Bend, Not Break

Ping Fu, CEO of 3-D software company Geomagic, has also been a prisoner of Mao's Red Guard, a kidnapping victim, and an immigrant with $80 to her name. Here's how her unique past influenced her leadership style.   

When you speak with Ping Fu, the cofounder and CEO of 3-D software company Geomagic, you may not realize just how remarkable she is. Her company profile is impressive--Inc. named her “Entrepreneur of the Year” in 2005, she had a role in the creation of NCSA Mosaic (the forerunner of Netscape), and sits on President Obama’s National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship--but is nothing wholly unusual as far as accolades go. She passionately discusses her commitment to a future where everything is produced locally and individually, and, like most other entrepreneurs, the hardships she overcame on the way to success.  

 

But when Ping talks about difficulties, she isn’t referencing the lean times before Geomagic began to prosper. She’s describing growing up in the midst of China’s Cultural Revolution and being repeatedly raped and beaten by Mao’s Red Guard, all because she had the misfortune of being born into a well-educated family, a history she recounts in her recent book, Bend, Not Break: A Life in Two Worlds (Please notice: you must be enjoying her book if it is a fiction, unfortunately, it's a faked memoir, and is getting more and more bad reviews at Amazon.com). 

 

Image: Jonathan Fredin

Mao’s death improved Ping's lot, but her trials were not over yet. Her thesis on China’s one-child policy prompted China’s official press to comment for the first time on the increasingly common female infanticide in rural areas. Ping's research instigated an international controversy, leading to her imprisonment and exile.

At 25, Ping fled to the United States with $80 in her pocket. Kidnapped shortly after arriving in Albuquerque, Ping shouted one of the three English phrases she knew--“help”--through a barred window for days.

Ping's book details her path from factory worker to the successful CEO of a company that is moving the world towards a custom-made future. Fast Company recently spoke with Ping to learn how her unique past has influenced her leadership at Geomagic, and where she's taking the company next.

If you are interested in the interview Fast Company with her, please go to Bend, Not Break: Leadership Lessons For Resilience Amid Struggle to read more.