Quantum Time

There’s only one good reason to make a Star Wars X-wing bed - because your child wants one.

There’s only one bad reason to make one - because you wanted one as a child.

Luckily I never saw Star Wars until I was an adult. But my son absolutely loves the intergalactic planetary saga and thinks of himself as a little Luke Skywalker. So we built an X-wing bed together!

Like any good Geek Dad, I started with a Google search to see how others had done it before. Sadly the googs came up short on results, showing us an over-sized (and overdone) Y-wing bed instead. Now that bed looked like it was built for the Dad, and my wife set a strict deadline of Jan 31st, which only gave us two weekends to conspire and construct.

The first weekend was spent sketching out plans and procuring materials. To make things easier, we decide to start with an IKEA bed as our blank canvas. The Malm bed is reasonably priced ($89 + $20 for slats), and the right color.

The rest of the stuff consists of items to make the wings, an R2-D2, laser cannons, and markings of a proper Red-Squadron starfighter. Having just moved, we had a choice selection of Styrofoam pieces to work with. (Pro Tip: big screen TV’s are your friend)

We used some white spray paint ($2) to make two plant liners ($1) into the jet engines. We used the rest of the paint on the R2-D2 as well, but it’ll need some more finishing work (hand-painted blue sections) before we add it on.

The rest of the build was pretty straightforward, so take a look at the pictures.

Red Squadron! (using $4 red electrical tape - one roll will do)

Frickin lasers man! ($3 of metal hardware from IKEA)

Here’s the finished product. Quick, easy and relatively inexpensive. Add your own twist and use whatever “starfighter parts” you can find for your build. Our R2-D2 head was from a broken floor lamp! We’re adding that next, along with a canopy and some proper flight controls.

My son loves building stuff with me, and he’s sleeping with the biggest smile on his face. I know he’s taking down TIE fighters and destroying the Death Star in his dreams. This is one of the best parts of being a Dad!

Cheers,

Hong

It’s been a fun run, but a bittersweet end to Quantum Startups. I’m happy to announce that I’ll be joining Leap Motion as their new Director of Recruiting. I’ve always thought of Quantum Startups as my most successful startup - we had real revenues! - but like any Founder deciding to shut down, I’d like to share a few thoughts on why I’ve “taken the leap” to join a bigger and better startup. Well, besides not being able to resist a great (or terrible) pun of a headline.

No Founder is an island.

Working alone has been hard. The demand for startup recruiting is certainly there, but I’ve been reluctant to sign up more startups because I wanted to continue my personal level of service. The irony is that I couldn’t find another recruiter to grow the business. By PG’s definition, that’s not a startup. It’s a pretty awesome lifestyle business though. But you can only do so much alone, so I’m looking forward to being part of a larger team, and having an office, and working with some really great folks towards a hugely audacious goal.

100% of nothing.

I talk with a lot of Founders, and one reason we commonly give for starting up, or not working for someone else is that you have control and ownership of your startup. That’s all fine and well until you decide to raise money. Most startups die. I’d guess 95% die before they raise a real round (not just FFF money). So you may think you’re worth a few million, but in reality 100% of zero is still zero. The caveat is that most companies that have raised a Series A are (still!) only giving less than 1% of equity. The simple approach that I took is to only consider companies that will be worth > $1B. That list came down to just a couple startups, and it makes the search a lot easier. You can also join a seed funded startup, hoping to get more than a few points of equity, with the potential outcome of a much smaller exit.

Go big - No… Bigger!

The other benefit (or downfall) of running Quantum Startups was that I had the time and flexibility to work on a handful of side projects. Some went well enough that I put recruiting on hold and launched products. Nothing ever took off but I made some really great lifelong friends. And thankfully we never raised any money. I certainly don’t envy the Founders who have to have that conversation with their investors. I’ve worked at startups that have raised a ton of money (>$250M). I missed opportunities to work at billion dollar startups before (“What the hell is a YouTube?” - me in May 2006). But beyond the numbers, I believe Leap Motion is going to fundamentally change the world. So many claim this that it’s cliché  but very few products have the potential and promise of the Leap. At least in my opinion, and in the opinion of a few other very smart and talented people that I’ve been lucky enough to meet. Leap is backed by arguably the number one VC firm in the last few years. Not everyone agrees with their methods, but damn, you can’t argue with the results (thus far).

So while I’ll miss the coffee meetings and working with Founders as they go through the early stages of growth, I’m really looking forward to the challenge of building out a complete team, from Engineering to Marketing to Customer Service. Who knows where Leap will be in 5 years, but I plan to stick around and play a part in that growth. 

I want to thank all my startups for letting me be a part of their story. I’m still here to help as much as I can. It’s been a fun few years and I’m sure the next decade will be a blast!

Cheers,

Hong

“We should go to Vegas!”

That’s probably how most crazy weekends in Las Vegas start. These five words have launched plenty of adventures and binders full of… stories, some of which may be best left untold. But what happens in Vegas Tech will hopefully not just stay in Vegas. Last week my friend Bowei and I spent a wild 48 hours in what’s commonly known as Sin City, but which lots of people are working hard to remake into the new Las Vegas Downtown Project.

Huge Idea

Founders are crazy, we come up with some ridiculous stuff and 99% of the time it’s just stupid, insane, pie-in-the-sky stuff that will never work and no one’s ready for - or worse, no one needs. If you were going to go big, what would you build? A mobile app? A 5-person startup? A 50 person company? How about a whole city? Lots of adjectives were thrown around to describe what’s going on with Downtown Project, and the one I kept coming back to was audacious. Not awesome, which it is, or insane (also applies) but simply audacious. Why *not* try to build a whole new downtown? Why not revitalize a whole neighborhood, in one of the hardest hit areas of the United States? And why not make it a tech hub for startups while you’re at it?

