Christine Tsai

“I took on the role of CEO, which involves directing the Management Team and overall day-to-day operations of 500.”

“Be transparent about why the termination is happening. If you did things right, it shouldn't be a surprise to the person.”

“I was always really interested in startups and fascinated by what they were working on.”

“Many of the problems that families face can be solved with great technology, design, and distribution.”

“If you invest the time earlier to create structure and process around communication, planning, and goal-setting, you can prevent missteps before they occur.”

“You don't need to visit a prison to know that racial inequality exists. There's enough talk about it, especially in Silicon Valley, to know that there's a diversity problem.”

“In order to have a meaningful impact, companies should value diversity and inclusion from Day One.”

“Your role as a founder changes dramatically once your team hits 10, 20, 50, 100, and so on. Sometimes you forget how big you've grown and continue to act as if you're still 10 people.”

“The change I want to see is a start-up environment where everyone, regardless of gender and background, feels welcome and safe; where sexual harassment or discrimination will not impede great talent from producing great impact.”

“I think kindness is actually under-rated. Especially with Silicon Valley - and probably in business in general - it's seen as being a pushover or ineffective as a leader.”

“Moms get their fair share of conflicting advice, with a heaping of unsolicited advice. Parents debate the pros/cons of different types of disposable diapers, whether the supposed carcinogens in Johnson & Johnson baby products hurt their kids who used it, which method of sleep training to use.”

“What many single male 23-year-old entrepreneurs don't realize is that family tech is a 'big freaking business'. As in, trillions of dollars.”

“It was my first time in prison. I was there to volunteer with Defy Ventures, along with 500 teammates Tara Graham, Brian Wang, and Aerin Lim. While I didn't feel particularly scared about going to prison, I had no idea what to expect.”

“Be the person you want others to perceive you as. So if you want others to see you as a leader, then act like one. Don't expect things to be handed to you. You have to work for it.”

“Once your company grows past a certain point, upholding values becomes more and more difficult. This is where companies get into trouble. Thus, it's absolutely critical to take your company values seriously and practice it every day.”

“When you grow up in poverty, suffer from abuse, live in a violent neighborhood, come from a broken home, lack positive role models, are told you'll never amount to anything, etc, the challenges are enormous.”