[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":36},["ShallowReactive",2],{"project-study-abroad-mentorship":3},{"slug":4,"title":5,"category":6,"summary":7,"content":8,"tags":9,"role":16,"period":17,"metrics":20,"relatedCapabilities":30,"featured":34,"createdAt":35,"published":34},"study-abroad-mentorship","Cross-border Study Abroad Mentorship Platform","product","A light-asset model: overseas professors, lecturers, and senior students sign agreements to mentor Chinese students applying to universities abroad. A mentor library, a matching system, and an open discovery page — built end to end.","\n## Background\nThe first problem I shipped in production. Chinese students applying to universities abroad needed help with Personal Statements, Research Proposals, and program fit. The traditional path — paid agencies, single-fee packages — was heavy and expensive. I wanted a lighter model.\n\n## What I built\n- **The light-asset model.** Overseas professors, lecturers, and senior students signed agreements to mentor on a per-session basis. No full-time hires, no long-form contracts.\n- **The mentor library.** A structured catalog covering region preferences (US, UK, EU, Asia), major preferences, advisor seniority, and rate. Searchable from both sides.\n- **The matching system.** Domestic students browse, request, and meet their chosen mentor 1-on-1. Built for time-zone friction, payment friction, and expectation alignment.\n- **The admin surface.** A basic back-office to manage the mentor roster, contracts, payouts, and disputes.\n- **The open page.** A public discovery surface for new students to find their match without going through a sales call.\n\n## What I learned\nThis is where I built my first production system, solo. The hardest part was not code — it was the cross-border coordination: time zones, language, payment, expectations. I had to design the experience so that an overseas professor and a Chinese student could meet inside 48 hours without either side being the bottleneck. That instinct — design around the bottleneck, not around the feature — has shaped every system I have built since.\n\n## Outcome\nThe platform ran through the end of my tenure. Many of the early students went on to receive offers from target schools; many of the early mentors stayed on as returning advisors. And the pattern — independent contributors, coordinated by a small system — is the same pattern I later used to build the GUILD Digital Operations Ecosystem.\n  ",[10,11,12,13,14,15],"Product Management","Full-stack Development","Cross-border Operations","Matching Systems","Marketplace Design","Cross-cultural Communication","Product Manager \u002F Full-stack",{"start":18,"end":19},"2022-01","2023-05",[21,24,27],{"label":22,"value":23},"Role","PM + Full-stack, solo",{"label":25,"value":26},"Model","Light-asset",{"label":28,"value":29},"Bottleneck","Time zone + payment",[6,31,32,33],"design","marketing","language",true,"2022-01-15",1785772783365]