Bringing Taiwanese values to entrepreneurship with Carey Lai

Hearts in Taiwan

“Budget Conscious | Authentic Relationships | Integrity”—these values distinguish Conductive Ventures from other venture capital firms that hold the keys to which startups get funding in Silicon Valley. Our guest Carey Lai shares how his story and shared values with co-founder Paul Yeh have shaped their unique formula for investment that have led to a portfolio of companies that is two-thirds led by minorities and first-generation immigrants.
Featuring:
Conductive Ventures (conductive.vc)
Sand Hill Road as the epicenter of venture capital (Wikipedia)
The story behind Bay Area dim sum legend Koi Palace (Eater)
Related episode: Hearts in Japan (Hearts in Taiwan S1E14)
About our guest:
Carey Lai is a Founding Member and Managing Director at Conductive Ventures which focuses on investments in the areas of software, hardware and technology enabled services.
Prior to Conductive Ventures, Carey spent over four years investing at Intel Capital. He also worked at Institutional Venture Partners and the Technology Investment Banking Group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Carey has an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, and he graduated with a B.A. in International Economics from the University of California Los Angeles.
Connect:
instagram.com/heartsintaiwan
facebook.com/heartsintaiwan
heartsintaiwan.com

Connect:

instagram.com/heartsintaiwan

facebook.com/heartsintaiwan

buymeacoffee.com/heartsintaiwan ← Buy us a boba!

heartsintaiwan.com

Chapter

1. Intro (00:00:00)

2. Carey's family history in Taiwan (00:01:33)

3. Growing up Asian in Torrance, California (00:09:22)

4. Beginning a career in the early 2000's (00:11:33)

5. Immigrant values behind Conductive's investment philosophy (00:17:07)

6. Challenging the bamboo ceiling (00:23:00)

7. Lessons learned from raising a first independent round (00:28:47)

8. An empathetic recognition of minority entrepreneurs (00:34:24)

9. What's next for Conductive Ventures (00:40:00)

10. Redefining the model of startup success in Silicon Valley (00:42:30)

11. Lightning round! (00:44:48)