Research January 8, 2026 By Jacob Soo 4 min read

Eight years ago today, I started STAR Labs by hiring several fresh grads with no working experiences.

Today, I stand here with a different group of faces. Some of you were there from the beginning. Some of you joined along the way. Some of you just started last month.

And some of the people who were here… weren’t anymore.

Not because they failed. Not because we failed them. But because life called them in different directions.

I want to talk about them first.

To those who came before:

You didn’t just work at a company. You helped build a family.

You stayed late debugging code that made no sense. You presented research even when your hands were shaking. You mentored someone younger without asking for credit. You built something real.

I want you to know something: We will never forget your contributions and sacrifices. Your professionalism will forever remain in our hearts. Unforgettable, because it will be etched in our memories for a lifetime.

You are not just passer-by in our history. You are the reason we are still standing here. Every code that you wrote. Every bug you found. Every time you believed in me when things were uncertain.

That doesn’t disappear just because you are not here anymore.

When Gerrard competed at Pwn2Own this year, he built on foundations you laid. Then he built something remarkable on top of it. When our interns publish research that gets read by thousands, they are carrying forward knowledge you shared. When we won our second Master of Pwn, it was both your legacy and their talent that got us there.

You are still here. In everything we do.

To those who are here now:

Welcome. Whether you’ve been here eight years or eight days.

You are walking into something that was built by people who cared deeply. Who sacrificed. Who gave parts of themselves to make this place what it is.

Your job isn’t to replace them. Your job is to add your own chapter to the story they started. We break things for a living, yes. But we also build. We build community. We build opportunities. We build hope.

That’s what we inherited from the people who came before us. And that’s what we’re passing on to whoever comes next.

Dreams know no age.

I say this because I’ve seen it with my own eyes. I have watched interns in their teens and twenties discover vulnerabilities that remind me there’s always something new to learn, no matter how long you have been doing this. I have watched researchers in their thirties and forties bring creativity that only comes from years of seeing patterns. I’ve watched someone’s first conference talk inspire an entire room.

Your age doesn’t determine your value here. Your title doesn’t determine your impact. Whether you are the youngest intern in this room or you have been doing this for twenty years. Your dreams still matter. Your ideas still count. Your potential isn’t limited by where you are right now.

The people who aren’t here anymore started as interns too. They started as junior researchers. They started unsure, uncertain, trying to prove themselves.

And they became the people whose contributions we will never forget.

You can become that too. Not by being perfect. Not by never failing. But by caring. By keep trying. With the Never Say Die Attitude. By helping the person next to you. By believing that what we are building together matters.

Embrace the new but don’t forget the old.

This is our way forward.

We embrace every new person who walks through our door. We give you real work. Real opportunities. Real trust. We believe in you before you believe in yourself.

But we never forget the people who built the foundation you are standing on. We tell their stories. We remember their sacrifices. We honor their professionalism.

Because they deserve to be remembered. And because you deserve to know that when your time comes to move on and it will come, for all of us eventually. You won’t be forgotten either.

What you build here will outlast you. The person you mentor will mentor someone else. The code you write will be built upon. The culture you contribute to will shape people who haven’t even joined us yet. Please don’t spoil the culture. Guard it. Nurture it. Pass it on.

That’s what eight years has taught me. We are not building a company. We are building a family with history. One person at a time. One day at a time.

To those whose paths have taken you elsewhere - your legacy lives on here.

To those who are here - thank you for carrying the torch.

To those who will come - we’re ready for you.

A phrase taken from one of my favourite TVB drama, “人生有几多个十年”

Dreams know no age. Contributions are never forgotten. And together, we will keep building something worth remembering.

Thank you to everyone.