“I don’t think we’re in a startup bubble…we’re in a talent bubble.”
Brian Wong, CEO & Founder of Kiip
Young Prodigy
Brian Wong was ahead of the curve from a young age. He skipped four grades at school to land a place at college, aged only 14 years old.
At 19 he became one of the youngest people in history to raise venture capital funding for his startup: Kiip (pronounced keep)
But what was his journey really like? Did he feel out of place? What pressure did this put on him to perform and how did he respond? We go into all of this and more in this deep conversation.
Brian has been recognized in the Forbes’ 30 Under 30 three times, Business Insider’s Top 25 Under 25 in Silicon Valley, Mashable’s Top 5 Entrepreneurs to Watch, and the AdAge Creativity Top 50.
Show Notes
We got a chance to peel back the layers of Brian in this deep and fun conversation where he talks about:
- His formative years – what was it really like to be a young prodigy: the good, the bad and the ugly
- Interest in tech – what made him want to get into technology & marketing and how he navigated his way to a startup job at Digg
- Digg – what he learned working at Digg & why he thinks other people should do the same
- Funding – how he built relationships in Silicon Valley and managed to get funded by True Ventures
- Doing it yourself – why he thinks you need to be able to design or build something yourself, not just have an idea
- People – advice for hiring good people
- Success – what success means to him and what common traits he sees in successful people
- Bubble – are we in a startup or valuation bubble?
- Routine – his daily routine
- Books – what books have impacted him
We get a preview of his upcoming book called The Cheat Code, available on Amazon here.
*Note: Brian mentions that his company Kiip has raised $25M in investment. Shortly after we recorded the show, they closed another round which took their total funding to $32m
