Founder’s Lessons: Jonathan Tan, CEO of Coreshell
Jonathan shares his journey and insights on the Midwest, climate change, handling conflict, and gratitude
About
Welcome to the fifteenth installment of Tsingyuan Ventures’ Lessons from Founders series. Every week, we publish an in-depth founder interview, ranging from early-stage entrepreneurs to successful businesses. Our conversations cover their personal journeys, the lessons that shaped them, their visions for the future, and their failures. We also learn more about their companies and about the challenges they try to solve. These insights and lessons are applicable to any entrepreneur — current or future.
Read past interviews here.
You can also view video highlights from our interview with Jonathan on our YouTube channel here.
Coreshell Technologies
The cost and capacity of batteries are becoming the bottleneck in clean energy and transportation. To tackle this problem, Coreshell is solving the fundamental degradation problem in both state-of-the art and next-gen lithium-ion batteries with it’s unique nanolayer electrode coating technology. Our mission is to use this innovation to lower the cost and increase the capacity for battery manufacturers and sustainability-minded auto makers. Learn more at: coreshelltech.com
Jonathan Tan is co-founder and CEO of Coreshell Technologies. He is a chemical engineer turned business development leader who worked in the polymer membrane industry before starting Coreshell. He spent the past decade taking projects from R&D to full commercialization and is drawing on that experience to lead the commercialization efforts of Coreshell’s battery thin-film innovation.
Why we invested in Coreshell: Coreshell makes a nanolayer electrode coating for Li-ion batteries. This material was found to have a significant benefit to cycle recovery, and battery safety. This investment is complementary to several Tsingyuan battery-related investments — batteries are already one of the most important markets in the world, and will only become more important with the rise of EVs and alternative energy sources. The Coreshell team (especially Jonathan and Roger) are extremely experienced, and have developed a product and technique that fits within current industry production processes, meaning that their material can be easily added to any battery.
Meet Jonathan Tan
Interview edited for clarity and length.
“I want to feel gratitude that I get to do this and chase after these dreams, because that’s something that’s not afforded to everyone.”
Jonathan introduces himself
I’m Jonathan Tan, CEO and co-founder of Coreshell Technologies. At Coreshell, we hope to be the missing piece in the next generation of advanced battery technology to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles and renewable energy.
I was trained as a chemical engineer and moved into business development. I’ve always tried to advocate for sustainability and equity. That was one of the major reasons we started Coreshell. We felt there was a real urgency to apply our skills to do something to fight against global climate change.
My co-founder and I have known each other since our first day of freshman year at UC Berkeley, so about 18 years now. He’s a material scientist and engineer. Climate change, sustainability, and equity for the environment and for our society were topics we always talked about. Our core belief is that we want to be equitable and inclusive in everything that we do as a company.
How his background influences him
I was born in China and moved to the U.S. when I was around two years old. Both of my parents grew up in rural China, which was very impoverished at the time. They grew up with very little, but my dad got his PhD and moved the family to the U.S. I think their story is a lot more remarkable than mine. The immigrant story and the way that my parents raised me gave me a sense of duty to working hard, being stubborn, and being very persistent. I still have that attitude embedded in me.
I also grew up in the Midwest, in the middle of Missouri. My dad was a professor at the University of Missouri. In the Midwest there was — and I hope still is — a kind of bravado. I think the Americana of the Midwest is a very important part of my entrepreneurial spirit. There’s a sense of risk-taking and betting big on yourself and on the things that you believe in. I think that’s still somewhat part of the American Dream.
I think the Americana of the Midwest is a very important part of my entrepreneurial spirit.
It’s important to allow people from different parts of the world to come here and find a better life for their families, and also allow them to still bet big on themselves and on the things they fundamentally believe in. Both of these halves of my growing-up experience have been really important in my entrepreneur journey.
