I’m a non-Ivy Leaguer woman founder from Asia. Here’s how I made it in Silicon Valley.
Published in Tech in Asia, written by Nicole Hosun Kim
Someone congratulated me on my success a few days ago. It took me a minute to figure out what he was talking about. Last year, we were accepted by 500 startups, which has helped us secure US$2.4 million in seed funding.
That sounds great.
But it took us almost five years to develop and fine-tune my startup Sunshine to work from conception to demos for users and investors. Five long years of developing a solid service, securing funds through B2B sales to keep it rolling, and finally making it big in the global market.
If you’re running a tech-based startup, like I am, you’ll spend years developing your first, second, and third prototypes. You’ll need enough funding to keep development going, manage your staff, and keep the lights on. It’s a stressful journey as we bootstrap and hang on by the skin of our teeth.
Here are five things that kept us funded, growing, and connected during Sunshine’s early days. I think they’re useful for any early-stage startup.
1. Think about your big-picture mission.
What file-sharing felt like in 2009.
When I founded my startup in 2009, smartphone penetration in the US was scraping 26 percent. Back then, file-sharing across devices and platforms was extremely time-consuming and frustrating. For anything over 100MB, file-sharing required USB sticks, online messengers, buggy codecs, or a whole lot of waiting for your files to upload to the cloud.
I’d worked in hardware and software for over 10 years, so I absolutely knew that the need to share large files among multiple devices on multiple operating systems could only grow. It was technically possible, but platform owners like Apple and Samsung were stubborn and wouldn’t open up cross-platform channels.
Dedication to a single mission — and not necessarily a single approach — is why we were able to reach the level of success that we have.
It became my driving mission to create a free file-sharing option that worked across devices and operating systems. Despite increasing storage on mobile devices, faster download speeds, and many other changes in the market, I stuck with that mission.
With no end to the Android-iOS split in sight, my hunch turned out to be right. Dedication to a single mission — and not necessarily a single approach — is why we were able to reach the level of success that we have.
2. Focus resources on developing your MVP — and your team.
Five years ago, I didn’t think I could afford — or even find — highly experienced app developers to work with me. Instead, I worked with freelancers. Between managing them, managing the company, and handling partnerships with B2B clients, I felt completely overwhelmed.
A year later, I finally decided to go all in. I put all my resources into developing a minimum viable product (MVP); we called it ShareOn.
The resulting technology allowed us to start providing B2B services to large companies like Samsung and CJ. Everything we earned went straight back into the company to hire more experienced developers. It was time-consuming and tough, but absolutely necessary to build a stronger team.
If it was difficult developing a platform for file-sharing between PC and mobile, it felt almost impossible to find some common ground between iOS and Android. Without the strong team that we are now, we wouldn’t have been able to pull through.
3. Bravely seek out the right market for your product
I started pitching at various startup events, including TechCrunch Shanghai 2013, where ShareOn was named the ‘most popular service.’ I returned to Seoul triumphant, only to discover that local VCs and accelerators did not share the same interest in my business model.
I had to find opportunities in the global market, or else.
I packed my suitcase and even invited a couple of investment consultants on my quest to Silicon Valley. Because I literally could not afford a second trip, I had meeting after meeting scheduled throughout my stay. It was reckless, but it got me into 500startups as one of their batch 12 companies.
4. Take advice, but the decision should be yours to make.
Once we joined the batch, we were flooded by a stream of great advice from the mentors and partners who were eager to help us grow globally.
Almost unanimously, mentors agreed that the name ShareOn wasn’t very appealing to our target users. An alternative suggestion was Sunshine, because our platform lets you stream and share large media files on any device, without uploading to a cloud server. (Clever, eh?)
Compared to the cloud, Sunshine’s direct sharing is 10 times faster for downloads and 100 times faster for streaming. You don’t have to worry about encoding, or your private video falling into the wrong hands. It’s the ultimate solution to your file sharing needs.
It all made sense, except we would have to renew all our marketing initiatives to build the new Sunshine brand. It was a tough call, but I decided to accept the advice for two big reasons. First, it would resonate well in the press and marketing material since it captures the essence of our technology. Second, we were making a new start in the global market, so a sticky name would help us go further than where we were in the long run.
First, it would resonate well in the press and marketing material, since it captures the essence of our technology. Second, we were making a new start in the global market, so a sticky name would help us go further than where we were in the long run.
5. Network heavily — and get introduced to the right people.
Photo credit: Gratisography.
One of the most important things I’ve learned during 500startup’s acceleration program is that there are more than enough investment opportunities in Silicon Valley.
There is a single degree of separation here in Silicon Valley, where networking and the culture of helping each other out are part of the air.
The best and most effective way is to get directly recommended to investors. Your network matters. This is even more so if you are establishing a business in a foreign country. So make friends with investors who can best help you reach the right people to grow your business.
They say there is a single degree of separation here in Silicon Valley, where networking and the culture of helping each other out are part of the air. I had literally zero networks a year ago when I first got into the batch, but now I am connected to hundreds of people via LinkedIn and Facebook.
Closing thoughts
To sum up, set your mission on a big picture. Develop an MVP early on. Find the right market for your product. Build a strong personal and professional network. And use their advice to make wise decisions.
These five steps helped me grow my business in the global market, despite many difficulties I faced as a non-Ivy Leaguer female founder from Asia. I hope they shine some light to the early-stage founders out there who’re going through the same development hell I went through.
Editing by Neha Margosa
