Profile
Jacob Hsu fell into the startup ecosystem by accident. Originally from an investment banking background, Jacob started by simply wanting a way to make data-entry easier prior to the dawn of the internet. He created a web-crawler and data-scraper on a floppy disk, originally for personal use, but then later sold the intellectual property to a bank. However, when a bank expressed interest in his new technology, he sold the intellectual property at age 23.
Currently, he is interested in exploring the increase in Asian (and especially Taiwanese) representation and influence in the U.S., as well as traveling with his family.
886: Why were you motivated to start your own company?
Jacob: “It was an accident - I never planned to do a startup. In college I would have told you I’d be a banker for the rest of my life. During investment banking, there was no internet yet, no company email addresses, very difficult to access information. To do work you had to get physical copies of information. I knew you could get this information online and on databases, so I write a web-crawler and data scraper. I just wanted to be more efficient with data entry. It was all on a floppy disk, just for me and my friends to use really. I was really surprised then when I was approached by a bank who was interested in buying what I had made, but since I didn’t have a company or anything, I just sold the bank the IP.”
886: What does your path look like?
Jacob: “After I sold the IP to my first ‘company’ in 1998, I went back to silicon valley and raised capital doing the same thing, just more polished, with a better business plan, better account aggregation, and 11 employees. I ended up exiting to a Japanese company 8 months in.”
“At this point, I’d done two startups (sort of) with two exits, and now I wanted to learn how to run a real company and manage real employees. I had connections working at a company (the predecessor of Symbio) working on single code base for technology, and I was brought in as the “business guy.” At this company I established a lab in China, became CEO five years in, and the company has now grown up to 40,000 people, mostly working on R&D and engineering new technologies. We exited Symbio to Bain in 2014.”
886: What are characteristics of successful startups?
Jacob: “The Grind. There’s a difference between a “job” and being a CEO/founder. You have to let things cook under pressure and time and hard work. I’ve noticed that startups that start in bad times seem to succeed more than startups that start in good times, because it requires a certain mental fortitude that you don’t need in good times. There are ways you can tell if a founder is grinding - what are they sacrificing to make it work? You can ask yourself, ‘What are you sacrificing to pursue this dream?’ You can get advisors, get consultants, but it’s the mental fortitude that makes a good entrepreneur. Founders also need to have a strong, authentic “why,” which is why you can’t just create a founder - there needs to be something intrinsic about them.
Also, it’s important to find product-market fit early.”
886: What is your advice to aspiring founders?
Jacob: “First make friends, then find ways to do business - relationships first. Technology comes and goes, products come and go, it’s all fleeting. Never fall in love with products, or companies. Think of this as hobby, like I just love building stuff. Love the process, love the learning, always support other founders.”
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