Celebrating & Supporting Asian Entrepreneurs
In the UK, September is East and South East Asian Heritage month. As part of my role as social media and content manager for Ada Ventures, I recently spoke with Erik Lim, the Founder and General Partner of Potluck VC, a US-based fund with a mission to Unify and uplevel the Asian communities through intentional venture investing and community-building. Although some of the perspectives below are from a US perspective, many Asians who grew up and/or are building companies in western nations share similar perspectives and challenges.
If you’re interested in learning more, visit besea.n, the UK’s East and South East Asian Network Advocacy who are on a mission to empower, educate and embrace East and South East Asian (ESEA) communities in the UK.
What do you think are the biggest barriers that Asian entrepreneurs in the west face at the early stages?
One of the biggest barriers that early-stage, Asian entrepreneurs face is a lack of a strong VC network. Having a strong network of VC friends can help early-stage entrepreneurs better understand the intricacies of how the VC ecosystem works and how to best prepare, navigate, and successfully fundraise for their companies in a shorter amount of time. The VC ecosystem can be quite guarded and opaque but, fortunately, things are becoming more open as more and more diverse, emerging fund managers are having success raising new funds.
Do you think the unique lived experiences of Asians, particularly those who grew up in the west and experienced multiple cultures, help shape the problems their companies try to tackle?
Of course. Asians in the U.S. experience multiple cultures and, oftentimes, unique challenges (that turn into great business opportunities).
Interestingly, I’ve found that Asian entrepreneurs are inclined to build:
- 1) international/cross-border businesses
- 2) businesses that serve the Asian communities first then expand to serve all other communities too.
As for the first point, many Asians in the U.S. still have family or a network abroad which makes them more in tune with cross-border or international business challenges and opportunities. I’ve come across several Asian founders building companies around international payments, shipping/logistics, manufacturing, etc.
As for my second point, a perfect example of a company started by Asians for Asians is Weee!, which delivers Asian groceries. Who knew that some Asians drove 45+ minutes from their homes to just buy Asian groceries? Not many did but… Asians obviously did! So it makes logical sense for an Asian founder like Larry Liu to step up to solve this pain point for the community. Weee! now also delivers Hispanic groceries so even though it started as a “niche” offering for Asians, companies can expand their product offerings over time to serve other communities as well as the broader U.S. population.
Another great example is one of our portfolio companies Omsom — a proud, loud Asian cooking sauce starter. Many Asians have experienced the “Lunchbox Moment,” where they got laughed at and/or felt embarrassed for bringing “non-American” food to school. Well, this dynamic is changing now as Americans want to learn about and try new flavours and foods. Vanessa and Kim, the two Vietnamese sisters and Co-Founders of Omsom, understood this dynamic and went out to create an easy pantry shortcut that combines all the sauces, aromatics, and seasonings into one sauce so now we all can cook with Asian flavours quicker and easier!
Like most entrepreneurs, Asian entrepreneurs oftentimes build products/services that solve their own problems but the companies I get the most excited about are companies that make it easier for people from other cultures to experience and learn about our Asian heritage.
I think it’s important to note: the Asian population in the U.S. nearly doubled between 2009 and 2019 and is projected to surpass 46 million by 2060. What used to be a “niche” market opportunity is now a real, VC-backable opportunity.
There is significant financial inequality between Asians and their white peers. Do you think entrepreneurship is a way to narrow this inequality gap?
This is a very complex question and I don’t think there is a silver bullet but entrepreneurship definitely is one way to narrow this inequality gap.
Asians lack representation in leadership positions (i.e. 26% of VC professionals are of Asian descent but control less than 1% of the VC AUM in the U.S. Similarly, 35%+ of Bay Area tech company employees are of Asian descent but are least likely to be promoted to leadership positions).
If we aren’t able to break through the bamboo ceiling, the best way around it is just to build our own businesses. And this is happening… today, about 25% of unicorn companies have at least 1 Asian founder.
If you also have a perspective on the variety of experiences Asians have and how that also impacts their entrepreneurial journey, that’d be great to hear.
While “Asians” cover many diverse communities and I don’t want to generalise, I’d say a lot of Asians in the U.S. share a common aspiration of building a better life for themselves and their families. They often have big ambitions, strong work ethic, and drive. Many Asians came to the U.S. with very little money so a lot of them are very frugal as well, even in the way they run their businesses — which makes for awesome, capital-efficient businesses compared to the average startup in the U.S.
A little more info about Potluck VC
Potluck Ventures is a VC firm that invests in the next generation of breakout AAPI (Asian American & Pacific Islander) founders. Erik’s vision is to create something I wish I had growing up — an open, safe, and welcoming community to learn about, access, and invest in the AAPI community.
The community consists of 500+ leading operators, investors, and changemakers including Hans Tung (GGV), Tushar Garg (Flyhomes), Ryan Chan (UpKeep), Linda Lai (Ruggable), and many others.
They are concurrently raising their Fund I as well as investing. We’ve been fortunate to make investments in several awesome, AAPI-founded businesses already including Workstream, Omsom, Nomad Homes, Marco Experiences, and others. They invest in Series A-C rounds of technology and consumer companies founded by at least 1 AAPI/Asian founder. They opportunistically invest in earlier and later rounds as well. You can join their community today — www.potluck.vc.