Huge Investment

We were fortunate to get tours of Zappos and Downtown Project on the Thursday we landed. If you’ve heard anything about Zappos and their zany culture, the tour will be what you’d expect. The surprising part for me was that it was real. People were really that happy. And I couldn’t believe they could keep it up all day, every day. But that’s just a result of the well-defined and strictly enforced hiring process and letting the right kinds of people self-select to join the company. Similarly, the Downtown Project is going to attract a certain type of personality and the success or failure of the project will depend on those people who join. It will also strongly depend on the type of people who don’t move to Downtown. Everyone knows that Tony has put $350 million of his own money into this idea. They’ve split it up into 5 areas of investment: 

$100M for residential development since existing infrastructure is quite old and not suitable for high-density housing. 

$100M for real estate acquisitions - much of the land around the main strips are casinos and small businesses, and empty parking lots. 

$50M for tech startups - with investments made via the Vegas Tech Fund. About 10 startups have already been funded with many more evaluated each week.

$50M for education - building charter schools and attracting teachers for the children of Zappos employees and future startup folks and their families.

$50M for small business - creating and supporting the local services and community for the new residents to coming to Downtown.

Huge Uncertainty

I’m still highly skeptical of all these different parts coming together, especially with their aggressive 5 year timeline. Logically it would take 10 or 20 years to make the sort of changes and improvements these folks are trying to do. But it’s a startup, so move fast (no, faster) and make mistakes. Then keep pushing forward. These are still the early days, and there’s lots to be figured out. I can list a dozen things that would never work, and a dozen more things that would need to be done to make it work. Same can be said of any startup. And just like every startup and founder I talk to, I hope they pull it off!

So is Vegas for you? Should you consider moving your startup to the Downtown Project? As a recruiter I look at it the same way as if one of my candidates is considering joining a particular startup. If you believe in the Founder’s vision, you like the people you’ll be working with, and you can make significant contributions - then go for it. Like any other startup, the earliest people will reap the largest rewards since they are taking the biggest risk, personally, professionally, etc. 

The only way to make that decision is to go for a visit yourself. The people are super friendly, the “crash pads” at the Ogden are a misnomer because it was like staying in a luxury hotel, and you’re bound to run into some interesting people. It was strange to spend two days in Las Vegas and not step foot on The Strip. Everyone thinks they know Las Vegas, but we got to see a whole other side to the City of Sin. It might very well be the new Land of Opportunity for those intrepid enough to take the trip.

Many thanks to Andy from Vegas Tech Fund and Tony and the Zappos family for hosting us and showing us an awesome time in Vegas (but not in that way).

Cheers,

Hong

I just got back from vacation in NYC last week and it was the longest I went without turning on my laptop, or replying to email in years. Sure, I came back to a ton of emails, and it’s taken about a week to catch up. But I had a few days to think about bigger picture stuff (cofounders, startups, family, balance, results, success) and I made one big change earlier this week.

Changing my mobile mail client from Push to Fetch.

Simple right? Well, now I can get more work done, in longer stretches without the constant ‘ding’ and interruption that is my inbox, or rather, inboxes - I have 6 active email accounts I use daily. Now I only get new emails when I’m done with my task before I move on to the next item on my list. I’m not yet sure if I’m more productive, but I am certainly less anxious and don’t feel as rushed. Email used to be a (terrible) game of super-responsiveness, and replies were not always sent with as much thought and care as I would have liked.

I know what you’re thinking, “There’s no way that would work for me!”

Because you’re busy. And important. You’re a Founder damnit! You’ve got responsibilities! You’ve got customers to take care of, investors to report to, lots of work work work to do. Which reminds me of a quote I had on my wall in college:

Unless it’s fatal, it’s no big deal.

I was pre-med and this was a bit of medical humor. We were just studying to be doctors and it was helpful to remember that we didn’t have patients lives in our hands (yet) and even then, nothing is really that critical unless it’s life or death. And rarely is any email that important.

It’s easy to get caught up in the busy work of startup life. But sometimes you’ve gotta stop and remember why you’re doing this in the first place. I’m still trying to figure it out, but I hope a quieter phone is one way to a quieter mind.

Cheers,

Hong

runningastartup:

I’m always dancing. 

“Has anyone in this startup even seen a chicken?”

Cheers,

Hong

I’m not some enlightened philosopher or ‘visionary thought-leader’. I’m just a guy who likes to think about things, simply. I think a lot about why people work. Mostly about why I work. But it’s my job, I’m a Recruiter. I waste a lot of time on Twitter, something I justify as ‘doing my job’ - but my wife doesn’t believe me. I saw this tweet from Hunter Walk and I had to chime in. He said:

“Many people value their money more than their time when it should be the reverse.”

I replied with something like, “It’s not that simple.” and “Usually people with money can say that.” I wasn’t trying to be a jerk but having seen it from both sides, it’s really a tough problem. Rich people buy time with money, and poor people spend their time to make money. If you have a job, you’re giving your time for someone else’s money. So basically we have two types of people, and yes, one person can move back and forth between both categories depending on the amount of time or money in question.

1) More money than time.

Usually if you make more than a certain amount, say $75k a year (which is barely middle class in Silicon Valley), it makes sense for you to pay for certain services like house cleaning, or car washes. Even buying lunch is a small luxury since it’s almost always cheaper to pack a sandwich and brown bag it. But at some threshold or break point, your time is worth more than your money, so you’ll gladly pay other people to do your dirty work. Like cutting the grass or cleaning your toilets. This is why startups like TaskRabbit, Zaarly and Exec exist. Rich people are willing to pay pretty well (like $25/hr which is equivalent to a salary of ~$50k a year at 40/hrs week) to have people do tasks and run errands for them.

