HSA 65th Anniversary Book

fy
96
FEBRUARY 1, 1995 –
JANUARY 31, 1996
The first Asian-American
President of HSA
PRESIDENT
Larry
Cheng
OFFICES
53A Church St.
1 Story St.
LET’S GO TITLES
• Europe
• Britain & Ireland
• France
• Italy
• USA
AGENCIES
• Linen
• Publishing
• Catering
HARVARD
STUDENT
AGENCIES
Another barrier broken: Larry Cheng ’96 became HSA’s
first Asian-American President. After a disappointing
spring-break sales season, Travel joined Publishing and
Sales Group in Let’s Go, Inc. Michael Cronin agreed
to chair the newly formed fundraising committee,
a feasibility study was undertaken for the incipient
$3.5 million capital campaign, and the receipt of an
early lead gift from Robert McCoy boded well for the
project’s success. Type and Graphics continued its game
of musical nameplates and became Harvard Graphic
Design. And the whole posse sang karaoke on its way
to Provincetown.
Let’s Go continued its global expansion, adding Let’s Go:
Central America, expanding Let’s Go: Thailand into Let’s
Go: Southeast Asia, and commencing work on the twoyear
project of Let’s Go: India & Nepal. A new breed of
guides also jumped aboard as Let’s Go’s first series of six
Map Guides hit the streets, offering coverage of New
York City, Boston, San Francisco, London, Paris, and
Washington, DC. Wizened grandma Let’s Go: Europe
boasted 928 pages, went for $18.99, and sold 125,000
copies. In total, Let’s Go sold $5 million worth of books
on the year.
A new contract with St. Martin’s Press allowed for in-house map revisions and publicity, leading to the hire
of the first Cartography and Publicity Managers. American Express sponsored Let’s Go’s internet debut at
www.letsgo.com. The new website boasted that the approximately 130 RWs traveled 5,557 days (or 15 years)
in one summer, came from 13 different countries, traveled to
70 different countries, accumulated enough frequent-flier
miles to circumnavigate the world almost four times, spoke
a total of 24 languages, received seven marriage proposals,
broke only two limbs, and got interrogated by the Ukrainian
and Egyptian secret police.
Closer to home, The Unofficial Guide peaked at 432 pages.
Working with Elizabeth “Ibby” Nathans, Dean of Freshmen,
HSA also produced The Little Instruction Book to Life at
Harvard, a free book of advice from seniors to freshmen about
how to enjoy Harvard to its fullest.
• Greece & Turkey
• Israel & Egypt
• California
• Alaska & the Pacific
Northwest
• Travel
• The Campus Store
• Harvard Student Resources
• Spain & Portugal
• Mexico
• New York City
• London
• Washington, D.C.
• Germany
• Switzerland & Austria
• Paris
• Rome
• Ireland
• Southeast Asia
• Eastern Europe
• Central America
• Harvard Distribution
Services
• Sales Group
The first Let’s Go website.
OTHER TITLES
• The Unofficial Guide
to Life at Harvard
• The Little Instruction
Book to Life at Harvard
• Harvard Graphic Design
• Out-House Testing
Vice President Robert Giannino ’95, Publishing
Director Sean Fitzpatrick ’95, and Larry Cheng.
WHERE THEY ARE NOW...
Larry Cheng | ’96
JOBS AT HSA: Manager, Linen, FY95; President, FY96.
The 1996 Let’s Go staff.
WHERE HAVE YOU WORKED SINCE YOU GRADUATED? “When I first graduated in 1996, I worked at a growth-strategy
consulting firm called Corporate Decisions. After a short stint there, I entered the venture-capital industry in 1998 by joining
Bessemer Venture Partners, then Battery Ventures, then Fidelity Ventures, which we spun out in 2010 to become Volition
Capital. ... I actually first learned about the venture-capital industry while I was at HSA from speaking with Andrew Tobias and
Michael Cronin.”
CAN YOU DESCRIBE WHAT YOU DO NOW? “I run a technology growth-equity fund in Boston called Volition Capital.
We invest in high-growth principally bootstrapped software and internet companies. … My work life is a mix of finding new
companies to invest in, working with the companies that I’ve already invested in, and helping to lead Volition.”
WHAT IS YOUR FONDEST MEMORY OF HSA? “I greatly appreciate the relationships that started during my HSA years that
continue until this day. I am still good friends with many of the HSA team members I worked with, including the HSA Linen
manager who I succeeded. HSA Board members continue to be significant mentors in my life on both personal and professional
fronts. ... You could say my HSA memories are still being made.”
HOW HAS YOUR HSA CAREER HELPED YOU IN YOUR PROFESSIONAL CAREER? “You can study business and finance out
of a textbook, but none of it is real until you run a business. You feel a financial statement differently when you’ve actually owned
every number on a P/L by running an agency. You feel strategies differently when you’ve had the experience of actually trying to
implement some of your own in an actual business. You think about products differently when you’ve actually had to sell some to
real customers. I’ve often said that I majored in HSA during my time at Harvard — it was easily the best education I got during
my college years.”
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