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Awaken* newsletter

July 18, 2024

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Wei Deng is the Co-Founder and CEO of Clipboard Health, a company that connects healthcare facilities with local professionals who can work unfilled shifts. Since Clipboard’s inception in 2016, Clipboard Health has filled millions of shifts for thousands of facilities nationwide, putting millions of dollars in the pockets of healthcare professionals. Throughout her journey, Wei has never lost sight of her ultimate mission of helping people socioeconomically. In this interview with AHN, she discusses her upbringing and the early days of her founder’s journey.

HanYue: Tell us about the early days of Clipboard Health, what type of challenges did you have to overcome? 

Wei: It wasn’t called Clipboard Health when I started. It was initially a way to refinance student loans. I spent time talking to customers, figuring out who wanted to buy the fintech products, and talking to different customers again but I just didn’t feel the pull of the market, but I noticed that nurses wanted help finding a job. However, the hospitals only wanted to help people with experiences. So I pivoted to a clinical fellowship to help train nurses, figuring out what the clinical partners need, and help nurses find jobs. 

After pivoting through 6-7 different ideas – I finally landed on the Clipboard Health model, a marketplace that helps with nurse staffing. In the early days, we were very much focused on launching a product and talking to users.

Edwin: How do you judge when to pivot and when to stop working on an idea?

Wei: I wish there was a magic formula – but there isn’t. Having seen some other friends who have found PMF was helpful. For our products, our customers could live with it or without it. They didn’t have any strong opinions about it. That was a sign to me that it’s not working. For most ideas, I gave it to 3-6 months. What was frustrating is that sometimes you would have some initial glimmer of hope – some people are using it, and you wonder to yourself, is that a real sign?

For a good product, I found out that even if the product isn’t built out, people still want to use it, and people care about it a lot. You can feel the pull of the market. 

HanYue: There is clearly an unrelenting drive to pursue entrepreneurship, what kept you going during the early days? 

Wei: Quitting just never occurred to me. In the beginning, I mostly called the things I worked on projects, and when they didn’t work out,  I just never gave up.

Of course, there were frustrating moments: when I first went fundraising, I got told no 16 times. I was a solo founder, so there was no one to help me. I taught myself coding and sales to get started. I think the big realization is that even if you encounter nos and the product is not working, as long as you keep working and don’t quit, you are getting closer to a yes. 

HanYue: That was really inspiring – as long as you keep working, you are getting closer to a yes. Want to switch gears a little bit, how did you meet your co-founder? What was it like building out the initial team? 

Wei: In the early days, it was just me. My husband joined me after 3 years. By that time we already raised Series A, we were growing and had some traction. He initially joined to help out for 3 months, then stayed on for a few years.

Building out the team, we had a lot of trials and errors. We definitely made some mistakes – I had engineers whom you couldn’t get ahold of even when I was trying to fire them. We had one head of sales who built out our sales team but it turned out he was working for a competitor at the same time and was giving them our customer list, and all the people who worked for him were also working for the competitor. But luckily, some good people stayed and really they are what made us successful. 

HanYue: Tell us about the people who stayed. What made them successful? 

Wei: Oh, I love talking about this because it is what we look for during hiring. They have to care about the problem a lot. It is actually very obvious whether people are just here to collect paychecks, going through the motions, or if they really care about the problem. 

They are really curious. They are always looking for clues. If a customer says no, or churns, they are always digging in and figuring out why, instead of taking it as a given – oh they just didn’t want to use the product.

They also have ownership and initiative. They never just bring a list of problems. The best people I’ve had, they’ve brought me problems I didn’t know we had, and they’ve already thought about how to solve them. 

So initiative, ownership, and curiosity are our people and company values. 

HanYue: That’s wonderful to hear that there is such a close alignment between the people’s values and company values. What was your proudest achievement so far?

Wei: Honestly, I think it’s assembling a great team. We’ve gone through a lot of great pains in hiring, but now we have an awesome team to move together. Nowadays, even if I pull my foot off the gas, they are still serving our customers the best they can, and that is very special. 

The second thing is the customers we’ve been able to help, but that is honestly more of a proxy of how great our team is. 

HanYue: Tell us a bit about your upbringing. How has being Asian influenced your entrepreneurship journey and your general approach to life?

Wei: I grew up with my mom and my dad. We grew up in Kentucky, there were not a lot of Asians in Kentucky. 

