A Look Into Hiring International Commercialization Talents with Cortilia Lin
On a busy Tuesday morning after the unexpected typhoon break, we welcomed one of our mentors, Cortilia Lin, into the office.
It’s been a while since TSS’ previous meeting with Cortilia so the meeting was arranged to check up on Cortilia’s upcoming plan and how it aligns with what TSS has on the agenda. Cortilia has had more than ten years of experience in the medical industry and consumer appliances in the States and in Europe. She recently joined forces with one of TSS’ Starting Lineup X member — Funique VR, as the Head of Strategy and Marketing. Before she joined Funique, she took multiple positions as the Director of Global Innovative Data Insights Solutions at The Economist Intelligence Unit and as the Director of Brand Insights at Philips.
We kicked-off asking her what made her decide to return to Asia. Cortilia decided to take a different approach; instead of answering the question, she started off with what she observes as the pain point in most Taiwanese startups — “commercialization”.
“The lack of commercialization in Taiwan makes it difficult for Taiwan to hire talents, not to mention international talents,’’ Cortilia inferred. Although the main focus today is on Taiwanese startups, this problem spotted runs not only in the startup scene but in traditional businesses as well. “Taiwanese business models came about pushing costs down but not at growing talents. They see labor as costs but do not perceive the containing values. It’s really about the mentality on both sides — international talents don’t know how to cope with local mentality where seniority is the standard instead of the corresponding market value,” Cortilia added.
There was a two-years period in between when Cortilia first learned about Funique VR to when she actually joined. Cortilia perceived the two years as a necessary observation period for her to come to the decision to leave everything she had and knew in the West behind to join the startup world in Asia.
“Taiwanese startups are actually quite strong, and could be attractive. They just have to realize that and be patient. For overseas talents, they have already built up a network tied to the corporate brand they’ve been with. They have a lot to think about, including what are the pros and cons to them leaving their current jobs, which could mean giving up the branding on the original door, leaving behind the lives they came to settle with, and to build the connections they do not have in the startup world from scratch,” Cortilia affirmed.
When asked about advice she would give to Taiwanese startups on this common pain point, Cortilia pointed out:
- To proactively approach favored candidates and ask what they perceive as gaps between where the candidates currently are and what the startup has to offer, to find the midpoint where two sides can marry;
- Just be patient!
Cortilia, traced back in memory,
“My past experiences sum up in Funique. They led me to Funique.
From the corporate side of human resource management to product development processes, from how to structure different departments in a company to growing the company small to big, my past experiences have taught me the action-oriented items which startup teams require. ”
In 2016, Cortilia was already thinking about moving back to Asia. But how will all the transformation and logistics work out? Just as she was pondering about, through connections, TSS invited her to a digital health forum where the purpose stood to educate Taiwanese startups the importance of commercialization, to be articulate on behalf of the product and to transform from “speaking hardware” to “speaking product”. It was through the forum where she first got in contact with TSS and the Taiwanese startup scene. Cortilia was later invited as a speaker to Term Sheet Bootcamp Thailand where she met Kurt Chen, the Senior VP at Orion Ventures, also a longtime friend and mentor of TSS.
It’s not until Cortilia got to know the team well enough through 2 years of back and forth conversations did she decide it’s time for her to move on, and to pursue the vision the team possess all together. With a proud tone, Cortilia stated, “Funique attracted me through letting her understand how I’d be able to marry my skill sets with what Funique is looking for. People like me, we’re not looking for money, but looking to create something out of nothing using our skills. We need to know what we’re all in for. It’s all about being inspired — do we see ourselves progressing along the trajectory we’re aiming for — who am I tomorrow that will make me proud.”
All in all, Cortilia stressed on how important it is for Taiwanese businesses and startups to embrace the international take on things and to really evaluate hires based on the values they bring. Cortilia added with a smile, “but make sure you do your background checks on them, to read into their background without presumptions and give it a proper and fair definition”.
In summary, I guess the biggest takeaway from today’s talk with Cortilia is to
“Think people instead of product!”
With the right mix of people, the product will start to push itself before you know it.
TSS’, and the other startup players of the like should aim to be the platforms to bridge the gap between the international talents and Taiwanese startups, filling in the missing pieces and information, while widening their eye sights about the opportunities Taiwan has to offer. Things don’t happen overnight, make that connection and allow time for it to grow. Keep the audience up to date about the latest happenings and trends in Taiwan, as many international talents can be distant from leaving home for a while and knows nothing about the technology scene going on. Give them the exposure they need, and you will see fabulous things happen!
