We get to interact with people with such amazing stories every day, but every once in a while one come’s along that makes you say “What?”
Such was a case at the MIT Sloan Analytics Conference last March when a young man from Taiwan came up to me and said he wanted to meet and share his story. Cynical me, I said sure and started looking around the room for where to go next.
Then Henry Yeh blew me away with his journey, which is really the American Dream.
You can take a few minutes and listen to Henry tell his story here.
Some highlights for the cynics.
Henry was born in Taiwan and learned how to read English through a subscription to Slam Magazine where he also began his lifelong obsession with statistics, analytics and basketball.
His family emigrated to the US and moved to New Jersey, where despite his parents push, Henry never excelled in school. He eventually enrolled and left Rutgers, but continued to obsess with basketball.
He realized he had a head for seeing basketball, especially the NBA, in a different way, especially using data to analyze the performance of players not on the center of the radar, and he launched a now defunct website with all his findings, which were uncannily accurate.
He continued to pursue all the data while living in his car for two years, with little income, and showering at a local fitness club.
After two years he didn’t give up on his dream, but he did enroll at Montclair State University while continuing his basketball side hustle.
Part of that side hustle, what he called his best shot, was literally creating a binder for each NBA team with his data and player analysis. He actually MAILED the binders to each NBA team, many just addressed “Scouting Department.” It was an old school and very unique “Hail Mary” to see is anyone noticed in an era when tangible things are rarely sent through the mail…vs email.
A few months later Henry looked at his phone and saw a number calling him from Houston he did not know. He answered, and it was Shane Battier, the NBA veteran now in the front office of the Miami Heat.
Shane, always a big thinker, said he had received Henry’s binder on his desk and loved the unique work he had done. He and another NBA vet, Keith Askins, hired Henry to work for the Heat’s scouting department on the spot, beginning a mentorship that continues to grow.
Last year, Henry decided to continue to expand his reach, and started looking for grad school opportunities. He was contacted by the basketball staff at Dartmouth, who offered him a spot on their staff. However just after that, he also heard from another colleague that there may be a graduate positioning opening at Duke with women’s basketball.
He consulted his team of mentors, including Battier and Askins, and Henry is now on the staff at Duke, working with their women’s team while pursuing a graduate degree.
All from reading Slam Magazine in Taiwan.
It’s hard to think of a more amazing career journey than Henry, still not quite 30 has had. I hope you enjoy the podcast, it really will inspire you and show you the possibilities that exist when you find your voice, have the right support, and dare to take chances.
