I remember the sense of wonder when I first signed up for Facebook and Twitter. Facebook helped me feel more connected to my friends, especially as I was graduating high school and going away to college. Twitter helped me find like-minded people who were also obsessed about technology and encouraged me to pursue my career. … Continue reading How technology is making us feel so out of sorts these days
Full-stack startups, Atrium for X, managed marketplaces, software eats services, etc. Startups are evolving beyond pure software and here are 7 factors to consider when building full-stack startups.
Since my last article about the rise of Asian America, I wanted to get more personal about what it means to be Asian American today and attempt to characterize this group of people better. I talked to fifteen different varieties of Asian Americans and I wrote this in a way that tries to capture that … Continue reading How to be (and not be) Asian American
On why Silicon Valley... It seems like so many people are talking about leaving San Francisco / Silicon Valley, given how much I complain about the shoddy city infrastructure, I've had to answer why I'm still here many times. The short version is I that the same toxic groupthink is what pushes what's considered "normal" … Continue reading Why Silicon Valley and thinking like a maker
In Silicon Valley parlance, we are witnessing a “zero-to-one” opportunity in Asian American cultural construction. I’ve been thinking about this since my reaction to Crazy Rich Asians got more attention than I expected. Still, saying that Asian Americans are doing anything new might come as a surprise to a lot of people. After all, there … Continue reading The future is Asian American
I like to joke that startup founders eventually become interested in mental health because startups turn you into a nutcase. I got interested in this topic about six years ago during some of the toughest times of my startup journey, and I feel much stronger today mentally having worked on it. I wanted to go … Continue reading How we take care of our mental health
One of my favorite activities as a startup founder is talking to customers or potential customers to understand how I can create something to make their lives easier. Now that I’m not working on anything specific, I’d still like to have some of these conversations and force myself to think about them. I was home … Continue reading My teenage nephews’ digital habits
Five years ago, Chris Dixon coined the “Full-Stack Startup” to describe the new wave of companies like Uber looking to upend entire industries through building a new, vertically-integrated stack. The basic idea is this. Traditionally, as startup founders we see ourselves as toolmakers because we build software and that’s what software is best suited for. … Continue reading The “Full-Stack Startup” and Jiro’s Dreams of Sushi
This article was originally written for MarTech Series in April 2018. I changed the title and I’m re-posting it here. Hope you like it! If you are looking for media coverage, you’ve come to the right place. Successful PR is simple. Here are the steps. Generate interesting stories consistently. Pitch your stories to writers who … Continue reading What startups get wrong about public relations
The most anxiety-inducing movie poster ever I just found out that there’s a movie coming out this summer with an all-Asian cast called Crazy Rich Asians and it’s making me very nervous. Is this supposed to be our Black Panther moment for stereotype-shattering Asian-American representation in mainstream media? Ok, that’s probably an exaggeration. I’m happy we … Continue reading Asian-Americans Are Cultural Orphans (aka I hope Crazy Rich Asians isn’t a flop)
Ricky Yean 