2) More time than money.

On the other side of the transaction are the Execs, Rabbits or runners who are willing to do the grunt work for $15 to $20/hr - after the startups take their cut of course - and go pick up your dry cleaning, walk your dog or do other menial tasks that the Rich can’t be bothered with. The logic goes, why send a Programmer to do a Costco run when they’re being paid $150k a year! Obvious right? (btw, Costco delivers) And everyone’s happy right?

Well not so fast. This class-dynamic has always been around and will likely last well into the future. People get paid to do a job. The more valuable the work output, the more you get paid. The startups creating these marketplaces are saying they’re creating jobs for the unemployed, under-employed and stay-at-home Moms. But are people really doing these tasks as their first choice job? Not likely. This Great Recession has created an environment where people are taking on additional work - or even any kind of work - to make ends meet, pay rent or even be able to afford to eat.

Why do I think this? Let’s go back to 2002. The first dotcom boom had gone bust the prior year. I was paying ridiculous San Francisco rents and a $500 car payment and burning through my savings at a frightening pace. As a “business guy” in the startup world, I wasn’t worth anything and there were no jobs to be found. So when my friend called about a job opening, I took it. Working at the mall. Not one of those fancy floor jobs like the good-looking folks get, I was in the back, opening boxes. As a stock-boy, I was paid $15/hr and I was glad to have the job so I didn’t have to a) starve b) default on my loans and c) leave the Bay Area like everyone else. This was less than I made at my first job, with my fancy Ivy League degree (with a minor in box-cutting).

Now, 10 years later I charge ten times as much, though essentially I’m still the same person. The economy’s changed some, but startup recruiting is in high demand amidst this second talent war. And so I find myself on the other side, where I barely have time to sleep, I’m working as much as humanly possible and finding that my mid-thirties are not as productive as my mid-twenties. Now I need 6 hours of sleep a night when I use to work fine on four. ;)

But I don’t use TaskRabbit or Exec. I still wash my own clothes and do my own yard work. My job title when I’m home is Garbage Man and Dishwasher (most nights, sorry Honey!). I grew up in a poor immigrant family on welfare in Brooklyn in the 80’s, so maybe I have a different perspective. I still believe in an honest day’s work, and sometimes that means having a little ache in your back, a little soreness in your arms and a good night’s sleep from a job well done.

So why don’t ‘those people’ just do more valuable work you ask? That’s not so simple, and beyond my powers of explanation. How one’s time is valued by society, i.e. how much you make in your job, affects your views on time and money. It’s a very practical and logical mindset. Some call it the Poverty Mindset, and those get-rich-quick guys will tell you that’s what’s holding back your Inner Millionaire! There’s also the concept of Decision Fatigue, which may affect the poor more than their well-off brethren. When you’re worried about putting food on the table for your children, you don’t have the luxury of valuing your time more than your money. You’ve gotta use your time to make money, to keep the things that are most important, alive.

Cheers,
Hong

Bonus: Sometimes when you have more time than money, you get wonderful creations like this.

Here’s a little fun for your Friday. The game’s real simple, and the rules are few. It goes like this…

Yo! @twittername’s #RapNameIs (give ‘em a rap name)!

Got it? Okay, but a few ground rules of Rap Names.

1) You can’t give yourself a Rap Name, that’s just foolish!

2) You gotta give your homies Rap Names that are real. Please don’t start dissing people.

3) If someone gives you a Rap Name, you gotta give three more people Rap Names.

Now go have some fun!

Cheers,

Da @Quan

John lilly:

Last week I got to spend time with a friend I’ve known & worked with more than 10 years. He’s trying to sort out some things about how to think about his job & career, so we spent a while getting caught up then he asked my advice.

I said something to the effect of, “Well, you know what I’m going to ask — it’s really the only question I ever ask when people ask me for advice, and it’s this: What do you want?” When I’m in advice mode, everything else follows from that question. It’s broad & vague, but you can dial it into near term or long term, and the answer is always telling and useful (even when you find you don’t have an answer — that’s important, too).

Then later in the week I was talking with an entrepreneur friend who’s learning how to manage a group for the first time, and I told him that little vignette, and he was excited because he’d written down in his notebook “What do you need?” — a question he’s found super useful as he builds his team and figures out how to make them even more awesome than they already are.

And then I realized that it’s really those 2 questions: What do you want? and What do you need? that I really work everything else around as I’ve led organizations and now as I work with entrepreneurs every day. (And the obvious follow up question: How can I help?)

Asked together: What do you need? What do you want? How can I help — those three questions are about all you really need to lead and manage people.

What do you need? is a question that’s really about getting someone all the tools and time and permissions they need to be able to do the work for the company. 

What do you want? on the other hand, is more about what a person’s longer term goals and aspirations are, and really fall along the lines of what a company can do for that person. 

How can I help? is useful for obvious reasons, but also because it helps you understand how someone is thinking about problems, whether they’re breaking them down into things they know how to do and things they don’t, and whether they’re thinking in terms of all the resources available to them.

Anyway, was a nice couple of conversations that helped me crystallize pretty well the main tools I’ve used over the years.

And for whatever it’s worth, they’re questions I ask myself pretty regularly as a way to reflect on where I am and what I should be doing, too.

What do you need? What do you want?

Yes, I’m a Recruiter. But most of them suck. They suck so much, it’s beyond an Internet meme and I see people physically withdraw and roll their eyes as soon as I answer the standard dinner party/conference/wedding ice-breaker question.

Yes, sorry, I’m a Recruiter - but not that kind of recruiter.

