Building Startups in the New Normal, Supporting Founders Using a Beginner's Mind with Steve Jang

**Erik Torenberg** (0:00)
Hey everybody, it's Erik Torenberg, co-founder, partner of Village Global, a network-driven venture firm. And this is Venture Stories, a podcast covering topics relating to tech and business with world-leading experts.
Hey, everybody, welcome to another episode of Village Global's Venture Stories. I'm here today joined by a very special guest, longtime friend of the firm, frequent co-investor, Steve Jang of Kindred. Steve, welcome to the podcast.

**Steve Jang** (0:34)
Hi, Erik, thanks for having me.

**Erik Torenberg** (0:35)
So, Steve, you are a longtime entrepreneur and investor.
When you look back at the arc of your career, what do you think is the thread that ties your various different experiences together? Because you've been in different sectors, different experiences. How do you sort of make sense of what's the thread you've kept pulling, or what has drawn your interest?

**Steve Jang** (0:55)
Good question. I think I've always, even from the very beginning during school and then in every stage of life after that, the thing that's always been the most fun is the creativity of entrepreneurship.
For me, the idea of figuring out a problem to solve that was very personal or painful or just a key insight into something inside of society or in the economy. And then being really creative about it in the way that oftentimes we don't look at it as creativity in business, but I really think it is. I think creative entrepreneurs find really interesting, sometimes left field, oblique solutions to things. And the kernel of what's exciting to designers and engineers and product managers to come join that mission is because of often the creativity of the founder in solving that problem, not just because the problem is big and fantastic, which it has to be, but the creativity by which we're gonna solve that is so important. And that's true of startups in the late 90s.
That's true of startups in the 2000 odds and today.

**Erik Torenberg** (2:12)
And in speaking to a lot of the founders over the years who you've worked with, one of the things they'll say is that you've been their favorite advisor, their favorite investor. What do you think it is that sort of, about you, and don't be modest, that sort of, like what do you understand about company building or about being a sort of consigniary or counselor for the founder that they really appreciate, that others can learn from?

**Steve Jang** (2:36)
Well, so I didn't start out my career as a founder.
I came out as a designer friend, developer, then working in product for a while.
And so I got to see the inner workings of how challenging and exciting starting a company is and looking up to founders that I worked for at the time. When you're in that position, you really are getting the unpolished view and the good, bad, and the ugly. And it's really hard, but it's really worth it, too, when you succeed. Because you're not only creating an amazing opportunity for yourselves and your team, but you're also creating great change, hopefully, that's positive in the world. And that goes beyond financial return. And so that struggle to do that is pretty consistent across all startups and companies that are new. And a lot of people will come in and say, well, startups are so glamorous and so exciting and they only really see the success stories, which is a shame. I think it's important to see everything. And probably the things that I've learned over the years that helped me work with founders, and I'm always improving. I'm always learning about mistakes I'm making in helping a founder. And if I were to list the three things, it would be one, that by working in startups and also starting several companies, I've helped create three companies in the past.
Empathy is the most important thing, I think, at highest level, when trying to support and help founders on their mission. The empathy comes from not only understanding through learning and listening what their challenges are. And every founder and every startup is quite different, whether it's enterprise consumer, marketplaces, or deep tech. But it's also coming from the idea that you've had some experience in the trenches with them.
And that can come in the form of being a founder or working in an operating company before. And so I do think that that helps me understand all the ups and downs in the roller coaster ride that is starting a company that has a limited timeline to accomplish a really, really big goal with a fair amount of capital, but it's really a deadline.
And as much as people don't want to think it is, it's certainly a race and that's a challenge. The other thing that helps me in working with founders has been get into the details. Getting into the details is a good thing.