowed me to perform at very high levels. But I’ve also learned how to use desire and pleasure as motivators rather than guilt, blame and shame to keep going.

Grant Lee

Ice-breaker: Favorite Asian snack / food

Niu Rou Mian Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup

Tell us a bit about your background

Born in NYC and moved to the Bay Area when I was young. My parents moved here in their 20s, and ended up both working for the post office for 30 years (at times working multiple jobs). They taught me everything I know about hard work and perseverance. My brother is 12 years younger, so I ended up helping raise him most of his childhood (one of my greater accomplishments).

What are you currently working on or exploring?

Building Gamma, a modern alternative to slide decks to help people present and share their work.

How has your cultural background shaped your journey and choices thus far?

I was really able to lean into the AAPI community during our fundraise process. It’s hard when you get flat out ghosted, but I feel the AAPI investors I've worked with always went out of their way to provide me with direct and actionable feedback. A lot of investors we ended up partnering with, like Evan Tana (Script), Ruchi and Aditya (South Park Commons), Dave Lu (Hyphen), Julie Zhuo, Claire Vo, Elain Szu, Andy Toung, and many others, have all been so generous with their time over the years, and we wouldn’t be on this journey without their support.

Jen Zhu

Ice-breaker: Favorite Asian snack / food

dumplings (jiaozi)

Tell us a bit about your background

I was born in Japan and am a first-generation immigrant. Before returning to the startup world, I led healthcare policy and budget at the White House, CMS Innovation Center, and Congress Ways and Means Committee - once writing the regulations and legislation I now have to follow! I have trained for several years in Krav Maga, which has emboldened me to solo-travel to 40+ countries.

What are you currently working on or exploring?

Odyssey: connecting and triaging patients to services, leveraging community health workers equipped with AI-driven tools.

How has your cultural background shaped your journey and choices thus far?

As a first-generation AAPI immigrant who grew up in small southern towns, I thought becoming a doctor was the only career option to help people and make an impact. I was fortunate to have my horizons broadened due to Harvard's General Education/liberal arts requirements and being on founding teams of several startups. Sometimes, our cultural background can discourage us from taking risks or doing anything that is financially unstable - the AAPI founders who take the leap of exploring the -1 to 0 space may not have as much of a safety net, but we are more courageous, grittier, and savvier for it.

Yada Pruksachatkun

Ice-breaker: Favorite Asian snack / food

ข้าวซอย (khao soi, a Thai noodle dish)

Tell us a bit about your background

I am a NLP scientist and engineer from Thailand. Professionally, I have published at top ML research venues, built platforms that powers millions of phone calls in healthcare, and founded a VC-backed company. Personally, a highlight has been climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro and volunteering at a film set as a production assistant.

What are you currently working on or exploring?

I've been exploring ways to contribute back to Southeast Asia, including talking with governments there about how to encourage AI adoption in the region. I've also explored ML applications in healthcare and law.

How has your cultural background shaped your journey and choices thus far?

Coming to the US as the first of my family, I've often been the only one in the room who is a woman, from Southeast Asia, and an immigrant, whether that be getting internships and adjusting to a new work culture or putting together 60-pages of papers for immigration. While painful, these initial experiences primed me to handle the chaos of exploring various early-stage endeavors.

Kai Deng

Ice-breaker: Favorite Asian snack / food

Jujubes!

Tell us a bit about your background

I was born in Chengdu, China, land of pandas and mala. My family came to the States when I was 9, and we moved around, eventually making our way to Southern California. We took a road trip to San Francisco when I was in middle school, and I distinctly remember the smell of salty air… and the urge of holding it in because we couldn’t find parking. Classic SF! But I was in love. Now, I feel grateful to call The City my home.

What are you currently working on or exploring?

I’m exploring AI + Storytelling. I have two strong beliefs, that 1) the most powerful AI will be the one that tells the best stories, for good or evil, and that 2) OUR stories are vastly disjointed and discounted through the traditional centers of media. “The times they are a-changin,” so hallelujah to that.

How has your cultural background shaped your journey and choices thus far?

You’ve heard this before: when I was growing up, academics was my only focus. I have greatly benefited from this upbringing, being fortunate to have a solid education that led to many opportunities. But it came at the cost of self-actualization. I felt after college that I was pretty cookie-cutter, and had no take of my own nor differentiated opinions about how the world could be. These combinations probably would have made a fine employee but a poor founder. Since then, I’ve respected and indulged in my personal exploration of Art, History, Philosophy, and Religion/Spirituality. Really asking the question, “why?” My hope for the future is that it is brilliant, optimistic, plentiful - and especially - rejuvenated with meaning. On to it!

Catherine Xu

Ice-breaker: Favorite Asian snack / food

Spicy wood-ear with pickled peppers and cucumber 🌶️

Tell us a bit about your background

I grew up in the Bay Area and stuck around for college. I spent most of my childhood days playing piano, but unlike most kids, I actually liked it! I ended up studying at a conservatory on weekends in high school, and my biggest accomplishment was performing at Carnegie Hall!

What are you currently working on or exploring?

Broadly, I’m interested in economic opportunity and have been exploring ideas to address challenges facing the shrinking middle class. I’m currently working on Starlight, where we are building the orchestration layer to enable easier access to government benefits.

How has your cultural background shaped your journey and choices thus far?

Leaving my first job to go do my own thing was probably the hardest decision. I was raised by parents who really value stability so naturally they pushed back, warning me about how hard doing a startup is, all the ways it might fail, etc. In the beginning, their warnings really got to me, and I reconsidered my decision many times. Over the years, I’ve had to learn how to use caution and doubt to my advantage; to the extent it enables me to be meticulous, it’s helpful, but beyond that, it’s crippling and I push past it.

Jomilyn Taladua

Ice-breaker: Favorite Asian snack / food

Hotpot!

Tell us a bit about your background

After immigrating to the USA from the Philippines in 2010, I took on two jobs to support myself and my family while gradually gaining experience in the tech industry. This experience eventually led me to a job at Google, where I developed valuable skills that now fuel my passion for launching my own company, Cantaloupe Events.

What are you currently working on at SPC?

As a musician, I understand the challenges artists face in the profit-driven music industry with unfair payment structures. I’m currently working on Cantaloupe Events, where we are determined to reshape artist compensation and value by fostering collaborations, exploring alternative payment models, and engaging in industry-wide conversations.

How has your cultural background shaped your journey and choices thus far?

Being an immigrant Filipino woman without a degree, I had to overcome a lot of obstacles when trying to find a job in the fiercely competitive job market of the Bay Area. I learned to adopt a mindset of disregarding advice from those whose lives I wouldn't trade with. The experience gave me a different outlook, which continues to propel me as I embark on launching my own company.

Richa Gupta

Ice-breaker: Favorite Asian snack / food

Dosa!

Tell us a bit about your background

I'm the CEO and Co-Founder of Labhya, an India-based education nonprofit that makes wellbeing programs accessible to 2.4 million vulnerable children. I began teaching children at age 16, went to Harvard for my Masters in Education. I serve on the board to YuWaah, UNICEF India, as a Young leader for the SDGS, UN HQ, and was recently listed in the Asia Forbes 30 under 30.

What are you currently working on at SPC?

At SPC my co-founder and I are working on building innovative ways to capture data around children's wellbeing at scale.

How has your cultural background shaped your journey and choices thus far?

As a south-asian young woman, running an organization and accessing opportunities has been challenging. However, my age and background give me the agility and lived experience to work with the most marginalised children of India and the world.

Actively working on figuring out what's next? Consider applying to SPC!