Eva Shang

Yo, you gotta hear about Eva Shang. This girl? She’s the real deal. Started Legalist when she was just 20, like, still a Harvard undergrad. Crazy, right? She and her buddy Christian Haigh kicked it off in a garage, no fancy office, just pure hustle. She’s a Harvard dropout now, but back then she was just a kid with a dream.

What’s wild is, she’s not your typical finance or startup nerd. She was actually aiming to be a civil rights lawyer, super into fighting the good fight. But then she jumped into entrepreneurship and totally crushed it. That switch? Shows she’s all about having an effect, not just following the usual path.

Legalist is now managing nearly a billion dollars, no cap. That’s insane for someone so young. And she’s got a team of 35 engineers, attorneys, analysts, like a legit mini Wall Street in Silicon Valley. Her secret? data-informed investments, using tech and numbers to beat the system in credit assets and litigation finance. She’s basically turning legal cases into investment opportunities, which is super clever and kinda new.

And the accolades? She’s been on Forbes 30 Under 30, featured in The New Yorker, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, basically, the media can’t get enough of her. Plus, she’s a published author with her sister, which just shows she’s got that creative spark too.

What I think this says about her? She’s got mad motivation. She saw a problem in finance and legal, and instead of whining or waiting, she just built her own thing from scratch. She’s all about use, using data, tech, and guts to shake up industries that have been stuck for ages. That’s what startup energy looks like, taking risks, jumping in, and smashing it.

Bottom line? Eva is proof that if you’re passionate, willing to learn, and not afraid to break a few rules, you can build something massive before most people even figure out what they wanna do. She’s the kind of founder who reminds you, no matter how young or small you start, you can still make a huge splash.