10 Things You Didn’t Know About RigUp CEO Xuang Yong
Xuan Yong is the co-founder and chief executive officer of RigUp, a technology company that specializes in the development of platforms to support the energy workforce. With his bachelor’s degree in hand he embarked on a career in finance that led him to establish a company that grew quickly in size and in value. Curiosity about how Mr. Yong became so successful early in his career led us to investigate his history to pick up a few tips on how he did it. Here are 10 things you probably didn’t know about Xuan Yong.
1. He’s an alumnus of Texas A&M University
Xuan Yong is from the state of Texas. Prior to launching his career in finance, then later as an entrepreneur, he attended Texas A&M University. Yong began attending classes in 2003 and he graduated with his BBA in Finance in 2007. He hasn’t gone on to pursue graduate courses yet, but it appears that the education that he has from the highly respected institution has given him the skills and knowledge that he needed to establish his own company.
2. He started out at Goldman Sachs
Right after graduating from Texas A&M with his bachelor’s degree in finance, Yong was welcomed on board at Goldman Sachs. This is a prestigious company in the financial sector and his position was as an analyst. He remained with Goldman Sachs from July of 2007 through September of 2008, spending a year and a quarter with the Investment Banking and Global Natural Resources firm at the Houston Texas location.
3. Xuang Yong knew when it was time to move up
Yong was building his knowledge and skill base in his early career. When a better opportunity for learning and development came along he took advantage and made the changes. In October of 2008, he accepted a position with the D.E. Shaw & Co., LP firm as an analyst. This required him to make the move to New York City, where he remained until November of 2010 working with equities and long/short energy.
4. Yong advanced to Senior analyst
We can see a pattern up upward movement in Xuang Yong’s work history. He left DE Shaw & Co. to accept a position as Senior Analyst with Kortright Capital, also of New York City, in December of 2010. He stayed with the event-driven equities firm for just 11 months leaving in October of 2011 for yet another opportunity with more diverse experience.
5. He worked for Citadel Investment Group
Citadel Investment Group is in the Surveyor Capital and long/short energy sphere. Yong took a position with this company as a Senior Analyst in October of 2011. He remained in the job for two and a half years leaving in March of 2014 to establish his own company. His time at Citadel Investment Group gave him a great deal of experience in the financial sector, but within a more diverse environment which enhanced his learning and understanding of how the business works better. Throughout his career, he has had several different work-experiences that have all helped in the development of his business perspective.
6. He met Mike Witte in New York
Networking can be important when you have big dreams and aspirations. Yong met Mike Witte in New York. The two put their heads together along with their resources and they made the decision to build a new company. They named the new platform for the energy industry RigUp adn then went about the business of soliciting for financial backing to get the new company established and in operation.
7. RigUp launched at an exciting time for the co-founders
Yong and Witte both had monumental events occurring in their lives at the time that RigUp was launched. Witte graduated in 2014 on the very day that he and Yong closed their seed round of funding to launch their new business. Within a week, Yong married his wife. Within a week, the trio had packed their bags and departed New York for their destination of Austin, Texas and the rest is history.
8. Witte speaks highly of Yong
In a recent interview, Michael Witte discussed how he and Xuang Yong launched their very successful business. He talked about how quickly they left New York after the seed round closed, but he also shared some of the strengths that he saw in his new partner. Witte speaks highly of Yong and gives the credit for managing the financials to him because he’s an expert when it comes to dealing with these figures. Witte gives Yong the credit that he is due for being a financial whiz.
9. Both entrepreneurs are Texas A&M Grads
There are quite a few things that Xuan Yong and Mike Witte have in common. One of them is their educational alma mater. Both are graduates of Texas A& M University. Another, and perhaps even more important is the fact that both have experience in and knowledge of the gas and oil industry. The pair simply identified a few of the issues in the archaic methods that are used within the industry and they came up with a few great innovative solutions. This is why their venture has been so highly successful.
10. Yong is of Chinese-Malaysian-Singaporean heritage
Xuang Yong’s parents are of Chines, Singaporean, and Malaysian descent. Xuan grew up in the state of Texas. He grew up with a younger sister and brother and is the eldest child in the family. His family still lives in Austin Texas. Xuan is a true Texas who wears cowboy boots and eats crawfish. He met his wife Ashley at the birthday party of a friend and the two hit it off fand decided to make it official. After spending some time living in New York, the couple are at home in Austin with their golden retriever Jin Bao.
