Started From The Bottom Now…
tldr: I’m transitioning out of full time at GSV and will continue to advise the TEAM. Looking forward to the next adventure.
^Those words are weird for me to write, but anyway on with the story:
I first met our founder Michael when I was still working in Chicago in 2012. At the time, GSV had already invested in Facebook, Twitter, Dropbox and a number of emerging powerhouse startups.
But actually my first time coming to the office in Woodside was a bit of a culture shock walking into the downstairs (read: basement) office in a little two-story classic Californian wooden frame building. It looked straight out of central casting for an office you’d see in an old Wells Fargo TV commercial. Later on, we moved next door — to the Pioneer Saloon/Hotel.
We actually did start at the bottom (office).
Yes, it was “rewarding” to watch Facebook, Twitter, Dropbox, Spotify go public after many years of being invested in their financial success, but at a human level, it’s still about the TEAM of people at GSV that I got to work with in such a deep and meaningful way.
We grew from a handful of people to several dozen across the various GSV companies. So to continue quoting the public intellectual Drake:
“Started from the bottom now my whole team here”
From 2012 to 2018, our team grew our core fund GSV Capital, and partnered to launch several other funds, companies, and conferences over the years. All told, we grew investment assets under management for the umbrella brand from a little over $100 million to over $1 billion.
Funds: GSV Capital, GSV AcceleraTE, Runway Growth, G Squared
Companies: GSVlabs
Books (yes, we wrote books): GSV Handbook, 2020 Vision
Conferences: Pioneer Summit, ASUGSV Summit, GES
A picture…
…is worth a thousand words. There are just way too many people to thank and too many lessons learned to fit into this 1 blog post. I’ll use these pictures to help express my love and appreciation for the TEAM.
TEAM pics
Goofy pics
Me trying to be cool / hanging with “silicon valley famous” peeps
Special moments
What‘s next?
The “Inception” moment probably started on the night of March 21, 2018 in a little bar in Shenzhen when my friend asked me, “how can you 10x yourself over the next 2 years?” meaning how can I learn 10x more & be 10x better.
For me, GSV was already an 10x experience for the past few years, and now it’s time to try to go back to being a beginner again and try to 10x myself in a new way.
I’m staying in Silicon Valley — and I also plan to die here so you will all still see me. I will still be working with my rockstar founder friends. Also, I plan to more actively hone my skills as a Chief Frisbee Officer (see below). I’ll have more to be say soon. In the meantime, here are 2 closing quotes I love:
Jack Ma: The world is big, and I am still young, so I want to try new things — because what if new dreams can be realized?!
&
Zi Wang: if you could go back and be at the epicenter of the Internet revolution, what would you give to be able to experience that?
