My daughters attended Harvard, Yale, and Stanford; they then became the CEOs of YouTube and 23andMe. Letting them fail helped them grow into leaders.

"When I was 10 years old, my brother died. He was only 18 months, and had swallowed too many aspirin while playing with a bottle. When my mother called the doctor, he told her to put my brother to bed; he didn't wake up. I never wanted a tragedy like that to happen to anyone else. My mother had been afraid to question the doctor's advice. He was an important person, and she was just a little immigrant."

"My main philosophy was that if you don't do it right the first time, that's OK - just try again. 'Fail fast and revise' was part of our family culture. My daughters are successful by any measure. They went to Stanford, Harvard, and Yale for their undergraduate degrees. My daughter Susan, who died last year from cancer, was the CEO of YouTube from 2014 to 2023. Her sister, Anne, co-founded 23andMe, where she served as CEO until this year."

At age 10, an 18-month-old brother died after ingesting aspirin, and a doctor's dismissive response plus a mother's reluctance to question authority prompted a vow to always ask questions. That experience shaped a parenting philosophy centered on independent thinking, self-reliance, and accepting failure as part of learning. The family adopted 'fail fast and revise' as a guiding mantra, encouraging iteration after mistakes. The three daughters attended Stanford, Harvard, and Yale and achieved significant professional success, including leadership roles at YouTube and 23andMe and research work at UCSF.

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