I was recently catching up with a cross-border VC friend of mine. He said he prefers Southeast Asian startups over Korean or Japanese startups these days. I asked why – is it because of the population size? What he said next caught my attention. He said “I prefer SEA startups because there are more SEA … Continue reading Asian Founders Speaking English
Next time you talk to your team members, just think about the chance you’re part of the same team right now. The chances are so small that the only way you can explain is “the universe put you together”. Think of an NFL team (congrats, Chiefs!). Each team has a roster of 53 players. The … Continue reading Never Take Your Team for Granted
Sometimes I get questions like this: “I wonder if I should start my own startup now or get experience in a company first.” To me, it sounds like a “putting the cart before the horse” question. “Should I start my company?”, to me, is a “how” question. You need to figure out the “what” question … Continue reading “Should I Start My Own Company?”
I had a very weird dream that I had to write down after waking up. It was a little skit, where an entrepreneur (not me!) was pulling a prank on a VC. Why pull a prank? Maybe he already closed the round and was determined to not take money from this particular VC and wanted … Continue reading AUM, TAM, and ATM
People think successfully exited founders don’t need to raise a seed funding for their next business. That’s not really true; I’d say it’s the opposite. Because if you’re a successful serial entrepreneur, many people around you will say your next business idea is brilliant, even though it might be total dumb sh*t. That is, until … Continue reading Why Exited Founders Should Raise
Dear X, Thank you for giving me your product demo the other day. Even though it was probably about 36th time I saw a chatGPT-inspired MVP/PoC and you mostly put together some open source APIs, I still appreciate your thinking of me and walking me through the demo. But later in the meeting I was … Continue reading Feature < Product < Business
I recently listened to a podcast featuring co-founder of a company called Mycoworks. Mycoworks develops products based on mycelium, or in plain English, mushrooms. Their first ~10 years was almost pure R&D with little to no revenue. But now that they’ve nailed down their technology after all those years of R&D, they’re expanding their business … Continue reading Doing One Thing for 10+ Years
Some people say golf is essential for business and nothing ever beats spending 4+ hours on green together. I think that’s a BS – I would choose a 1 hour breakfast meeting over hearty food, delicious coffee, and quality conversations any day. What matters is a genuine desire to have a meaningful conversation with someone. … Continue reading Golf vs. Breakfast Meeting
The introduction of Dall-E2 and Chat GPT has sparked widespread discussions on how generative AI will impact the content creation and storytelling industries. Obviously there are endless possibilities, but I think one prospect is that AI will ironically drive the growth of human-focused vertical social networks centered around creators and their work — or what … Continue reading AI and Content Creation
Just got off a zoom call with a committee on entrepreneurship that I had been newly invited, and towards the end of the call, someone was suggesting the participants go to Mardi Gras this year together for bonding. That was followed by folks sharing their own stories how fun trips and IRL hang-outs in the … Continue reading Meeting IRL