[Recap] Fireside Chat with Alex Chung (Giphy)
Dear KAC-WA Members and Friends,
As we approach the end of 2016, we want to express our sincere gratitude to all of you for your generous support this past year. It is only with your support that KAC-WA is able to carry on our important mission of empowering the Korean American community.
As a civic organization, we encourage all of you to stay informed and actively participate in our democracy. Participation in democracy should regularly happen in our everyday lives - not only during the election season. As Korean Americans, we share a responsibility to strive towards the positive values that represent America. Regardless of ethnicity, we are individually and collectively integral to our country's culture, democracy and economic prosperity. We believe that the United States is strong because of our shared diversity - not in spite of it.
KAC-WA, a non-partisan non-profit organization, will continue to be inclusive of all views and respectful of different opinions. We will always promote and support diversity in every form. Through civic education, community advocacy, leadership development and professional networking, KAC-WA encourages informed citizenship and provides a platform for all voices. We need your support and participation to spread our message of inclusion and diversity; and to carry forward our goal of creating a strong, vibrant and empowered community which embraces the best of our American values.
Happy Holidays, everyone.
Very sincerely,
Matthew
Communications Chair
Korean American Coalition of Washington (KAC-WA)
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Recap of Fireside Chat with Alex Chung
On Tuesday, November 22, KAC-WA joined PuPPy and TwitterDev Seattle at TUNE's Kitchen for a fireside chat with Alex Chung, founder and CEO of Giphy, interviewed by Michelle Li of King 5 News. TUNE provided a light buffet line, including a hosted bar. According to Ali Wulf, event organizer for TUNE, 200 people RSVP'd; despite the rain and Seattle traffic, nearly that number attended.
Alex talked about his background, what his experience with startups has been like, and how Venture Capitalists work. He was born in Burien and grew up in Normandy Park, and attended the University of Washington. While a student, he worked for the Neptune and Varsity Theaters, and racked up five majors, graduating with a record number of credits. The first startup he was involved in went from 5 employees to 100 to 0 in one year, so he learned a lot about what not to do.
Among the many topics covered, Alex explained that these days, it's not necessary to limit yourself to certain geographic areas to find funding from VC's. Out of 160 VC's 159 will say "no", and about 80% of the startups they invest in will fail. However, there is so much money in that world that it has to go somewhere. So although the odds are against you in the startup world, if you have a good idea and a good team, people will eventually invest in you. If Google hasn't done it yet, there are two white dudes in a garage somewhere working on it, so you had better get started right away if you're going to beat them.
"Build the Bar, or Brew the Beer?" You're faced with two choices, building a destination (such as a website like MySpace or Youtube), or a utility/content (such as Twitter or Giphy). Eventually, bars get boring, so people will move to another bar. However, people will always drink beer regardless of what bar, he concluded.
Special Thanks to Don Sheu of Puget Sound Programming Python (PuPPy) for arranging Alex Chung's talk at TUNE, and to TUNE for organizing the event and hosting. PuPPy is a local Python programming user group dedicated to proliferating a diverse and talented Python community in the Puget Sound region. They are devoted to exploring Python-based programming knowledge, embracing new and experienced members from all walks of life, and helping those members to achieve their professional goals.
TwitterDev Seattle is a local community run group helping local developers and fans use Twitter to reach the world. Meetings include talks on how to use Twitter's APIs and development tools and sharing of effective uses of Twitter for accomplishing connection with an audience.
TUNE is a Seattle-based company that delivers mobile marketing tools that help today's digital marketer manage marketing campaigns, engage the right audiences, optimize app performance, and grow their business. TUNE is committed to building and engaging a community of empowered, passionate people who collaborate, optimize, deliver, and evolve (CODE) together, as they dare to invent the future of mobile marketing technology.
