Matt Lisle

E'15

Currently at Penn for his Master's degree, Matt graduated from Penn in 2015 and started Everwaters, which is a startup that sells affordable water filters to families in Kenya. He then came back to Penn three years later to finish his Master’s in Robotics.

https://www.everwaters.co.ke/


L's Taken

6

"Thank you for applying but..." jobs

  • SpaceX
  • Deloitte
  • Jane Street
  • Anki
  • Boeing
  • DEKA

2

Things I Swore I'd Finish But Never Did

  • 3D printed prosthetic
  • My rowing career at Penn

4

Everyday L's of Life

  • Almost getting run over on my daily bicycle commute (Spruce Street has been particularly harrowing this year)
  • Getting locked out of the Quad in my pajamas with no wallet, keys, phone, or shoes
  • The daily struggle to find my laptop charger
  • Subsisting on a jar of peanut butter every two days

4

Failures That Seemed Like the End of the World Back Then But Don't Matter in Hindsight

  • Getting a C on my English paper in high school when applying for college
  • Spending a summer helping a professor write a course only to have him throw it out
  • Heat and Mass Transfer (just all of it)
  • Getting rejected from consulting and finance internships (which was in the end for the better!)

On the Bright Side

4

Things I'm Proud of That You Won't See on a Resume

  • I make a good steak
  • Beating three Roys on level 9 (Super Smash Bros)
  • Gaining 12 pounds in 8 hours after our last rowing race freshman year
  • Knowing the Alec Baldwin ABC monologue by heart

3

Memories I Made While I Wasn’t Studying/Working

  • Hanging out on the roof of Skirkanich (there are no rails, NONE!)
  • Sleep talking to my roommates about senior design
  • High-fived Chuck Schumer while running the Tunnel to Towers 5k in New York

5

Things I've Done That Pushed Me Outside My Comfort Zone

  • Navigating Nairobi traffic
  • Anything that my brother makes me do
  • This interview
  • Performing hip-hop choreo in front of Strictly Funk
  • Getting to the Mombasa train on the back of a motorcycle

2

Things I've Learned That Will Still Matter in 10 Years

  • Wear your bike helmet
  • Always be closing

4

Leaps of Faith

  • Coming to Penn
  • Asking a Penn professor for a summer job when still in high school
  • Everwaters
  • Going on TV to promote my startup

2

Books I've Read For Fun

  • The Martian
  • Star Wars (anything)

2

Unconventional Skills

  • Out-of-style dance moves
  • Speaking Swahili

2

Quirks That Make Me Who I Am

  • Not being able to eat anything (allergic to everything)
  • More aggressive than average in all modes of transportation