Here are three types of recruiters and why they are rightfully hated:

1) Sexy Time Sourcer

I’ve noticed a trend of these young female recruiters using their modeling head-shots/suggestive pictures in emails to presumably horny, male and hetero Engineers. Now I like pretty girls as much as the next guy, but that just seems really inappropriate for a business email. And it certainly doesn’t help promote the right kind of Women in Tech! Or maybe I’m just upset because no one would want to see my old, bald face in an email! Here’s an *actual* email from a “Social Media Coordinator/Recruiting Assistant” (a wonderful combo of the two most useless job titles!) from ExpanXion:

But what if you’re just a homely technical recruiter running your own “boutique staffing firm for high growth tech companies in the bay area”? You went to Stanford! You worked at Google! Well the wonder of the web is that you can simply use anyone’s picture for your LinkedIn profile. Even a Hot Import Model… (what can I say, I’m really into cars).

2) “Specialist” Staffing Agencies

I love getting emails from these Staffing Agencies. It’s usually right after you announce your latest round of funding. These slime-balls crawl out of the woodwork and “would love to help you find top-talent!” (read: spend that money). They claim to have, “the ideal candidate for your open position”, you don’t even need to sign a contract, no obligations! You only pay if you hire our candidate. OK?! Right… And what do they specialize in? Everything.

But then they send you perfectly average Engineers who have never even heard of your startup. Or worse! They send you a candidate that’s already applied to your company! This happened to me recently, while working in-house at one of my startups. Ricardo Wanka (perfectly named by his parents) from Adecco claimed that he “carefully screens” all candidates, and makes sure they are a “perfect fit” for our company. Well, if you did actually do that Dick, you would have known this candidate applied two weeks before you “submitted” her to us. But it gets better, Wanka starts throwing his weight around (I’ll call your Manager!) and says we would still get charged his ridiculous fees, even though this candidate applied herself. It’s in the contract! (which it actually isn’t). I’ll never work with this douche-bag again, and I highly suggest your startup doesn’t either.

3) Hapless Headhunter

There seems to be a lot of new recruiters sprouting up. Even the most “well-respected recruiting firm” (an oxymoron if I ever heard one) is still staffed with a bunch of low-paid new grads or sales people to troll LinkedIn and spam you with as many Inmails as humanly possible. Why do they do it? Because it still works! As long as they manage to place a random Engineer at any random company, they get paid and they’ll keep doing it. These “Sr. Technical Recruiters” with a year of experience are cheap! Let’s get 30 of ‘em!

But it doesn’t stop there, because now you’re ignoring your LinkedIn Inbox (plus because it’s completely useless as a messaging system). Someone heard that a startup once hired a “Rockstar Developer” at a hackathon, startup weekend or Meetup. We must all do that now! Send in the Recruiters. So now when you want to go hang out with some fellow Coders and hack on some stuff together, you’re listening to a dozen duplicate pitches from “a hot new startup” looking to hire. You get a young recruiter using her womanly charm offering free coffees with anyone, because you know, she’s really interested in technology. And the coffee’s free! Not like your time is worth anything.

But the very best (and you know I’ve saved it for last) is if you put some code on GitHub or your website, shared a few designs on Dribble, or - oh, I dunno - have a profile on Working With Rails. Then you’re just asking for it! Some idiot Sr. Recruiter from a “super-charged start-up” will ask you if you’re interested in a Sr. Rails position at their wonderful Palo Alto office (aka San Jose). It’s super-charged! It’s the most innovative place for web start ups! You’ll get superior growth opportunities and a chance to learn from our awesome CTO, (see his LinkedIn attached!). Because David, even though you created the Ruby on Rails framework, you really need to come join our little shit startup to develop your coding talent.

If you’re a recruiter doing any of these things, just FUCKING STOP IT. You’re not helping anyone, certainly not yourself. I’m going to put you on blast and embarrass the shit out of you because you’re making my job one of the most hated positions in Silicon Valley. Startups should just stop using these Staffing Agencies if they want to recruit well. Most importantly, great Engineers, Developers and Designers should make a list, like Sam Soffes does with Awful Recruiters. And make the list public so these shady recruiting practices will finally stop. 

I love what I do. I help my friends find awesome jobs at startups. I call myself a recruiter because that’s the simplest description. But those of you who besmirch the title, you are not my friend and I’m not going to let this shit slide.

Cheers,

Hong

I love working with very early stage startups. Having been at various sized companies - from 2 to 60,000 - I’ve always been happiest when the teams are smaller. I’ve built Quantum Startups by focusing on the 2-20 employee sized startups, and it’s been going very well.

Late last year I got an email from a great friend and Adviser looking for a recruiter for her current startup. I’ve always wanted to work with her, so I humbly suggested myself for the role. I’ve been working at Skybox Imaging for 6 weeks now and things are going very well. The company has grown from ~55 to ~60 and the recruiting machine is starting to run very well. 

A few weeks ago I got another email from a good friend and Client, asking if she could introduce me to the CTO of Bonobos. I said I’d be happy to talk to him, but I prefer earlier/smaller stage startups and my network in NYC has gotten much smaller since I left over a decade ago.

After meeting with Mike and Neil, I’m happy to say Bonobos is my latest Client. The Founder, Andy Dunn has a pretty great story too. 

But why Bonobos? Because pants. And…

1) I like working with my friends.

That’s probably the biggest benefit of being independant and being lucky enough to be in demand. I have to say no a lot (which sucks) but I also get to work with really smart and talented people, who I also get to call my friends. All the great Engineers, Developers and Designers out there know exactly how this feels. When given multiple options (offers), people tend to choose working with people they genuinely like. And getting a strong intro from someone I trust counts for a lot.

