How I Became A Founder: Searchlight.ai’s Kerry Wang

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Kerry is the CEO and co-founder of Searchlight. Growing up as a twin with her co-founder Anna taught her firsthand how easily people get judged by appearances. At Searchlight, she helps companies build the best teams by hiring the people beyond their resumes. Kerry graduated from Stanford with a B.S. with distinction in Human Biology — Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Human Behavior and a M.S. in Computer Science — Human Computer Interaction. Prior to Searchlight, she worked as a Product Sales Lead at Google, a management consultant at McKinsey, and a JavaScript instructor at Code for Cape Town in South Africa.

Frederick Daso: When did you first gain interest in being a founder?

Kerry Wang: As long as I remember, I’ve wanted to build things. At first, I wanted to be a biotechnologist building novel drugs (both of my parents have Ph.Ds in Chemistry). I was too impatient for the 10-year timeline of getting a drug to market, however. Stanford gave me platform to pivot to computer science. I created my own undergraduate major in Human Biology called Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Human Behavior, before getting my Master’s in Computer Science.

Daso: What were the key experiences that helped you be in the position you are today?