- Hera Wentong Li left a lucrative tech career to start Curio, a book subscription for bilingual kids.
- After stints at Morgan Stanley, Amazon, and Slack, she realized her career was unfulfilling.
- She has no regrets but says she does miss solving abstract and challenging tech problems.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Hera Wentong Li, the 36-year-old founder of Curio in New York City. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I was born in Singapore and raised in a bilingual environment speaking both English and Mandarin. I moved to the US in 2006 to study computer engineering at Cornell.
After a 13-year tech career, I founded Curio, a subscription book club that fosters bilingual learning in children.
Early in my career, I held positions as a software engineer at Morgan Stanley, Redi Technologies, and Amazon. I then worked at a startup and AppNexus before becoming the senior engineering manager and head of search engineering at Slack.
My salary at Slack was $230,000, but I had over $500,000 in equity annually (depending on the stock price and my bonus) — and some years, I took home seven figures.
I led the search engineering team, overseeing more than 20 engineers
I wore many hats at Slack, managing projects across different tech stacks, hiring and onboarding engineers, and planning for future quarters.
I prioritized the impact of my work and the people I worked with. In my early years, we grew rapidly, I loved my job, and the high salary was a nice bonus.
However, as the growth plateaued, my role became less impactful and focused more on organizational management than creation. Over time, I realized that building an app or trading platform no longer fulfilled me.
Becoming a mother brought new challenges
The pandemic hit when I was a new mom. As the world grappled with conflicts, racial divisions, and hate, I found myself wrestling with a sense of guilt — what had I brought my daughter into?
I started thinking often about how best to prepare the next generation. How can we steer them away from endless scrolling and instead cultivate empathy, resilience, and determination in them? I also started thinking about instilling my unique cultural heritage into my children and raising them to be true to themselves.
Reading is a cherished pastime for my family, but I struggled to find quality children's books in Chinese. Reflecting on my upbringing in Singapore, where books were a cornerstone of my childhood, I realized their immense impact on shaping my imagination and broadening my horizons.
I couldn't ignore the lack of resources for bilingual education in New York City, which seemed absurd in this era of limitless internet accessibility. A spark ignited within me, and this realization birthed the idea of Curio.
I had some anxiety about leaving a successful 13-year career
I was nervous but felt I was in the right place to take on the challenge of starting a business. I waited until I had enough savings and enough vested equity to quit. My main concern stemmed from leaving a tech career with lots of potential and growth and the uncertainty of whether it would be easy to return.
Before I quit, I spent six months doing market research, competitive analysis, and talking to various founders and publishers, which helped to minimize my uncertainty. I scheduled a few meetings each week and attended networking events after work.
I found immense joy in connecting with educators and moms from diverse backgrounds nationwide.
Curio was bootstrapped with my own funds
I invested around $200,000 in the first year to get Curio off the ground. We officially launched in April 2023. A friend of mine, Kimberly Atiyeh, who has a background in linguistics and marketing, came on as head of growth in February 2023, helping launch our French subscription.
At first, we did everything ourselves, including packing orders and handling customer service. This gave us a deep understanding of every aspect of the business, which has helped us streamline and scale.
While running the business, we're also always working on the next product in all four languages (currently, we offer Spanish, French, traditional Chinese, and simplified Chinese).
Kimberly and I now have two toddlers each with full social and sickness calendars. Balancing all of this has been our biggest challenge.
I work more hours than I did at Slack
I have more flexibility than at Slack, but my working hours are longer. Most weeks, I wake up early at 5 a.m. to finish some work.
After breakfast and school drop-off, I get back to work. Some days, I spend hours refining the website to improve conversions or develop new features. Other parts of the day are dedicated to collaborating with Kimberly to strategize for upcoming book selections.
I also manage the operational and logistical aspects of the business. The diverse facets of my role keep me engaged and invested in every aspect of Curio.
My biggest tip for fellow startup entrepreneurs is to talk to as many people as possible
Talk to fellow founders and investors during the initial stages of exploration. It's crucial to approach these conversations discerningly, recognizing that not everyone knows your product or market well.
Additionally, try to sell something early. While surveys and market research are valuable, they can be limited by confirmation biases. The most effective way to validate your ideas is by taking the leap and actually selling something.
I don't regret my journey, but I miss solving abstract and challenging problems in tech. I'm not receiving any salary right now and don't expect to for the next few years. My focus is on continuing to grow the company.