2) I like building teams from scratch.

Bonobos is a very well established startup, with ~70 people in their NYC headquarters. But Mike was hired from Netflix as their new CTO and they’re building out a team in Palo Alto from the ground up. Right now it’s just two guys! There are a ton of positions open and we get to hand-select a team from the best talent ecosystem for startups in the whole world (sorry NYC, I still love ya!).

3) I love Startups that people love. 

Love is a strong word, and Robin Chase summed it up best yesterday at Women 2.0 Pitch (see my post below). I’m getting a bit tired of all these Entrepreneurs saying they are so “passionate”, and are going to “change the world” with yet another social-mobile-local-game-photo-sharing app. The reality is that you’re not. But that’s okay. We should build products and companies that people will love. If you’ve been able to find great fitting clothes off-the-rack, then lucky you. But Bonobos customers love them. They honestly do! That’s definitely something I can get behind.

Cheers,

Hong

Last month I wrote Ballers Battle to Breakout. Some folks really liked it, but others didn’t. That’s fine, I don’t pretend to be a professional writer. But I want to reiterate my point, and Jeremy Lin is a great example of what I’m talking about.

By now you know the back-story. Paly High, passed over by his dream team and had to settle for Harvard (oh the irony). Undrafted into the Bigs for whatever reasons upon graduation (Econ degree, no big deal). Picked up and cut by a few NBA teams until he landed with the Knicks. Then a few un/fortunate events got him some playing time. And the Linsanity began.

How does this apply to startups?

1) Stop trying to poach the Kobe’s of the Valley from each other.

They probably don’t want to play on your team and may not be the best fit anyway. Find your own players, give them a chance to shine and maybe you’ll get lucky. As far as compensation, how much does Kobe get paid per game versus Lin per season? If you’re a small startup, you can’t afford the Startup Stars under your salary-cap anyway.

2) A great player makes everyone else better.

Arguably Lin may not have as much natural talent or physical ability as other Pros. But the kid’s got spark. Teams play better when everyone’s working together and having fun. Team chemistry is rarely talked about, and even harder to create, but it can be magical when it happens. Look at Jared Jeffries’ and Steve Novak’s numbers in the last few games. And you don’t think Landry and Iman are having an awesome time in their sophomore and rookie years?

3) Everyone wants to be a winner.

I’m a life-long Knicks fan (and long-suffering at that) but I’m happy to move over and make some room for the newest fans on the Knicks (band)wagon. When things are clicking for you, you’ll gain fast fans. Keep it up and you could be legend. Recruiting will be easier if your employment brand is strong. But be wary of fickle fans because there’s always a drop following a big climb on the startup roller-coaster. And don’t forget about the folks who supported you before you became famous. Early employees shouldn’t be shafted with the lowest salaries, as holdovers from the early days. The core team is your family and always will be. Take care of them first.

I hope the Linsanity continues for a 5th game, but I’ll be wearing my blue-and-orange no matter what.

Cheers,

Hong

I’m calling it. And I hope I’m dead wrong. But this year is going to be filled with mergers and acquisitions in the startup ecosystem.

Early to medium stage startups at various inflection points of financing (post-Seed, pre-A, pre-B, on bridge, etc.) are going to be acquired by larger public (Google, LinkedIn, Zynga), soon to be public (Facebook) or extremely well-funded later-stage startups (B, C, D rounds). These transactions happen as a natural part of business but this year will see an increase of M&A activity around startups.

Why? Because people.

My job is to find people, specifically Engineers, Developers, Designers and Product folks of the highest caliber. They’re usually working at startups. Their own startups. And those folks all want to hire people too! That’s just not sustainable.

The big companies can’t hire. Google isn’t the dream employer it was 10 years ago. Even Facebook is going to lose it’s luster, especially when potential hires are given RSUs and stock grants instead of options. Going to work at a huge campus in East Menlo Park isn’t cool, even if the street name has been changed to Hacker Way. It’s the old Sun Microsystems building, my wife worked there for years. Look at what happened to them.

Even medium companies like Twitter and media darlings like Square can’t find enough people to do everything they need to do. And small startups are all fighting like mad over the handful of talented people who haven’t started their own companies yet (damn you side projects!).

The Series-A crunch is real. Some startups will drag it out and some will die in obscurity. But the most talented teams will get bought. Their services and apps will be shut down. Investors get a small exit, and the buyer gets a talented team that will hopefully stay (golden handcuffs sold separately).

That’s the only way these companies can keep growing. Once your recruiting is done by HR, you’re dead. You don’t bring in new blood and fresh thinking, you only hire more of the same. And then it’s up to Corporate Development and his little brother Biz Dev to get interesting people in the building. Sure it costs more, but it’s worth it. Gotta keep that “startup spirit” and entrepreneurial culture alive right?

I heard about the sale of TeachStreet this morning. I don’t know Dave, but have met him a few times. He’s very well-known and well-liked in the Seattle startup scene for good reason. It was a great moment for the press and for his investors, and Dave was buying everyone beer at Hops & Chops. But I would buy *him* a beer if I was there. I know how tough it is to call it quits, and selling isn’t always a joyous occasion.

Sure beats dying though.

Cheers,

Hong

p.s. “Acqui-hire” is not a word. Please stop it.

p.p.s. Using the term “talent acquisition” for recruiting is pretentious. Please stop it.

So my last book of 2011 became my first book of 2012. Tried to finish it in one day (procrastination!), ended up being two, or just past midnight this morning. I realize I’m a bit late to the party but Born to Run was a great read. It reminded me of two things that have gone missing in my life.

I love to read. And I loved to run. 

