Guest: Dave Lu (Managing Partner of Hyphen Capital. Founder of Expo and Fanpop. Founder of Stand with Asian Americans. Producer of 38 at the Garden. Board of Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center.)
Host: John Wang
In this episode, John sits down with Dave Lu, a serial entrepreneur, Emmy-winning producer, and the founder and managing partner of Hyphen Capital, one of the top VC funds focused on backing Asian American founders and cross-cultural entrepreneurs. From the viral "Enough" letter in the Wall Street Journal to the nuances of venture capital, Dave is a walking masterclass on how to stop being "invisible" and start being audacious.
In our conversation Dave dives into the "hoop-jumping" mentality that traps many Asian American professionals and explains how to transition from feeling the need to seek validation to building real influence.
Notable Quotes:
"I started from a place where I felt Asians are invisible….But I realized that, we feel like we’re unseen, but oftentimes we don’t even see ourselves. So how can anyone else see us?” — Dave Lu
“I did everything I thought I needed to do to make my parents proud, but also to find validation and self-worth through all the hoops I was jumping through. And I think that chase for self-worth and validation from just doing things and achieving things, it just led to emptiness again and again.” — Dave Lu
“All the rules to gain power are antithetical to how Asians are raised. We’re raised to follow every rule, don’t stick out, don’t break rules, don’t disagree, don’t argue. But one of the rules to gain power is to be self-promotional and build your brand, and we’re never taught to do that.” – Dave Lu
"If you don’t take credit for your work, someone else will. Advocating for yourself is having agency." — Dave Lu
Dave Lu Links:
https://www.davelu.com/
https://www.davelu.com/podcast
https://open.spotify.com/show/7plRO8VeNdoAT5fplNoNP4
https://substack.com/@davelu
https://twitter.com/davelu
https://www.linkedin.com/in/davelu
