Journey into VC #4 with Noble Hwang
The former missionary who is constantly seeking and creating exciting opportunities
Background
Name: Noble Hwang
University: Brigham Young University Marriott School of Business
Degree: BSc Strategic Product Management
Noble sat down with me for a brief chat about his life experiences, aspirations, and drive that ultimately led him into the world of venture capital. A childhood filled with imagination led to countless hours spent within the genre of fantasy. In fact, Noble would write his own fantasy novels at night for fun. Today, he accredited his impressive typing speed to those late nights.
After High School, Noble spent two years as a voluntary missionary at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Later at university, he got his first exposure to venture capital with the University Growth Fund. Today, Noble is the founder of both ViewShift Partners & Philosophie VC who engages in advisory- and investment services respectively.
Quite an unorthodox path if you ask me. That is exciting!
Reasons Behind This Series
The purpose of this series is to hear from individuals who have decided to pursue a career in venture capital. We will listen to their stories, and shed light on the venture industry. It is especially relevant for you if:
- You want to break into the industry.
Why? because we try to uncover what venture capital firms look for in candidates. - You are a founder.
Why? because we try to uncover what venture capital firms look for in startups. - Interested in entrepreneurship & innovation.
Why? because the quickfire at the end is great.
The journey into VC is often serendipitous, which lays the foundation for great stories. Welcome to story number 4.
Note: This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
The Journey
The details
Who was Noble Hwang growing up?
Super imaginative, yet introverted. As a kid, I was extremely shy and could not engage in conversations like other people seemed to do so effortlessly. I was one of these kids that escaped into their heads and my love for imagination drove me into the genre of fantasy (things like Harry Potter and Avatar The Last Airbender).
One way of unleashing his imaginative power was through his trusted companion, a Dell computer.
I found a Dell Computer which must have been from the 1990s at home. It was so old all I could handle was the 1993 version of Microsoft word. However, this computer gave me the freedom to express my imagination. At night, I would write fantasy novels for fun. People tell me that I have impressive typing speed, and I can thank my old Dell computer for that.
In the Hwang family, everyone plays a musical instrument. Considering that Noble has 4 siblings, the family forms a small orchestra.
My mom played a ton of piano growing up and was as close to being a concert pianist as you could be without being a concert pianist. Among my siblings, I am the oldest and all of us play string instruments. We are almost a small orchestra and we actually have concerts on Facebook from time to time. If you track down my mom you will probably find a Christmas concert or something along those lines.
Say no more. I hereby present to you Christmas with the Hwang family.
What role did music play in your life?
That was a huge part of my childhood. In High school it was a big part of my identity. I was the cello guy. I did cello for the talent show, and it gave me something to latch on to. Once you get over the learning curve, music allows you to express your feelings in a very unique way. Unless you are a musician, it is hard to understand. But when you’re playing and music flows out of you it is a very unique and powerful emotional experience.
Even though Noble has Korean roots, he was born and raised in the US. In fact, he did not learn to speak Korean until later in his life.
I am 100% Korean, but lived my entire life in the US. My mom and dad are both Korean, but my dad actually studied in the US. Ultimately, we ended up in a sleepy little town called Sugar Grove in Illinois. I was one of two Korean people that lived in the entire town. So I grew up the American way and did not learn to speak Korean. However, we celebrated all the Korean holidays and got the chance to enjoy wonderful Korean Food.
So at what point did you learn to speak Korean?
I did not have a whole lot of Korean friends growing up, so I actually learned to speak Korean during my time as a missionary. I went to Los Angeles and was assigned to speak Korean as part of my missionary service. So I spent a lot of time with the Korean community in Los Angeles in Koreatown and that is how I learned the language. It was a very formative experience for me because it made me question myself and my identity. Was I fully Korean? Now that I can speak Korean do I choose to attach myself to Korean culture? Ultimately, I did find a good middle ground where I embrace both my American and Korean background.
Missionary experience
What kind of impact did the experience as a missionary bring you?
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are commonly called Mormons. So while taking two gap years before college to be a missionary sounds crazy, it’s actually quite common for young men in the Church to do so. It is primarily a religious calling, but there is a big service aspect too.
The stereotype of two guys in white shirts knocking on people’s doors advocating for their faith. Is it true?
You definitely do some of that (haha). But during my time, there were a lot of service projects. I spent a lot of time in the community talking with all sorts of people and supporting them. As I mentioned, I was assigned to LA and it is one of the places where you get to interact with the richest of people and the poorest of people. On the same day, you might have dinner at one of the nicest steak restaurants and engage in conversations with 10–15 homeless people. It is a fascinating experience because you get to see the choices that people have made and where that has gotten them.
You mentioned that you were an introvert growing up, how did you adapt to the rather constant conversational aspect of a missionary?
As a missionary you talk to a lot of people. So if you want to stay within your comfort zone, being a missionary is not for you. I had conversations with everybody and anybody, and I eventually got quite good at it. In addition to the conversational aspect, I just got comfortable with who I was. As a child, the reason why I was not as extroverted might well be that I was trying to figure out who exactly I was.
Venture Capital
I actually started off with physics. All throughout high school, I was on the path to go into physics. I loved the philosophical aspect of physics, especially facets considering time and reality. But I soon found out that the world of physics and academia moves very slowly and thus, it was not for me. It was also partly influenced by my time as a missionary. I enjoyed being out there and seeing tangible results from my actions. Physics was in some way the opposite of that. You run experiments on things that you cannot physically see.
