Will Fan is the CEO and Head of School at NewCampus, which provides high-impact business education for emerging leaders at Asia's fastest-growing companies.

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

I run a new type of university, empowering new leaders at hypergrowth organizations across Southeast Asia. I'm the first cheerleader, building brand to recruit global-minded team members, collaborating with world-class contributors, and occasionally stuck in the weeds in developing product.

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

I take about 8–15 calls a day (excluding Thursday, which is no-zoom day), but I am incredibly introverted. An extroverted introvert. I really cherish my wind-down time, as everyone should!

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

I'm almost eight years into a 20-year journey, building the next 100-year-old education brand. The first five were about building in collaboration with universities across SE Asia, China and the Middle East. The next three were about launching our own "challenger university," making business and leadership development accessible for 1% of the cost. This year, we've acquired a university license, further allowing us to prove that we can innovate in a traditionally stale industry.

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

Web3 is one of the areas I'm personally observing. Growing up, I was a big fan of gaming, art and everything in between. Recently, I've started to illustrate, connect with founders, and invest in up-and-coming projects by Asian creators—super fascinating world, and excited to see how I can contribute to the emerging ecosystem.

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

I'm at the intersection between the future of work, learning and community.

My two cents for any founder is to truly understand why they're the best people to be solving this problem. Your first 1 or 2 companies will likely go bust. But, use that time to build technique, network and insight into a project or problem you're bullish on solving for a very, very long time.

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

Creating and lifting leaders in Asia.

🎥  What's your favorite movie/TV show?

Any Torrentino classic!

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

Vanilla, I'm basic.