My dad had this mentality: you don’t need permission to learn something. I remember trying to go to a national science fair – I was 16 and needed to learn calculus, but calculus was a college-level class and I was thinking, “Oh, maybe I can’t because I had to wait to learn calculus later.” My dad just said, get a textbook and figure it out yourself. That’s something I carried forward in life.

When I started, I didn’t have to have someone who knew how to code, I could just learn coding myself and get started. I never did sales before and didn’t have someone I could rely on for sales, but I could just pick up a phone and start doing cold calls. It’s the sense that nothing is beyond my reach, you don’t need to wait for the perfect moment or something/someone to depend on to get started. 

There weren’t many Asians in the area I was from. We stuck together but we were also super competitive with each other. There were two people in high school I was constantly competing against, and I think in a lot of ways it brought out the best in me. Personally, I am not competitive, but I found having someone neck-to-neck with you really makes me thrive. 

HanYue: Congrats on the unicorn status – it’s an incredible achievement! What suggestion do you have for founders who are still searching for product market fit out there?

The only thing that matters is to understand the customer’s pain points deeper than anything else. Rather than spending time on solutions, spend more time on understanding the problem. Actually, you might find that you are not even starting with the right customers – you might have to pivot a few times to find the right customers.

When you find them – look at their habits. People who are saying they want to lose weight, but if they are not going to the gym or tracking their calories or metrics, then weight loss is just not that big of a deal to them.

When talking to them, you need to look for: Are they spending money on it? Are they spending a lot of money but still can’t solve the problem? That is a potential area you can go to. The chances are that you can find a lot of good solutions –  you can have the greatest AI and greatest product, but if it is not solving a real problem, then no one will end up paying for the solution. 

Edwin: Are there mechanisms and processes you use to tease this information out? 

Wei: We just look at their behaviors. Are they spending money? Is the pain point really painful? 

When it came to staffing, it was obvious, that the customers we talked to were spending all of this money to putting together spreadsheets and tracking attendance. It was clearly a big pain point they wanted to solve. 

My father passed last year, I remember spending so much time looking for a caregiver for him. If someone gave me a set of solutions, even if not super built out – just a list of caregivers or a list of places that could care for him, I would definitely want to talk to that person. 

HanYue: Thanks for sharing a deeply personal moment with us. It really makes sense that as founders we needed to find the most painful problem to solve. Where do you go from here? What’s next for Clipboard Health?

Wei: Personally, I have two kids and I spend a lot of time with them. For the company, we want to continue expanding beyond healthcare professionals. We started with nursing – but we wanted to allow workers of all industries the benefits of flexibility and economic empowerment. 

At Clipboard Health, we also have an internal MBA-like program. If you are a product manager but want to learn, we will teach you cross-functional skills – engineering, sales, and other things.

The hypothesis is that eventually if people leave and want to go and start their own company, I could enable them to have a much broader scope than just their own focus. We have engineers doing sales, customer support, and product and they all love it because they get to implement and continue to broaden their scope. One of our heads of sales was a product manager – they kept asking questions and wanted to learn about sales so they got the chance to lean into their curiosity.

I want to scale this program up as the company scales up to develop people. Because if you invest in people internally, what you get is phenomenal: People who are already invested in your culture, and know your product really well have more methods to help your customers and grow better. 

Edwin: I see some parallels to your journey as well – the early days when you had to teach yourself coding and sales. One thing you talked about is expanding to verticals, how are you finding the new verticals? 

Wei: We have a more systematic approach: we read the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and try to look at professions that need help. Maybe some professions are losing steam, etc. We also have lots of customers in healthcare and there is a a surprising number of professions to fill up there – we need janitors to clean up, cooks to cook for the dining hall, servers and waiters, and trainers for physical therapy patients. There are some natural adjacent areas. Customers are providing those insights to us and where they need help.

Edwin: Are you afraid of losing focus? 

Wei: Focus is overrated, You should try to be good at some core competencies – but it all depends on how you define your core. if we define our core as a flexible labor marketplace, then we have lots of room to build. 

If you look at any ambitious company, they have a ton of products and they might seem totally unorthodox to each other. Amazing doesn’t look focused: they have AWS and it has nothing to do with selling books. Or if you think of people around you, some of them are good at maths, instruments and some type of sports. No one is like: you should only be good at math – people develop expertise in multiple areas. 

