Why I left engineering to become a VC

For most of my life it seemed like I fit then into the model of what a geek should be. I started playing with computers and programming early on. By the end of high school, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life making innovation that solved big problems, and in 2006 I entered San Jose State as a computer science and math major. I was a flip-flop clad fixture at our school's computer science club, and I anyway spent more time on TopCoder than I did at frat parties.

CRM suite or a video game

Whether you're building a CRM suite or a video game, making rockstar software is an interdisciplinary effort. Research is actually just a tool to solve problems, and understanding how to solve those problems and fully what those problems are, requires an interdisciplinary team. I learned engineering was only one part of the process of innovating and creating great research.

More startlingly, I learned I liked navigating and managing the product process moreover than I liked writing code. I wanted to make innovation that made a difference, and I wanted to explore how I could use my passion for working with people and with code.

So, to use startup terminology, I pivoted. In my remaining time in college I explored the dark arts of economics and business. Exploration led to obsession, and I ended up graduating as an economics major and computer science minor.

The people I met there

I found myself fascinated with the people I met there. The "make it or die trying" attitude of founders, the willingness to sacrifice everything to make a difference -the ideological drive and passion necessary to succeed in a startup spoke to how I approached research and the tech industry.

Passion is a critical resource at GGV Capital, and they've allowed me incredible flexibility to explore mine as an associate. We care a lot about what we invest in, and it's critical we work with teams who are such as excited about research and making a difference as we are - otherwise more. I'm very excited about big data, cloud computing, gaming, and information security, so I plan to drill deep on all of these topics and work with entrepreneurs changing the game in these fields.

It doesn't actually matter whether your business card lists you as an engineer, a product manager, an entrepreneur, or a venture capitalist. Whether you hack code or write term sheets, the only thing that actually matters is how you uniquely contribute to the process of innovating and creating great innovation.