Physics was clearly not what Noble would spend the rest of his life on. So how come VC?
The CEO of Vivint Solar, David Bywater gave a lecture at my university. And in telling his story, he mentioned Venture Capital. He told us that he would flip houses as a kid with his dad, and that venture capital was similar but with companies instead of houses. I sat there thinking to myself: that is awesome! Being able to constantly interact with fast-moving companies on the edge of innovation just blew my mind. I immediately bought this book called “How to Break Into VC”, started listening to podcasts, reading articles, exploring opportunities to get exposure to VC. I did everything I could because I was sure that the impact I wanted to have on the world through my career was going to be found in the world of VC.
Your first taste of VC came at the University Growth fund. Was that your chance to have one step into the door?
Absolutely. For context, the University Growth Fund is a $50–75 million fund in Salt Lake City. It is run by two accomplished partners in Peter Harris and Tom Stringham. They chose to recruit the entire team top from bottom entirely of students, both undergrad and master students. The reason why I loved University Growth Fund, compared to other traditional VC firms, is first of all the opportunity. VC is an industry with opportunity scarcity, and I was lucky to get a break with the University Growth Fund which in many ways was a goldmine of opportunity.
For those who do not know, The University Growth fund has previously funded companies like Spotify, Postmates, Pinterest, among others. This is crazy. So my question is: How?
Their investment strategy is to co-invest. They do not lead rounds. They do not source investments. Imagine being in your first year at university and one day you are forwarded proprietary financials of Spotify. It is mindblowing! More than anything, it is an unique learning opportunity. That is the primary goal of the fund, to provide students with a platform to learn about VC. As a general rule, it is important to find places where the priority is to invest in you and your learning.
Breaking into VC
1.Strive to be a great investor, not just get an investing job
This is an important difference. If all you want is an investing job, then what will your path statistically look like? You’ll get a degree in finance. You’ll go to investment banking. You’ll join a firm as an analyst, etc. If all you want is a job, then that is what you will do. If you want to be excellent or carve your own path, you have to take it from the perspective of striving to be a great investor. So, first learn what it takes to be a great investor. Read material, listen to podcasts such as the 20 minute VC, and talk to people in the industry. Figure out what it takes to be a great investor and create your story around that. And if investment banking is the right path for you after thinking it through, then go do it! But put thought into it first.
2.Create your story
As a student you have one thing which is invaluable and that is flexibility. Take my example, I went from an aspiring physicist to VC intern within six months of deciding to switch. That can only happen during your student time. Craft your story and pick relevant experiences which adds to the story. For instance, if you are a history major who wants to switch to VC. Do not downplay your degree and elaborate on your lack of experience in finance. Do not try to compete on the same field. Compete on your own field. Turn history into a reason why you are better than the herd. Turn your story into something to be proud of.
3.Create your own experience
Talent is evenly distributed, but opportunity is sadly not. If you are in a position with limited opportunity, create your own experience. There are tons of experiences on my resume that I started because it was not available to me. In the age we live in with internet connectivity and resource abundance online, there are ways that you can create your own experience if opportunities are limited. The only hurdle is execution, but if you want it enough this will not even be a hurdle.
Advice to founders
1.Finding a co-founder.
The founder of Cabana Health, MacBrennan Peet told me that successful companies last longer than marriages on average. So he asked, why would you commit to co-founders who you have only known for a month? Rather, you should approach co-founders with the seriousness that you would approach a marriage. That is the best advice I have ever received. Speed and startups are words we often hear together in a sentence, but a huge mistake many founders make is to hire too many too quickly, and this is true for both co-founders and early employees. Ultimately, this will make or break your company.
2.The right advisors at the right time.
The usefulness of specific advisors change as time goes by. Founders must thus be prepared to have hard conversations with advisors about onboarding someone else as a strategic resource for the company. For example, one of the start-ups that I am advising is starting to reach a point where my advice adds limited value. The challenges they’re starting to face are beginning to grow outside my area of expertise. So it is important for both the founder and advisor to ask the question: could the company benefit from people with more experience than the current advisors or people with more specific experience. As an advisor, it is pivotal to be open and transparent about what you bring to the table for the founder to make good decisions about how to construct the roster of advisors at any given time.
3.Common mistake: losing focus
Losing focus. This is particularly evident after the first success. Putting together a value proposition and receiving positive initial feedback. People telling you that your product is awesome and your mind explodes with ideas and visions on what you can build on top. This is one aspect we often forget which has fatal consequences. Once you start to add features and execute on too many ideas weight starts to accumulate and your speed decreases as a result. By the time you realize what is happening you have already invested too much into these add-ons. To conclude, strive to hit the core value proposition of your company and double down. Do not lose focus on what is important.
Quickfire
What are you currently reading?
Which public figure(s) must I be listening to?
Which startup must I be following?
Iris, a social stock app.
What is the single question that you ask yourself before making any major decisions?
I feel like this has changed over my life and will probably change next year. But right now, what came to mind was “Where will this lead”?
Thank you for taking the time to share your story, Noble.
I wish you all the best in your future endeavours!
행운을 빕니다!
Last words
Everyone has a story. Do you want to share yours?
If so, feel free to contact me on LinkedIn!