A core belief that makes him unique
I’ve always been drawn to the belief that people should not be afraid to do things that are uncomfortable. A lot of people have an aversion to being in discomfort, whether physically, socially, or emotionally. But I think those are the types of experiences you need to actually seek out. That’s how you grow and learn about yourself as a person. If you avoid those experiences, you’re limiting yourself.
People should not be afraid to do things that are uncomfortable.
At Coreshell, one of our key pillars of culture is that we’re driven by data-based decisions. That’s related to discomfort, because we look for answers outside of the company. The challenge we’ve taken on is incredibly difficult. A lot of people have a misconception that entrepreneurs just huddle together in a garage and then come up with an amazing or revolutionary product. But that comes with a lot of problems. A better way to do it is to go out to the market and actually ask people.
It can be really uncomfortable to take something deeply personal and go out and ask people: is this fundamentally game-changing? Do you think it’s going to work? But we try to do that with every aspect of our company. We go out and test our assumptions to validate if we’re making the right ones that can lead us to a revolutionary product.
How to choose co-founders
I got really lucky with my co-founder, since we’ve been best friends for 18 years. I wouldn’t recommend everyone start something with their best friend, but we just happened to have very complementary skillsets and views, while also having enough differentiation. He’s very technical. As CTO, he’s focused on the technology and building a world-class product by developing groundbreaking materials. I’m a chemical engineer, but I’ve focused a lot of my career on the business development side.
It’s nice to have balance between our two domains, but enough overlap so that we can come together and discuss what we both understand. We were fortunate to have a deep relationship heading into Coreshell, which made it easier to have trust, be able to communicate, and work through things together.
My advice for anyone searching for a co-founder is: it’s a deep relationship and a really long journey, so you have to build really strong foundations of trust within each other. Find where you can each highlight your own abilities and find areas within the company to do that. You’re not going to be able to do everything all at once together. You’ll have to separate and do things more independently as you grow.
Find where you can each highlight your own abilities and find areas within the company to do that.
How to handle conflicts
It was definitely an organic learning experience. Even though we’ve been best friends, starting a company is a totally different relationship. There’s a need for communication at another level. Even though you spend a lot of time with your best friend, you haven’t necessarily worked together before. We had to learn each other’s working styles and how we like to work.
We also had to figure out a unified vision. Having a startup can be a deeply personal experience. Sharing that with someone else means that you also have to be on the same page about where you see the company heading. What do you see in terms of the vision two, five, or ten years out? You need to be aligned on that. That’s something you just have to learn as you go.
In terms of resolving conflicts, the great thing about working with someone you’re close with is that you can have a conflict and also realize it doesn’t affect your fundamental relationship. Conflict is actually necessary. I feel fortunate that both Roger and I understand that there need to be points of conflict and tension for the company to progress. We’re not going be exactly on the same page. Having those moments is good for the growth of the company.
There need to be points of conflict and tension for the company to progress. We’re not going be exactly on the same page.
What he looks for in choosing people to work with
We’re actively thinking about culture because we’re bringing on more people and growing. I want to bring in people that not only have skills to do certain things we need, but who also make the company a good place for people to work and where they feel they can thrive.
I look for people who have a really strong sense of decency and integrity in addition to being very intelligent, both in thought process and emotional intelligence. I think I gravitate towards people who have a lot of self-awareness.
We also don’t want to have too many of the same type of person in a room. We really want to try to find diversity and people with different points of view. We need lots of different voices and some points of tension in order for the company to grow.
His biggest challenges
As CEO, I’m still trying to learn as much as I can about the role. Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about the transition from being a founder to CEO. I think those two things can be fundamentally different. As a founder, the company is sort of your baby. You build the company and it can be deeply personal.
As a founder, the company is sort of your baby. You build the company and it can be deeply personal.
When you move into a CEO or executive role, you’re handing things off to people and allowing them to create the company. Moving forward, I don’t want the company to be just my baby, I want the employees to take ownership of it. So I’ve been thinking about stepping back and allowing others space, but then also giving them enough direction to guide them towards the vision we share together.
