Curiosity, Care, and Code: The Journey of Vivian Nguyen Lin, Founder of ScopeDocs.ai
Xiao He: Vivian, thank you so much for taking the time and chatting with me today. At Mother of Success, we share authentic founder and startup stories, and we always start by asking our guests to introduce themselves to our readers.
Vivian Lin: Yes, my name is Vivian Nguyen Lin. I'm the founder and CEO of ScopeDocs.ai. We're an AI project coordination platform centered around generative documentation for developers.
UC Berkeley and the Hustle Culture
Xiao He: I know that you went to UC Berkeley. Looking back at that experience, how would you describe your years and time there?
Vivian Lin: I was fortunate enough to be on a full academic scholarship at Berkeley. That gave me the freedom to decide what I wanted to do, since my family wasn’t paying for my college education. Even though I had been in the math and science field, I decided to become a history major and also study ethnic studies.
That gave me perspective outside of just math and science—it helped me understand human psychology, the reasons why people do things, how history repeats itself, and how framing shapes interpretation. I also got involved in student government and student clubs, while working 40–50 hours a week to help with family duties and bills.
Berkeley had this hustle culture. Many students managed multiple clubs, jobs, and commitments, beyond school. That environment, combined with the diversity of perspectives and critical discussions, made me more curious. That curiosity later helped me when I started working in startups, where so many roles required figuring things out from scratch.
Caring Through Work: Fast Fashion, Education, and Counseling
Xiao He: Amazing. I didn’t know you studied history. I’ve interviewed quite a lot of founders, and many of them are deeply interested in history—it gives long-lasting lessons. I also wanted to follow up on some of your non-entrepreneurial projects, especially your volunteer work in domestic violence counseling. Could you share more?
Vivian Lin: Everything I’ve done has been tied to things I care about. For example, my first startup I worked at was ThredUp, tackling fast fashion. I cared about climate change and sustainability. Fast fashion like Forever 21 creates cheap, poor-quality clothes that break down quickly and damage the environment. Everyone at ThredUp cared about the mission—it eventually IPO’d after I left.
Later, at Udemy, the mission was access to education. Even back in college, I worked to help students access education and get into Berkeley. To this day, I still mentor any student who reaches out on LinkedIn—whether they’re transitioning into data science, data engineering, or curious about being a founder.
My counseling work came from personal experience. My mother was in a domestic violence relationship when she came to the U.S. from Vietnam. She wasn’t even allowed to learn English by her first husband. That shaped me. I saw how domestic violence affects not just the survivor but also how children are raised and how they deal with conflict.
Working with the City of San Francisco, I helped children learn to express emotions in healthy ways—whether it was through words instead of silence, or conversations instead of violence. Kids learn fast, but I saw that many adults still struggle to express what makes them upset and to structure conversations in constructive ways. That experience influenced me deeply.
From History Major to Data Engineer
Xiao He: That’s powerful. My mother grew up in a violent environment, and it carried through generations. But education and better communication really matter.
How did you go from a history major to a data engineer and data scientist?
Vivian Lin: Funny enough, I was just posting about this on LinkedIn. My first job out of Berkeley was at Panda Restaurant Group, the corporate parent of Panda Express. I was a procurement agent, handling inventory and vendor contracts.
I had originally gone into Berkeley planning to be a doctor, like my older brother, but I realized I didn’t want to do it for the right reasons—it was more family pressure than passion. By senior year, as a history and ethnic studies major, I thought about being a lawyer or a teacher, but neither felt right. Business seemed more fitting, and procurement let me talk to people and negotiate.
Over time, I realized I loved numbers. At ThredUp, I managed supply chain almost entirely on my own after my manager left, reporting directly to the VP of Ops. I started teaching myself SQL and Google Apps Scripts to manage inventory data when the data science team was too busy.
Later at Udemy, I joined the finance team, but told them in the interview that I wanted to lean into numbers and automation. The controller allowed it, and I ended up automating processes, then moving into data science and eventually data engineering. I became a tech lead for financial data pipelines, learning software engineering fundamentals to handle auditors’ questions.
That journey taught me how curiosity drives growth. Each role built on the last, and eventually gave me the tools to become a founder.
The Turning Point: Building a Startup
Xiao He: That’s an amazing journey. You took initiative at every step. How did you make the transition to founding your own startup?
Vivian Lin: It was partly personal. I grew up in a very low-income family in Oakland, but thanks to scholarships and my work, I became financially stable in my twenties. By 25, I bought a house. By 27, I retired my mom and had a beautiful wedding.
But right before my wedding, my mom was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. I had always promised to retire her and then travel with her, but by the time I could, it was too late. She needed 24-hour care. That realization hit me hard—I had waited for the “right time” and missed it.
It made me rethink everything. If I died tomorrow, what would I regret not doing? Did I want to just climb the corporate ladder, or did I want to build something of my own? I had always dreamed of owning a business—even random ideas like a parking lot or a boba lounge. But now I had the skills to actually build something big.
With my cross-functional experience, I knew the pitfalls startups face. That led me to ScopeDocs.ai, focused on developer first AI project coordination and generative documentation. The idea is to tailor documentation to the person using it—whether that’s a VP of Finance or a junior engineer or even agents—so everyone gets exactly the information they need.
Joining the Founder Community
Xiao He: Now you’re in Antler, and if I remember correctly, this is just your first week. How are you feeling?
Vivian Lin: I feel great. It’s amazing to be surrounded by builders and big thinkers. Since joining the founder community, I’ve been constantly inspired and challenged.
I really value crucial critical conversations—understanding different perspectives and being honest without taking things personally. Some of my favorite colleagues have been the ones who challenged everything. That’s what I love about being around founders: the raw feedback, the conviction, and the focus on customers.
Every day, I ask myself—am I listening well enough to my customers? That’s what keeps me up at night.
Recommended Inspiration
Xiao He: One last question we always ask: could you recommend a book, film, or podcast?
Vivian Lin: I’d recommend the documentary Free Solo. It’s about Alex Honnold climbing El Capitan without ropes. Of course, I’d never do that myself, but watching it felt strangely similar to the founder experience.
From the outside, people question your decisions—“You’re not making revenue yet,” “You left a half-million-dollar job for zero income”—just like people questioned Alex’s climb. But founders, like climbers, have conviction. We risk everything because we believe in the journey.
When I watched it before becoming a founder, I just thought it was crazy. Watching it after becoming a founder, I understood the mindset—the conviction, the risk, the drive. That’s what being a founder feels like.
Xiao He: Absolutely. Thank you so much, Vivian. This was wonderful.