Jackie Tan is Head of Academy at Tribe, which helps connect tech talents and companies to learning, career and engagement opportunities. Before Tribe, he founded fundMyLife, a financial planning startup and UpLevel, an edtech that helps data science learners upskill through project-based learning.

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👋🏼  How would you explain your job to someone outside tech?

We help people get started on a career in tech by teaching them how to code and find them jobs in the tech space afterwards.

On top of that, we help existing coders learn new languages and/or tech stacks and introduce them to various ecosystems in the blockchain space.

🧐  What's something about you or your job that would surprise us?

I play a lot of video games, and I perceive the world as a video game, more specifically role-playing games (RPGs). And I see education as a way to level people up and help them change jobs/classes.

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🏆  What has been the biggest highlight of your career so far?

I started my first company as a student entrepreneur during my PhD candidature. Juggling both my research and startup was definitely a career highlight in the sense that I discovered that I could do more than I thought I could.

🔍  What's a startup trend or space you're watching this year?

I'm watching the NFT space and, more specifically, uses of NFT apart from artwork and luxury goods. There is a lot of utility behind using NFTs in all kinds of sectors, including education.

💼  What advice would you give someone starting out in your industry?

I've been in different kinds of industries over the years, i.e., finance, biomed, insurance, education, etc. To that someone who's just starting out: No matter which industry you find yourself in, you have to have three things: curiosity, hunger, and passion.

You must be curious because you need to absorb knowledge quickly to act on them. You must be hungry, and not be afraid to make sacrifices to achieve what you want to do. You must be passionate about the area that you're working on because life is a marathon, and passion will take you a long way in your journey.

🗣  What's one thing you can keep talking about for hours?

Memes, and how it's the cornerstone of modern society!

🎥  What's your favorite movie/TV show?

Movie: Gattaca, TV series: Rap of China.

🍨  What's your go-to ice cream flavor?

Coconut!