Calvin Chin grew up working every job in his family's Chinese restaurant in Detroit, then took an unusually non-linear path into venture capital that included teaching high school math, leading corporate development at semiconductor foundry SMIC through its IPO in Shanghai, and founding China's first online student loan service. He co-created E14 Fund by first volunteering at MIT to support research commercialization, then converting that volunteer work into an institutional MIT-affiliated deep-tech fund, while maintaining his role as a Staff Affiliate with the MIT Media Lab Director's Office.