As we start to close out the year, our 10-Year Interview Series wraps up with fabric’s newest recruit: Darren Chang. Spreadsheet wizard. Matcha lover. A+ human. And an incredible addition to the team!
Thanks for following along this series; we loved getting to shine a light on our team and what we’re building!
Learn more about Darren Chang below.
Let’s begin with a quick intro — can you share who you are and what you do at fabric?
Hi, my name is Darren. I’m the newest member of the fabric team and the analyst. A lot of what I do in my day-to-day at fabric has to do with finance and numbers. I do anything from capital structuring to looking at the performance of a project and making sure that the buildings work. It’s very exciting, lots of spreadsheets!
As you mentioned, you’re the newest member of the fabric team, having joined in March 2025. What’s something that’s surprised you about fabric or your experience here so far?
It’s a bit of a cliche, but everyone has been super kind and really does treat each other like family. One thing I really appreciate is not only being able to talk about work, but we also talk about all sorts of things outside of work. I always get great food recommendations from the team that I really enjoy.
You get an early look at new projects fabric is considering through the pro-formas — is there one upcoming project in particular that you’re really excited about?
I’ve been quite lucky to see a lot of these opportunities at the front end when they come into the firm and we start evaluating them as a potential project. We recently had one of our new purpose-built rental projects successfully go through the rezoning process, meaning it’s one step closer to becoming a real building. It’s really exciting to see that vision come to life and move one step closer to becoming a real structure in the next couple years.
You recently finished reading The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni — a book we value highly at fabric for fostering openness and collaboration. What were some of your key takeaways from the book?
One piece that really stuck out to me was the ship metaphor where even if everyone’s on a ship and rowing hard, if they’re rowing in different directions, they’re not necessarily going to go anywhere. It really brought home the point that people have to be aligned.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s no discourse. It can absolutely be helpful discourse but making sure that everyone’s reaching towards the same goal makes it such that we can get to the end destination.
What’s one aspect of your role that you really enjoy and would like to further develop or expand on here at fabric?
One thing I’m excited to dive a bit deeper into as I get a bit more experience is seeing the full life cycle of a project.
Outside of work, how do you like to unwind? What does your ideal weekend look like?
I use my weekends primarily for exploring the city. So, anything from going to concerts, hanging out with friends and trying new restaurants is exciting for me. I especially love how the city comes alive in the summer and am looking forward to exploring the city some more in the sunshine.
By now I am sure you’ve discovered the snack drawer in the Speakeasy… what’s your go-to office treat?
This might be the most important question of all. I love the yogurt covered pistachios and I may or may not be the reason we don’t have any right now in the kitchen!