I’m going to try and do more of both, but I would have never thought about running again if not for this book. And now I understand why some people are walking around with weird shoes! I stopped running the day after finishing the NYC marathon. My coach had told me not to run, saying I wasn’t ready and it would change my running. I was a stupid 18 year old who’s fatal flaw was doing things precisely when someone told me not to. Even though I’ve been having knee problems and other issues with my legs, I pounded it out. In the final miles through Central Park I thought I could run forever. Then I never ran again.

I also read a lot as a kid, the library was my favorite place in the world, with the arcade being a close second. I have a stack of books on my bedside table, but I don’t think I’ve read more than 5 in the last year. I wanted to get a Kindle so I would read more, but I feared that it would be another unused tech-toy sitting around the house (hello iPod Touch!). I’m going to get through this pile of books this year, and then some.

At the end of it all, we’re all here to do what we do. Some people run ultras. Some people write amazing stories. Some of us are born to hustle. And that’s what I’m ultimately going to be doing in 2012. The same thing I’ve been doing for over three decades. Hustle baby, hustle.

Cheers,

Hong

As with any resolution, we all start off strong on January 1st. Whether we can keep up the behavior and make it routine determines our success.

I’ve posted some (bulky) items to Craigslist, the old standby. Been using it for a dozen years and it still works, despite all the critics. It just works.

I also posted a Transformer on Crave. I just wish they had more catalogs, you should all go there and vote for some!

I also just posted a Marvel figure on Amazon Marketplace. Pretty surprised I haven’t ever used this option before, but signup was easy, phone verification was perfect and hopefully someone will enjoy this toy more than I have these past few years.

Cheers,

Hong

I guess I didn’t make my goal of a daily blog for December. The last post was Christmas eve and I’ve just been trying to stay off the computer for the rest of the year. We just celebrated NYE on EST by watching a Livestream of the ball drop in Times Square. I always remember my first time seeing it live, from the conference room of D. E. Shaw on 46th and Broadway. The confetti was crazy and even managed to get up to us on the 25th (?) floor. I can’t imagine a better place to spend NYE than NYC.

Lots of people will be talking about resolutions, after all the “Best of 2011” posts. I’m going to stick to the same one I had last year when we started Outgrown.it.

Own less, do more.

While 2011 was more about buying less, it still worked out well enough. For 2012 I want to go back and “edit” my personal possessions. Maybe even enforce a “one in, one out” policy. I know I’ll happily give up my G35 for a BRZ. 

Cheers,

Hong

And I’m up late again. I told my wife I was going to take this week off, which officially started at 4:20pm earlier today. But I’m still working. I really should stop.

My family used to celebrate on Christmas eve, big dinner and all that. Then the kids struggled to stay up past midnight so we could open our gifts. But my kids do the more common early Christmas morning present unwrapping and then we lounge around all day, ending with a smaller family dinner.

However you like to celebrate, even if it’s Chinese food and a movie, I wish you happy holidays and a wonderful 2012.

Cheers,

Hong

p.s. not sure I can keep my daily blogging habit thru this last week, but I’ll try!

I rarely find myself on the other side of the interview table, but today’s one of those rare days. I like working with my Clients, but sometimes it would be nice to have a little more control over the whole process. It’s a terrible feeling to go through all the work to lose candidates to other startups, even though I’m still happy for them. I just hate to lose.

I don’t work in-house often, but when I do it’s gotta be awesome.

Cheers,

Hong

I was at Stanford, and this guy was full of it. Not smarts, or talent or the X-factor kind of “it”. This guy had the bad stuff. The cocky ego, the unending flow of words without meaning, the outlandish claims that was a bit too good to be true. I wanted to call him out on it, but this event was supposed to be a small gathering of friends, family and supporters, and I wasn’t there for him or his bullshit.

I was there to show some love for my friend Albert, who can proudly call himself a graduate student of the d.School. He built a really cool experience called, “In the Box”. It was an attempt to (re)create a childhood dream of floating in space. I thought it was cool and my kids would definitely enjoy it. And I knew he worked his butt off to create it.

But this other guy. He had a pretty cool display, though a bit derivative - Hello, Bianchi? - the poster-ads on the wall were a good branding exercise for a fictitious bicycle manufacturer. Little did I know how representative it would be of the person. The two bikes on display were very different, clearly from different eras and a purposeful contrast of materials and design. Or so I thought. There was a lot of interest in his “work” since fixed gear bikes are overhyped these days. I listened in on a few conversations and my bullshit indicators where on full alert when I heard him say he built the FRAMES himself. Let me say that again: 

He said he built the bike frames himself, from scratch.

Now it’s not outside the realm of possibility, but having built stuff out of metal tubes *from scratch* myself, I had to hear more. 

He claimed to have brazed the steel frame, with full lug-work on both frame and fork (more on this later). He said he welded the thin-walled aluminum frame as well, an entirely different work process and skill-set from brazing. 

The BS flag went up completely after I heard him explain to another admiring fan how he made the top tube of the frame by folding over some sheet aluminum. Now this was a fully hydroformed tube with no apparent weld lines along it’s length to indicate it started in sheet form.

The top tube looks like the one from the Fuji Track Pro above. That would be quite difficult to make by hand. Same with the cut-out for the rear wheel on the aero seat tube. It’s a lot of precision welding on very thin tubing. Even the track dropouts with their three bolt attachment was eerily similar. As in, they looked exactly the same as on the stock Fuji frame.

On the steel frame I saw a few things that also didn’t make sense. It was built as a fixed gear, but it had regular horizontal dropouts, not track dropouts. There were cable stops for derailleurs and a hole in the top tube for a rear brake cable, even though it only had a single front brake. Some riders cut these items off stock road bike frames when they convert them to fixed gear. Why would you spend more time and effort to add them?