There is certainly a concern about chasing shiny new projects. We try to only pursue things that we have pre-thought out and really ask ourselves – do we want to be more ambitious than we currently are, or are we just chasing a shiny new object? 

Wei’s journey with Clipboard Health underscores the importance of persistence, adaptability, and deep customer understanding. Her story is a testament to the power of resilience in entrepreneurship, demonstrating that with unwavering determination and a keen focus on solving real problems, success is within reach. The AHN team thanks Wei for having this conversation with us! 

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Kun Gao

Awaken* newsletter

From Founder to Founder with Kun Gao, Former CEO and Co-founder of Crunchyroll: 7 Hidden Ways for Startups to Succeed 

This article was co-written by Edwin Ong from the AHN Ventures team and Lennie Zhu, who is the Founder of 01 Labs, a product studio that builds products with early-stage software companies serving creators (media, entertainment, social), small businesses and independents. She has worked with startups such as HIFI (acquired by Block), F*** You Pay Me, and more. One of AHN Ventures’ portfolio founders, Amartya Jha, was the lead interviewer. Amartya is the Co-founder & CEO of CodeAnt AI, a DevTool that helps companies find and auto-fix code issues and security vulnerabilities used by small teams all the way to large unicorns.

In this edition, we had the honor of hosting an exclusive advisory session between Kun Gao, co-founder and former CEO of Crunchyroll, and Amartya Jha of Codeant AI. For those who don’t know, Crunchyroll is the leading anime streaming service with over 13 million subscribers as of 2024, and was last valued at $1.5 billion when it was sold to Sony in 2020. Nowadays, Kun works on two new companies that he co-founded: GGWP, an AI-powered game moderation platform; and Forge, which rewards gamers within and out-of-game prizes for the data they generate through gaming.

We are excited to share 7 hidden lessons for founders from our conversation with Kun.

1. The consumer products that succeed are the ones that go viral – and that can be hard to predict

One of Kun’s early insights was that consumer apps with baked-in virality tend to be the ones that work out. Examples of built-in viral features are share buttons, “invite a friend/collaborator features,” or content that can be easily reposted. 

However, consumer behavior can be notoriously difficult to predict. Unless you have superior product sense like Steve Jobs, your best bet is to take your best guess, then ship quickly and avoid getting caught up in minute details. If your product truly has value, people will use it even if it isn’t polished. Need proof? Check out the screenshot below of what Crunchyroll looked like in 2006. 

Kun: “One of the lessons I learned from that experience is that you really don’t know what the consumer mindset is. You can have a guess, but with pure consumer experiences, it’s better to just try something, throw it against the wall, and see if it sticks. Then, you can collect the data, iterate, and see what works and what doesn’t.

We developed the first version of Crunchyroll in about a month. We put it out there and shared it with our friends. They started using it, and pretty soon we had hundreds, then thousands of users. At the end of the day, it’s about making something really engaging that can capture an audience and get them to virally spread it. Those kinds of consumer products just inherently grow. So my advice would be to think about how to build products that inherently have virality built in.”

2. Build something that solves your own problems

The advantage of building something for yourself is that you will have at least one user out of the gate, and likely a few others since you likely have some friends with similar issues. Furthermore, you’ll be able to understand the customers’ needs because *you* are the customer. For Crunchyroll, this allowed them to cut out hiring product people and only hire engineers at the start

Kun: “With Crunchyroll, we were trying to solve a problem that we personally had. Every Thursday, Naruto would come out on TV in Japan, and it would be only accessible in the US on unreliable torrent websites. We just wanted a place where we could watch Naruto at 6 p.m. every Thursday after work. 

We knew we could get at least a starting set of users because we had that problem, and we were our own consumers…. We also knew we could get all of our friends to use it because we knew they were experiencing the same problem. And so we built Crunchyroll.”

3. Experiment relentlessly until you perfect your conversion funnel

What is often talked about when monetization is on the agenda is “What monetization model makes sense for my company?” Subscriptions, one-time purchases, ad revenue, freemium…the list goes on. But what gets less airtime yet is arguably even more important is how to optimize your conversion funnel. While there is no glory in experimenting with things like button placement, CTA copy, and 1 vs. 3-step payment flows, those kinds of nitty-gritty decisions are exactly what separate “businesses with potential” from the real moneymakers. 

