Stanley Anderson ’79 did not have a typical corporate path. Raised in Chicago, he says he spent his early years trying to avoid gang recruitment, surviving gunfire and the murders of friends. He left, he says, because he feared he would die if he stayed. That background, he notes, contrasts with the assumptions many executives make about their peers’ privileged upbringings.
Anderson went on to hold roles at HP, Intel, and the Palo Alto Research Center. Now he applies that management experience as CEO of Costa Pickleball, a Las Vegas startup selling high-performance paddles in decorative designs. He frames the aesthetic as a way for customers to “bring their identity to the court,” and he is also pursuing a quieter paddle design he expects will give the company a competitive edge.
The pickleball market is crowded, and Anderson acknowledges success will be tough. But he draws on a lesson from MIT: “There’s nothing you can’t accomplish if you are willing to put effort into it.” That conviction, shaped by both his survival and his career, is what he says drives his bet on the startup.