The final telltale sign were the “Miele” stampings on the fork crown and seat lugs. Miele isn’t a well known brand, and are now a generic bike company in Canada. As far as I know, they never sold lugs for home builders. Sure you could cut the lugs off an old Miele frame, and rebuild the bike with new tubing, but it’s much easier to repaint it and call it your own creation right?

As the night went on, the adoring crowds thinned out enough for me to go back and confirm my suspicions. I made sure no one was around and then I knelt down and took a look where it mattered. Under the bottom bracket. SERIAL NUMBERS! 

Caught red-handed. If you’re a custom frame builder, you don’t put random serial numbers like the big manufacturers have to use. I’ve owned a few custom bicycle frames and they are stamped with 01927 or something. Not FJ817743850 or whatever. One of the greatest moments in my custom car build was when we got our Special Construction VIN number. It wasn’t a standard 17-character VIN like almost everything else on the road. It was 4 digits, and I earned it the hard way.

And then the guy comes over. “Oh yeah, that’s a Fuji bottom bracket.” Oh really? “Yeah, I had to use it because it’s the one part I couldn’t make.” Oh boy. The lies kept coming. This dude just dug his own grave. And I was going to bury him. 

But you built these frames yourself?

“Yeah.”

So you welded this aluminum one yourself?

“Yeah.”

What did you use?

“What do you mean? I used a TIG.”

I mean, what kind of machine did you use?

“I don’t know. I can’t remember. I think it was a 440.”

A 440? What brand is that?

“I don’t know, it was at some guy’s shop. He’s in Mt. View.”

But you said you welded it yourself.

“I did.”

I hope he realized he was caught, because I’d be worried if he was that delusional. Saying you reused a bottom bracket shell, while claiming you hand formed a top tube like that doesn’t make sense. You can machine a bb shell out of plain tubing in a few operations! I would guess you can’t make that top tube without a $100,000+ machine.

I’ve toyed with the idea of building my own frame for nearly two decades now. And it’s really hard and takes a lot of time. That’s why the top bike builders charge $2000 to $3000 for a frame. I have frames sitting for months just waiting to be put together with off-the-shelf parts. I don’t have time to build stuff in the shop anymore. I realize this rant is going very long by this point, but this guy just pissed me off. Here’s why.

1) Putting his “work” in the context of this showcase is fraud and makes me question the ethical standards to which these Stanford students are held.

2) Claiming he built these bikes is an insult to his fellow classmates who actually did build their projects. 

3) Bullshitting people when it’s clear that you’re bullshitting is disrespectful. You either think I’m an idiot that you can fool, or a fool who will put up with your idiocy. I’m neither.

I know no one from Stanford is going to read this, and this kid won’t learn his lesson, so the lesson here as applied to startups is this:

Cut the bullshit and build real shit.

Cheers,

Hong

One of my go-to pieces of advice for Founders, and pretty much anyone that will listen is a this:

All you’ve got is time.

I don’t know if I need to explain that one much, if at all. Startups aren’t about doing more with less, or having a small nimble team which outperforms larger lumbering giants. It’s about moving faster than your competition, which could be BigCo, but more likely is another startup.

But yesterday I had an experience which reminds me of some advice I got early in my career.

All you have is your word.

This will require a bit more thought and a much longer post. Stay tuned.

Cheers,
Hong

Today was spent updating to the ‘new’ iOS 5. I say new because I’m usually an early adopter but my iPhone is my whole business and I couldn’t risk losing any data or apps.

Now that I’m up to date I tried the new Path and Flipboard for iPhone. Awesome.

Was surprised by the New New Twitter too, and of course I had to try that out. Awesome as well.

Designers are going to be the new Talent.

Cheers,

Hong

I love cars. Anyone who knows me for even a brief period of time knows this. My last startup was a car company. I don’t know how much more I can explain it. 

I’m always ‘car shopping’ whether or not I have the time or the money to do so. It’s a hobby. My wife doesn’t understand why I scour Craigslist for projects, and visit the dealerships just to see their latest offerings. People kill time on Facebook, I do it on Autoblog, Road & Track, Motor Trend, Car & Driver and The Truth About Cars,

Okay, it’s an illness. I don’t want to find the cure.

I daily an Infiniti G35 and it’s really a great car. But with time passing, some sexy new ride always catches my eye. I was a fan of the Fiat 500 until they botched the launch and the local dealer dropped the ball three times. The Cayman is on my shortlist as well, and one day I will own a GT-R. I really like the new Merc CLS once the kids are out of their car seats (and we’re rich). 

But I’m really excited about the upcoming Subaru/Toyota triplets — the Toyota 86/GT 86, the Scion FRS and the Subaru BRZ. I’m getting a World Rally Blue BRZ and will make some modifications/upgrades to personalize it as soon as it’s available (May 2012?). Here’s why:

1) Handling is Job #1

Subaru built this car on Toyota’s dime, but the project was managed with a focus on the key trait to a proper sports car - Handling. All the talk about the boxer motor, it’s placement, the lowest CoG and light weight package comes down to this. Handling is the only reason you build, own or drive a sports car. I’m sorry, but any monkey can go fast in a straight line. It may be viscerally thrilling, like a roller coaster, but for people who love to drive, the joy is in the corners. Lotus might be the only other manufacturer with a laser-focus on handling.

2) Bargain Priced

The key to the success or failure of the Subiyota is going to be pricing. There’s no way around it. People shop on sticker price more than anything else, and there’s some solid cars in the $20-25k range. But I won’t even mention them because outside of a Miata, none are really competition for the BRZ. And I’ve wished for a Miata coupe for over 20 years! What most consumers don’t realize is the BRZ is such a great deal at $24,000! Sure it sounds like a lot, but knowing what it takes to build a complete car, I’ve already got my checkbook out. Surely the Scion FRS will be cheaper, but I think you will feel it. I’m old, I need my little luxuries.