Kun: “Before [we started offering paid subscriptions], we already had a decent amount of users, around a few million. When we flipped the switch to premium content, around 10,000 people converted to paid, which is really low. We thought we would get 50,000, but we only got 10,000 people to convert to paid. The rest stayed on as free users. So then we had to figure out why more people weren’t converting.

We ran some tests on alternative business models. We tested charging per episode, and even some rental models. Those tests didn’t perform that well, so we decided to double down and optimize our subscription model. 

To tackle [conversion], we basically annotated everything on the site and figured out what users were clicking, what they were looking at, and which buttons converted better. Should we start with a free trial? If it’s a free trial, should it be seven days or four? The size of the icons—we basically tested everything, especially in the first year… Over time, we were able to convert the majority of the audience to become paid subscribers.”

4. Ride societal waves in culture and technology

It’s important for every company to have an answer to the question “Why now?” What was not true before, that is now true and enables the product to succeed? This could be something technological or societal. In the case of Crunchyroll, Twitch, and YouTube, the explosion of video streaming was a major driver for those platforms to reach the dizzying levels of success they have today. 

Kun: “Part of what separated us was that we were in the right place at the right time. If you look at all the successful video platforms today—YouTube, Twitch, Crunchyroll—they all started at basically the same time, around the 2004 to 2006 period. You kind of needed to start during that time to be successful. 

Within that time frame, there were also a lot of competitors we were competing with. Platforms like Stage Six, Veoh, and Joost were trying to go after the same space and opportunity. Speed was really important because there was a land grab for distribution at that time. When I say distribution, I mean the proliferation of consumer devices besides the PC from 2006 to 2007, all the way until the early 2010s. Because of our speed, we were able to build these platforms before everyone else and ride that wave of device growth. We were one of the first launch partners on PlayStation alongside Netflix. Being able to build on new platforms with a product engineering focus first allowed us to outgrow and out-distribute others in the space.”

5. The best companies expand their markets or create new ones

Today, Crunchyroll has over 13 million subscribers. There were a lot of external factors that drove the massive growth in the popularity of anime, including the pandemic, but Crunchyroll itself played a major part in making anime more mainstream because it made it accessible to Western audiences. 

Kun: “The thing that surprised me most was that our TAM (Total Addressable Market) ended up being much bigger than we expected. I would project that we would maybe hit 200,000 subscribers. That’s it. Then when we actually reached 200,000 subscribers, we thought maybe we’d get to a million. And then when we got to a million, we thought maybe we’d get to 3 million. The growth itself has really surprised even us. Today, it’s the largest pure vertical play among all the content verticals out there. Initially, because we didn’t expect our TAM to be so big, our approach was to super-serve our audience and do way more than just streaming, which we eventually did, but it just continued to grow even beyond our expectations.”

6. Get creative about how to finance your startup

Many founders’ minds jump immediately to venture funding when they consider how to support their companies. But raising venture money can be a long and difficult path, and it’s not always the right choice for every startup. Timing is everything, and bringing in outside capital before establishing product-market fit can be a mistake, driving founders to pivot into oblivion. Kun gave us a look behind the curtain at how Crunchyroll funded itself before venture money, which included user donations, partner investments, and- yes, credit cards. While taking on significant credit card debt may not be recommended, staying open-minded about where your financing could come from is.

Kun: [Before we were profitable, we financed Crunchyroll with] venture money, and maxed out our credit cards before that. For a period of time, we also accepted donations. Before we raised VC funding, we had pretty hefty bandwidth bills because video streaming was very expensive. At some point, we realized that we couldn’t sustain the site. At the same time, we couldn’t directly charge users because we didn’t own the content. That was the motivation behind accepting donations. To give the users some incentive to donate, we built a very sticky social product where users could create an account, participate in forums, and chat with other anime fans. Anyone who donated would get a star next to their name so people would know that the person donated. It was an appeal to social status and social proof. That was enough to offset some of the bandwidth bills in the early days before we had venture funding.

I [also went to one of] our biggest content partners, the folks who license the content to us, and asked if they wanted to own a piece of the business. It made a lot of sense because if they invested, they would also have a vested interest in the platform and could capture more of the value that their shows were generating. It was a win-win. We took in about a million dollars, which was enough to bridge us to the break-even point.