His vision for Coreshell
We’re creating a component that goes into batteries. So we hope to be the Intel of battery technology. Our product is a nanolayer coating that goes into batteries, which then go into automotives and grid storage units. We want our innovation to power electric vehicles or energy storage units by providing a much higher performance level, better safety level, and a longer battery life than was previously possible. When you have a battery with the Coreshell product, our hope is that our brand is a sign of quality and reliability. This is vitally important as batteries become ever-present in our lives.
One piece of advice
I’ve gotten too much advice to really distill. But one I can share is from Marc Tarpenning, co-founder of Tesla. He came to talk to our cohort at SkyDeck. He said: oftentimes as a CEO or founder, there are too many fires burning at once for you to be able to put out everything. But your role as an entrepreneur is to decide which ones you can keep burning in the background and which ones you really have to put out now. You have to be able to be mindful of what things you really need to be tackling. If you try to do it all, it’s not going to be productive or further the company towards its goals.
Your role as an entrepreneur is to decide which ones you can keep burning in the background and which ones you really have to put out now.
His advice for founders
There’s a bit of a misconception around “passion” for starting a company. Passion is critically important in a lot of people’s personal journeys. But I would say, go even further. Think about what really fundamentally motivates you. Think about why you’re doing what you’re doing. Be really grounded in that and try to come back to it as much as possible.
It could be passion. But it could also be a number of other things. Usually it’s something that is deeply unique and personal. Why did you decide to start this journey and why do you continue on this journey? There are a lot of challenging times, and there has to be something that internally drives you to keep moving forward. Understanding your “why” is important for not only progressing your company, but also being able to provide yourself the joy that continues to motivate you to move forward.
Why did you decide to start this journey and why do you continue on this journey?
As entrepreneurs, we’re incredibly privileged to have the opportunity to do this. It’s not something we should take for granted. I want to feel gratitude that I get to do this and chase after these dreams, because that’s something that’s not afforded to everyone.
Having gratitude and understanding the “why” is, in my mind, a better attitude as opposed to “having passion every single day.” Because there are days where you won’t feel the passion necessarily, but you’ll still have a fundamental motivation and drive.
His media recommendations
- Documentary: Minding the Gap by Bing Liu on Hulu. It’s an excellent documentary about a diverse group of kids growing up in rural Illinois. It’s centered around their home and skateboarding. It touches on a lot of rural Americana, which I really gravitated towards because of my own upbringing. The filmmaker is also an Asian-American immigrant. He started off as one of the teenagers in the skateboarding crew, and a lot of his story was about dealing with his parents. I think that rural America stories are really important for people to understand these days.
- Documentary: 13th by Ava DuVernay. It’s a really excellent documentary about the historical progressions of the capital punishment system in America. There are a lot of ties to our history as a country and the ways we’ve dealt with race relationships, law and order, and the institutional prison structure.
- Podcast: The Energy Gang by Greentech Media. It’s great to follow what’s happening in the clean tech ecosystem, what people are doing, and the challenges they’re trying to tackle. It’s inspiring to see what people are building in the clean tech world.
On personal life
My co-founder and I spend a lot of time thinking about and working on the company. So in choosing that, I had to give up a lot of my recreation. But I made an active decision to still be present in my close relationships and not take them for granted. The entrepreneur’s journey can be so all-encompassing. But you want to still hold on to your personal relationships and what you had before starting the journey.
On personal journeys
Often, it’s really easy to talk about the company. As founders, we get asked a lot of questions about our startups and spend a lot of time talking about our companies. But really thinking about the personal entrepreneur’s journey is also important because it fuels the direction of the company. As founders, we have a lot of influence on the culture. The way we run the company really affects how our employees act and how the company continues to grow. So I think understanding personal journeys is really important.
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Tsingyuan Ventures is a $100M seed-stage technology firm. We back technical founders across software, life sciences, and frontier technologies. Learn more about our origin story and our approach here.
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