3) Passion Driven Development

The last reason is the most important, and it’s the same reason I buy Apple products. Both the BRZ and my MacBook Air are going to be objects that I love. That’s because both are clearly a part of the people who made it. The PM for this car said that it’s the first Toyota that wasn’t designed by committee. He ignored the objections of Management and Marketing and built what he personally wanted. He says this car isn’t for everyone, and it shouldn’t be. Sound familiar? Projects like the BRZ are killed in meetings and beaten down by bean-counters. That the concept has made it to production with about 80-90% of the original vision is amazing.

We’re a very consumer-driven society and economy. A car purchase is a pretty big deal for most people, and we only do it every 3-5 years. I will buy a BRZ because it’s the car I’ve wanted the Majors to build for decades, and the principles behind it are the reason I built my own car/company. I’m happy to write a ‘big’ check to Subaru for the work they’ve done, and the value I will get from the experience of driving this car.

Cheers,

Hong

I’m a little late tonight, but the thoughts for this post have been ruminating inside the old dome all day. And Sunday means one thing for me, Family.

We’ve been extremely lucky to have dim sum with my in-laws every Sunday for as long as I can remember. A decade ago, I was the quiet boyfriend who didn’t talk much. Now I’m the silent husband and father of two of the best grandkids they could possibly ask for.

I’m grateful for my wife, first and foremost. But my life really changed when we had Max. I can honestly say I wasn’t much of a man before I became a father. Having little ones to take care of is a huge responsibility. Raising them to be good people in the end will be the one job I care most about doing well. Like any good job it’s full of stress and challenges, and it’s extremely rewarding in ways that can’t be explained. I’ll make plenty of analogies about parenting and startups in future posts. But this one’s about my little buddy.

Max actually leaves me speechless, and I have a bit of writer’s block now. There are so many stories to tell, so many funny conversations we’ve had, so many dreams and hopes passed along, from my shortcomings to his shoulders. Poor guy. It’s mind boggling to see this little boy, a younger and cuter version of myself, and think that it’s up to my wife and I to help guide and educate him about this crazy world we live in. I’m not sure I’m up to the task, there was nothing we could do to prepare!

I will tell one story, related to startups. When Max was born I was still a Crackberry addict. I was working like crazy at a gaming startup. We joked that I might miss the delivery. Well of course I didn’t. But I barely took any time off. This was a big point of contention for me at work and directly resulted in my departure a year later. Most companies have maternity leave, it’s both expected and the law. Paternity leave is a different matter. I took five days off and was working from home the next week. Not to mention the fact that I had two weeks of vacation deducted! I remember talking to a guy about how he missed the birth of his first child because he was on the road and doing some “big BD deal”. I felt so sorry for him. There’s no way I would miss that. Nothing is more important than family and it’s my first rule of business. Family First. Simple, easy and non-negotiable.

Cheers,

Hong

Yesterday’s video post was of an old song that has a lot of meaning for me personally. It was our first dance song. Now my wife is a very private person, so I won’t post much personal stuff here, but I did want to write about her.

This goes back to Thanksgiving weekend. 5 days off, which is a pretty ridiculous notion given how life has been these last 5 years. It’s a shame that people only take one day a year to reflect on what they are grateful for. At the top of my list has to be my wife.

I would not be where I am, or who I am without her. My two most favorite things in the whole world were from her. And they will become two wonderful, caring, giving and intelligent people because of her. Everyday I thank the heavens this woman is still foolish enough to be with me. And I try my best to keep my wife happy, despite my mistress.

Curse you, sexy startups. I’m doomed to a life with this cruel temptress, trying her best to destroy house and home, bootstrapping bank accounts to zero, stealing time and attention away from family, one furtive iPhone glance at a time. Countless late nights at her beck and call, making for a failing zombie father and horrible husband during their few waking hours. Despite all this nonsense, my wife puts up with me. 

People joke about the “old ball and chain” and surely many blame their wives for their own personal shortcomings. But I’ll give three reasons why the ball and chain work well for me.

1) Stay Grounded. 

My wife is the ultimate test for my crazy startup ideas. Every future Founder I talk to has this problem of *too many* good ideas. I just run them by my wife and she tells me how and why it won’t work. Sounds like a bad thing right? It’s not. The worse thing you can do is waste your time working on half-baked ideas. Startups are driven by vision, but you need someone to help check it’s 20-20 and not something to drive towards blindly. In fact, I knew Outgrown.it was a great idea for a startup, because my wife came up with it!

2) Stay Committed.

The common/historical use of a ball and chain is as a restraint device for prisoners. Well having a restraint isn’t usually viewed as a positive thing, until it is. My wife is my greatest supporter. When my 3 month project turned into a 2 year death march, she is the only one who keeps my spirits up. I’m locked into the goal of finishing up. Not giving up is possibly the *only* skill an entrepreneur needs to have. It’s much easier when you have a reason why you’re killing yourself, and the blessed chains of love is a powerful constraint.

3) Meteor Hammer!

I love playing with words, and using lesser known definitions. Maybe it’s because I read the dictionary as a child (to learn English). Or in this case, maybe it was badly dubbed kung-fu movies on Channel 5. What’s a meteor hammer you ask? It’s a Chinese ball and chain, more commonly known as a flail - but unlike it’s European ball-chain-handle version, the liúxīng chuí is a deadly ball-chain-ball combo. What does this have to do with startups? Well how the hell do you expect to shoot for the stars and crush your competition? Meteor Hammer!

Cheers,

Hong