7. As an Asian founder, take advantage of your inherent cultural strengths

Asian founders starting businesses in Western countries should not underestimate their ability to globalize their businesses by capitalizing on Asian markets, which they may be much better positioned to do than their non-Asian counterparts. Fundamental cultural context that you may not even acknowledge your grasp can help you succeed overseas.

Kun: “With Crunchyroll, we obviously worked a lot with Japan. I think that because I’m Asian, they trusted me more. At the end of the day, it was also about understanding and appreciating their value system, which is very different from the US. In the US, it’s really about the value proposition. In Asia, it’s much more about relationships and trust, so we really leaned into that. Maybe part of that was influenced by our upbringing. You can’t just show up and expect deals immediately. You need to be around, be persistent, and show them that you’re committed. But that might be a bit of a unique situation for us.”

Conclusion

Thank you to Kun Gao for the interview! If you are a gaming company looking for moderation tools, please consider checking out GGWP, and if you are a gamer wondering why you aren’t being rewarded for the mountains of data you are generating, please check out Forge!

Written by Edwin Ong and Lennie Zhu

  • 10 min read
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Stories

John D. Tran Overcomes Industry Barriers to Empower Startups 

Navigating the world of law and order as an Asian American can be convoluted. However, as John D. Tran Talks about working with start-ups like AHN, overcoming industry barriers, and the power of mentorship.

A fun fact that encapsulates John’s impact is that he was the trademark attorney who helped protect and register the ASIAN HUSTLE NETWORK name back in 2019—a contribution that underscores his dedication to empowering the Asian American community.

As a Partner at the Rhema Law Group®, John has spent over 20 years working as a Registered Patent Attorney, Intellectual Property Counsel & IP litigator, driven by a mission to aid startups & emerging companies navigating the complex business world. 

Finding Balance & Purpose in the Madness

In 2012, with the arrival of their boy-girl twins, John and his wife Rosalind Ong switched gears. Both seasoned lawyers at larger firms, the duo seized this joyful moment and joined forces to partner at a private law firm, Rhema Law Group, which specializes in intellectual property, business, and corporate law. While people may think being a lawyer trades much of one’s freedom for endless tedious readings into acts and regulations, John finds a nice work/life balance being a “cool” dad to twins (double the coolness), playing basketball, and being an avid sports fan, but finds ultimate enjoyment in spending time with friends and family.  

Protecting the Interests of Start-Ups & Emerging Businesses

Working as a lawyer for startups can be tough, considering how new and fragile they are in the market. While his work requires a focus on quality, integrity, and community, John treats startups with extreme care and attention, prioritizing personalization and case-by-case flexibility for each of his clients. He understands that these new businesses often operate on tight budgets, but also wants his clients to recognize the importance of investing in intellectual property protection right from the start. 

This is not just about legal protection—it’s an act of partnership, building relationships with the clients, getting to know who they are, and helping them grow. John said in an interview with AHN:

“With start-ups, even those backed by investors or venture capitalists, you’re usually dealing with a limited budget that needs to be responsibly allocated across various areas, such as R&D, marketing, sales, employment, and more. A good IP attorney will understand these constraints and focus on identifying the core IP of the start-up that needs to be protected from the outset while determining which IP can be addressed later.

Also, we find it important to conduct IP ‘think tank’ sessions, where we work closely with our clients to identify what protectable IP the company has and then develop an overall IP portfolio strategy. From trademarks, patents, copyrights and even trade secrets, approaching a business’s IP ensures that the start-up’s IP is properly protected at every stage of its growth. It’s incredibly rewarding to work with start-ups and emerging companies, watching them grow and mature over the years, and being a small part of their journey to success.”

John finds pride in working with primarily Vietnamese, Asian and minority-run companies.  His client list ranges from the small entrepreneur with an idea to multi-million dollar manufacturers with hundreds of employees working overseas. 

Building Leaders and Communities

His legal acumen has been shaped by mentorship, as he profoundly affirms his gratitude and advocacy for what mentorship has given him, “I think mentorship is so important, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without being fortunate enough to be mentored by some great people in my life, both professionally and personally.”

Above all, mentorship is not just a veteran-novice work of professional guidance, but, to John, it is a way of personal growth for everyone involved. This mindset coheres with his work ethic, where he hones his expertise (as startups can be quite a hard case to crack, your honor) while supporting their growth. 

