Maker’s Lane Ep. 3: WunWun’s Calvin Lai codes the future
In celebration of APA Heritage Month, we’ve collaborated with Studio APA and Hyphen Magazine to present Maker’s Lane, a webseries directed and produced by NYC-based artist Sahra Vang Nguyen. Each episode in this 5-part series features an Asian Pacific American entrepreneur from a distinct creative field in New York City. New episodes every week throughout May!
Coders are like inventors of the digital age–they write new ideas into existence. Growing up, computer savvy nerds on TV shows like Saved By The Bell were always deemed social outcasts and the antithesis of cool. Today, with the surge of start ups and mobile app companies, coders are in a higher demand than ever before.
Software developer and Co-Founder of WunWun, Calvin Lai, is on a mission to radically improve the lives of busy New Yorkers by offering free on-demand delivery service on just about any item you can think of. Smartphones gave us immediate access to the world wide web with a swipe of the finger–email, messages, video chat, search engines, weather forecasts, stocks and world news. Now with WunWun, people will have immediate access to receiving any product in real time in the real world.
Calvin Lai was bullied in school for being into code. Today, his company WunWun has all the buzz in NYC’s tech world.
It was essential that I included a software developer who could share the start up experience in the Maker’s Lane series. I loved getting to know Calvin’s story because his passion for technology is rooted in improving people’s lives and equipping kids to protect themselves in the future. He also brings a soft touch to the story by talking about his father’s immigrant experience and how that has influenced him to pursue the risky, entrepreneurial path.
Whether or not you have a knack for tech, one of the best lessons for success from Calvin is to be true to who you are and pursue what you love. As someone who used to get bullied for being interested in computers, Calvin never stopped growing his passion. Today, he gets to do what he loves while enjoying the pent house view! Enjoy.
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