I have had a number of doppelgangers in my life, but I think this one takes the cake.
This evening, my family and I went to have dinner with the other Chris Yeh.
Now it’s strange enough that we both have the same name, but what about all the other similarities:
1) Both of us work as marketing executives in enterprise software.
2) Both of us have an engineering degree and an MBA from top schools (Michigan/Wharton and Stanford/HBS).
3) Both of us are unusually tall Chinese guys
4) Both of us are married, with children, and with non-Asian wives
5) Both our wives grew up in New York
6) Both of us lived in Boston from 1995-2000
7) Both of us drive a Honda Odyssey (okay, that one actually isn’t that scary)
8) Both of us are huge sports fans, especially of college and pro basketball (Michigan/Bulls and Stanford/Lakers)
9) The other Chris Yeh has a daughter named Caroline. My older sister is named Caroline.
10) My son’s nickname is JJ. The other Chris Yeh’s wife’s nickname is JJ.
Naturally, we had such a great time tonight that we’re planning to get together more often, and maybe even play in the same basketball game. I guess our teammates will have to call us by our middle names. I wonder if I can convince them that my middle name is actually Jordan….
THAT, has got to be strange feeling. Kindof freaky. I’m curious how in the world you both were never mistaken for the other. Seems just through random (like possibly last nights dinner) interaction with others who know the name and not the man, someone would get confused.
Actually, we’re mistaken for each other all the time, at least in emails. One VC I had lunch with thought I was the other Chris. Another entrepreneur trying to make an introduction thought that the other Chris was me.
And if we start hanging out regularly (which seems likely), it will only get worse.
On the other hand, now we both have a built in excuse: “That must have been the other Chris Yeh. There are several of us in the Bay Area, you know!”
If you count names like Chris Yip and Chris Ye, you probably have a few more out there…