“Mentoring builds up individuals, individuals build up communities, and communities raise families, support businesses, and can become the social networks that bring people together. For me, personally, mentorship has been a valued and rewarding part of my life. My wife and I have been fortunate to mentor several individuals for over 15 years, many of whom we met while volunteering at a leadership camp for foster care and at-risk teens.”

For John, mentorship is about time, consistency, and authenticity—qualities he embodies both professionally and personally.

“One particular mentee has become a little brother to me. We have mentored Salesi since he was 12, and then he served in the Army after high school and later worked at our law firm as a paralegal. Now, we’re proud to say that he has just been accepted to law school on scholarship! He was the first in his family to graduate from college and is now on his way to becoming a lawyer. Watching him grow and being there with him through the years has been such a rewarding experience, and it truly highlights the power of mentorship.”

A photo of John D. Tran (L) with his mentee who served in the Army and has just been accepted to law school on scholarship.

Navigating the Legal Landscape as an Asian American

Now, let’s get to the part where most Asian parents will be intrigued to see—being an Asian American attorney. There’s nothing that excites them more than when their kids come home and say “I want to be an attorney.” Respect, stability, and profitability—needless to say more. However, as an Asian American attorney in a predominantly white male-dominated industry, John has faced a sense of isolation and underrepresentation within the industry, forging the urge to always have to outperform himself. 

“I remember the first time I appeared in court on a case—the judge looked at me, smiled, and asked if I was still in law school because I looked so young (haha). It’s that Asian curse! But thinking back now, although there have been great strides made in recent times, the legal industry is still greatly underrepresented when it comes to Asian American attorneys. In my field of intellectual property law, I primarily practice before the federal courts, which are still largely dominated by older white males. That’s just the way it is, and as an Asian American attorney, you can sometimes feel like you’re the only one and feel pressure to prove that you belong in such a competitive space.”

John has overcome them by focusing on his craft and building a reputation for doing great work. John’s advice to aspiring legal professionals all comes down to self-awareness and passion, emphasizing the importance of choosing a practice area that aligns with one’s strengths and personality, as well as the value of giving back through mentorship and community service.

“Matching your personality and skill set to a particular area of law is often overlooked. For example, if you’re an extrovert who likes to be ‘in the action’ of things, becoming a transactional attorney who drafts contracts and agreements at your desk all day may not be the best fit for you. Conversely, if you’re more of an introvert, choosing to become a litigator where you’re in court frequently and presenting oral arguments to a judge or jury may not be a good fit either… Additionally, I think serving on some non-profit organizations and local organizations are things that help provide joy & fulfillment, including what we talked about earlier regarding the power of mentorship.”

Connect With John D. Tran / Rhema Law Group®

“One thing I love about the law is that, for the most part, it is impartial.  So, if you’re a good attorney doing great work, it doesn’t matter if you’re white, black, brown, or blue,, there’s no limits to what you can achieve and accomplish.”

X: @patentjt

Website: www.rhemalaw.com 

Contact:  jdt@rhemalaw.com | 949-852-4430 

  • 7 min read
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News

Keith Dorrington and IW Group Bring ‘Hou Yi’ to Life, Exploring Family and Identity

Inspired by a career geographic shift and the late 90s nostalgia for a foreign land, Keith Dorrington and IW Group’s “Hou Yi” is an exploration of family identity, ego, and how love and care have the power to change the course of things.

Keith Dorrington, the man behind the storyline of “The Fighter,” and award-winning AAPI marketing firm IW Group have collaborated on a new movie project, which serves as his follow-up to the critically acclaimed boxing drama “The Fighter.”

In China, the film tells the story of a self-absorbed executive who unexpectedly becomes the guardian of a three-year-old orphan named Hou Yi. Despite the challenges of language and cultural differences, this unlikely duo develops a profound connection that transforms both their lives.

On “Hou Yi,” the movie broadens his cinematic ambiance, shifting from less “kicking and screaming” to a more subtle and lighter tone. However, the complexities of family and existentialist values that can be felt in “The Fighter” are still well-retained, even if there’s a perspective shift to fatherhood.

Dorrington’s partnership with the multicultural firm IW Group is one to note as the agency is known for connecting and highlighting cultures in their campaigns through impactful storytelling. Set in China, this movie marks a dynamic cross-production as Dorrington’s personal experience and the firm’s cultural expertise will meld into the rawest and most well-done cinematic universe for the audience. 

