Leung Batson ’21 has always had a strong passion for business, and as an undergraduate at Binghamton University, he struggled with what path to take in life.
As a sophomore, Batson studied electrical engineering at the Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Although he enjoyed it immensely, he still longed for a path that involved the inventive side of business.
This led to the discovery of industrial and systems engineering, which allowed me to pursue my entrepreneurship and engineering interests in tandem. After graduating, Batson co-founded FairSplit, an artificial intelligence-powered insurance company aimed at reducing tensions between workers and employers during employee transfers.
Q: What attracted you to Watson University?
answer: When I came to Binghamton University, I had no idea what I wanted to do as a career. My father was an electrician and owned a private electrical company, and I would go to work with him in the summer. I loved working with electricity, so I thought about following in his father's footsteps and pursuing a career in electrical engineering. Plus, as a first-generation college student, getting an engineering degree seemed like a pretty remarkable thing.
Although I was not accepted into Watson University my first year, I applied through an intra-university transfer application and was able to persevere and get into my second year. Watson's Engineering Design Division program allowed me to explore different options in engineering.
Q: Why did you choose ISE?
answer: I quickly realized that electrical engineering is very different from being an actual electrician. Looking at the time I spent studying compared to my academic performance, I quickly realized how important it is to follow your passion. I have always had a passion for entrepreneurship, but I was conflicted about whether I wanted to pursue electrical engineering or transfer to the School of Business Administration.
When I transferred to Watson, I not only focused on engineering, but also invested my first year in general education courses tailored for Watson. Moving to SOM would definitely have been a setback. I didn't want to give up engineering completely, so I talked to a counselor and advisor and they mentioned a program called Industrial and Systems Engineering. I didn't know what it was, but it sounded like a business based on engineering principles. I started taking some courses and quickly realized that I had fulfilled my passion.
Q: Where did you intern during your undergrad?
answer: I interned at three startups: Relo, Unified Scholars, and Beam (formerly Edquity). I was privileged enough to learn the inner workings of starting a company. Being able to directly apply the knowledge I gained at Watson to these companies convinced me that my decision to pursue ISE was the right one.
Primarily, I was immersed in various roles within the company and gained practical experience in the process of designing and coding systems. This allowed us to witness first-hand the progression of a project from inception to completion.
Q: Did your internship experience influence the development of your startup FairSplit?
answer: absolutely. Interestingly, Relo is now FairSplit. After my internship, he continued to be involved with Relo, first as a volunteer, then as a part-time employee, and eventually he went full-time as FairSplit's co-founder and COO. At the time, we were focused on developing a system to provide insurance if people moved to another region and defaulted on their payments.
Since then, the pandemic and advances in technology have forced us to pivot from our original concept and face broader challenges. It became clear that our services were meaningless without a steady income. As a result, we decided to address the root cause: employees transitioning into unemployment.
As an AI-powered insurance company, FairSplit focuses on streamlining various business activities such as mergers, acquisitions, attrition, and employee transfers through automated compliance measures. Additionally, we provide real-time insights into financials, employee benefits, and industry trends to help clients reduce risk and reduce costs. Our prepaid insurance system can reduce costs associated with offboarding benefits by more than 15%.
Q: Did you ever think that your ISE degree could lead you to this career path?
answer: I had no idea where the ISE degree would lead me. Initially, I thought it would be an engineering-focused path or a path related to business in some way. To my own surprise, I ended up with a career that allowed me to apply both my technical background and the business tips I had prepared in industrial and systems engineering.
Q: Can you share any specific lessons you learned from this trip?
answer: You have to learn how to measure small wins. If you only imagine success in a wide range of areas, you will easily become discouraged. I like to say that every stroke of the paintbrush on the canvas influences the overall concept and final image. The same goes for developing a business. Every code written, every system built, and every idea thought of contributed to the overall execution of the business model. Success requires learning to value small victories.
Second, successful entrepreneurship is more than just an amazing and unique idea. This idea is just the first step towards entrepreneurship. There are other factors to success as an entrepreneur, such as a good founding team and the ability to convince investors and partners that you are the one to execute this vision. Are you a second-time founder? Has it completed successfully before? These are also important. If the answer to these questions is no, you need to be prepared to produce great results and persist much longer than your colleagues who have achieved these things.
Q: What advice do you have for Binghamton students?
answer: Practice self-reflection. If we can take the time to intentionally examine our thoughts, feelings, and experiences to gain insight and self-awareness, we can empower ourselves to become great. This is a habit I've been unconsciously following since 2017, when he decided not to pursue electrical engineering anymore. This decision allowed me to pursue all my internships and co-found FairSplit.
I encourage you to pay attention to the results when you act on your instincts and intuition. Monitor the consequences of these decisions and what happens if you don't make them. The results should increase your confidence in following that inner feeling. That is your guide to success.
