Ethan Anthony: Charting His Own Destiny in Tech

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By Princess Jones Curtis 

“It’s my philosophy that the best leaders lead by example,” says Ethan Anthony, founder and CEO of CrankChart. “As such, I aim to stay connected with the organization through a healthy culture, transparency, compassion, and consistent messaging. The most exciting thing is that some days I’m the cheerleader and other days I’m the lead engineer.  As we evolve what I do on a daily basis has and will continue to evolve, but my sense of connectedness remains unchanged.”

CrankChart leverages artificial intelligence and behavioral psychology to achieve high impact analytics. “Most people imagine that I spend my days chasing metrics, Venture Captial-dictated milestones, or the next thing that could lead to a possible press release. Instead, I chase problems—big problems, that I subsequently build solutions around. If you look at the most successful technologists to date, the one common denominator is that they were/are hyper-focused on a big problem.”

Having spent many years in the far east developing tech for a major Chinese organization, Anthony equipped himself to succeed by honing his language skills. To date, Ethan is fluent in English, Mandarin Chinese, and Japanese. “The biggest advantage of learning a language for me was empowerment. At the end of the day–black, white, brown, etc.—your ability to speak the language can’t be refuted. In most instances, you’ll be highly respected for it,” explains the Harvard graduate. “I do encourage others to learn multiple languages—particularly people of color—because it gives us access to the worlds [in- and] outside of the US. That alone is a powerful tool for success.”

Anthony says that people of color are in an enviable position in 2019 and beyond. “Technology is the great equalizer because it allows us to pursue any ambition while remaining nameless or faceless if we choose.  A person of color has access to any/all knowledge, so there is no limit to what one could achieve. While some choose to focus on the struggles that people of color face in 2019—which isn’t to be refuted—I’ve decided to focus on the opportunities available so that we can control our own destinies.”