Dorrington expressed, “Bringing ‘Hou Yi’ to the screen has been a deeply personal mission of mine for over two decades. I’m thrilled to take this important step in making that happen.” He will executive-produce the film based on his original screenplay. He added, “This story means the world to me because it is inspired by the events surrounding my own daughter’s adoption. While I spent time in China in my former career, I’m by no means a cultural expert. I’m excited to partner with IW Group to deliver this story in the most authentic way possible.”

Keith Dorrington | Writer of “The Fighter” (2010) (Image Source: BigSpeak)

As a multicultural and multigenerational organization, IW Group has long been acknowledged for their cross-cultural marketing endeavors. Boasting a strong portfolio of partnerships with Walt Disney, Warner Bros., and the mega-viral “Barbie” campaign last year, the agency will be the main force behind “Hou Yi”’s marketing strategy and cross-national account management. Moreover, this also marks their initial direction towards filmmaking, which promises an explosive celebration of culture and stories.

“As an agency that works at the intersection of Hollywood, Madison Avenue, and Asia, we feel there are some amazing untapped opportunities in his current media landscape,” said Bill Imada, co-founder and chairman of IW Group and 2024 AAF Advertising Hall of Fame inductee, who serves as a producer on “Hou Yi.” “With IW Group approaching our 35th anniversary next year, I felt it was time to embark on an exciting new chapter and I can’t think of a better way to begin this journey than to collaborate with a writer of Keith’s caliber to bring his powerful and inspirational story to the silver screen.”  

Bill Imada, co-founder and chairman of IW Group and a 2024 AAF Advertising Hall of Fame inductee, who is also a producer on “Hou Yi,” said, “As an agency that operates at the crossroads of Hollywood, Madison Avenue, and Asia, we see incredible untapped opportunities in the current media landscape. 

Bill  Imada |  Co-founder and chairman of IW Group (Image Source: Bill Imada/ LinkedIn)

Telly Wong, IW Group Chief Content Officer and SVP, who is also a producer on “Hou Yi,” added, “We have two simple goals for “Hou Yi:” to produce a great film that resonates with global audiences and to explore the additional role our agency can play in the evolving world of media, entertainment, and culture. IW Group has always specialized in telling unique cultural stories in bold and innovative ways, and this new venture takes that philosophy to an exciting new level.”

  • 4 min read
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Stories

Spinning Dreams: DJ Baby Yu’s Quest to Celebrate Asian Talent and Transform the Music Scene

Paddling the world of parties and turntables, DJ Baby Yu’s story may not be in many Asian parents’ favor, who prefer more stable nine-to-five academic jobs. He talks about family expectations, the entertainment industry, the values of his “unconventional” job, and more. 

We all love dancing, don’t we? Sometimes, it feels good to just let your hair down and move to the music for a bit. That’s where DJs come in, blending beats and energizing crowds from all walks of life.

Nonetheless, this job may receive quite a few skeptical and questioning frowns from Asian parents. Uncontrollable parties, unprecedented futures, and unstoppable debaucheries are what the music industry is all about, many would argue. However, DJ Baby Yu is here to bring more Asian creatives to the forefront, shattering the traditional barriers that may hinder them.

Rewind to 28 years ago, in tight-knit local college radios and nightclubs, flooded with ravers and heart-throbbing hip-hop music. Daniel Nakayama, known as Baby Yu, who made mixtapes featuring hosts like Ye, Ciara, and The Game, might be unmoored; but he knew what he was doing and that he was doing it for the fun of it all.

Asian Parents and Conventional Jobs

If the nine-to-five cyclic life is considered to be successful in many Asian households, then the fun-blasting, bass-hitting life would be considered to be one of the most unconventional career paths. “Not all of us are destined for high-paying traditional jobs,” he said. “Generally speaking, our parents weren’t supportive unless we finished school, earned a degree, and pursued a prestigious job.”

Upon the chance meeting with an old friend who happened to be DJ-ing at a house party, uninvited yet inspired, he bought a pair of turntables and records the day right after. Starting to DJ in high school and defining his career at university, he describes the universal battle of fighting for your dream, especially for someone with an immigrant background, where traditional values were the guiding star.

As a child of immigrant parents from Miyazaki, Japan, I share the growing pains experienced by many first-generation Asian children. Our parents often try to shape our futures, pushing us toward careers like doctors, nurses, or lawyers, without considering our personal interests and passions.

At the end of the day, those expectations only came from their own experiences and their desire for their children to have a happy and stable future.

However, once my parents saw me perform on TV, heard me on the radio, and received praise from their friends’ children, they understood that I had found something that made me happy. That realization was all that mattered to them.

The Mash-Ups of Highs and Lows in the Music Industry

This industry is no stranger to a bad reputation, where another rising public darling replaces the ones who don’t transform, where every part of your career move is baselessly evaluated and overblown, where the radio label could count you out if they can no longer profit from you.

DJ Baby Yu (center) with Drake (left) and Jeezy

It’s tough work being an artist in this competitive landscape. One may have to toe the line for mainstream appeal. Some may scream “Smash it, I’m here to do my own thing.”

Whatever approach they may choose, the Internet has given rise to the demand for artists with distinctive musical personalities. “There are no rules for how you should express yourself in life,” he says. “If people understand and believe in you, they’ll follow. If not, that’s okay—they’re not your audience. There will always be those who appreciate your art and direction. Focusing on this has helped me overcome any obstacles life throws my way.”

He Did It for the Fun and He Did It for the Asians

Despite the struggles, Daniel took a moment to reflect on what he had learned from his shows around the world, where he gets to travel to new places, meet new people, throw joyful parties, and try new things.

As I matured in the industry, I ventured into new areas, working on artist development and taking on marketing and branding projects for companies like Puff Puff in Thailand and Whims in Austin. Event planning is another passion of mine, and I particularly enjoy creating fun and unique events.

A shot from the Wiz Khalifa: Under The Influence of Music Tour in Toronto, Canada, featuring Daniel as the tour DJ for Jeezy

Back in Toronto, he was holding a “branded party” called Playbook Social, where he mixed “food, cocktails, karaoke and DJs.” The party sold out, seated the most versatile community in the city. Of course, if you were in the game for the right purpose, like-minded individuals will team up and recognize what you’re doing, even way before you realize it. It turns out that what he’s been doing has such a tremendous impact on the AAPI community.

There have been several times in my life when loyal supporters have come up to me and thanked me for what I do, often ending with the phrase, “You’re doing it for all the Asians!” For a while, I didn’t fully understand that sentiment. In my mind, I was doing it for myself, for the love of music, and to make everyone around me happy.

However, as I traveled and understood my cultural position in the industry, whether I was the only Asian in a room full of Hip Hop leaders or in the pop scene dominated by white people, I realized there weren’t many Asians in these spaces. Times have changed now, with K-pop gaining global popularity, but back then, it was different. Asians weren’t the creators of R&B, soul, Hip Hop, house, rock, or pop music; we were lovers of these cultures, trying to fit in.

Connect With DJ Baby Yu

Curating a unique and eventful experience is the ultimate wish of any musician. DJ Baby Yu has never been one to shy away from collaborating with rising Asian talents. His upcoming event, a collaboration project with UPRISERS, a Japanese female-owned AAPI streetwear brand, is meant to bring together great Asian talent and leaders for celebration and appreciation.

I’ve teamed up with UPRISERS, a Japanese female-owned AAPI streetwear brand, to celebrate their 5th anniversary. Other AAPI groups, such as FACE (Filipinos Advancing Creative Education) and Represent ASIAN Project, are also promoting this event. My goal is to bring together great Asian talent and leaders under one roof to celebrate each other.

This event is also one of the official events of SKAM Summer 2024, a two-day DJ and influencer weekend at the Mondrian Hotel in West Hollywood, created by Sujit Kundu of SKAM Artist (more information at https://skamartist.com/skamsummer).

“Now, I truly understand when people say, “I’m doing it for the Asians.” As a leader, I want to guide and nurture the next generations with the experiences and knowledge I’ve gained over my 28-year career, especially within the Asian community. Collaborating with Uprisers is one way to bring Asian leaders together to celebrate life and acknowledge our achievements.”

Event details:
RSVP: https://UPRISERSxSKAMSUMMERxBABYYU.eventbrite.com
Date: Monday, August 19, 2024
Time: 8 PM – Midnight (PT)
Location: Kimpton Everly Hotel, 1800 Argyle Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90028

Personal contact
Website: https://babyyu.com/
IG: @djbabyyu

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