For the last two years, I’ve been searching for examples of Asian minorities, leading successful tech companies. I’ve been wanting to hear their struggles, their successes, and seeking to understand their journeys.

All this has been in hopes of being to answer the questions (and many more): “Am I facing the same struggles you faced? How did you overcome? What would have you done differently?”

While there are lots of successful Asian founders out there – I’m struggling to find their stories, specifically the ones that have found their successes in technology.

To further frame this point, this search hasn’t been in hopes of finding shortcuts or quick wins. The search has been centered around seeing that my struggles aren’t unique and someone else has faced them.

You can easily say, “There’s tons of entrepreneurship, founder, and success stories and materials out there! Haven’t you seen those stories?”

Yes, that’s absolutely true. But keep reading.

When I reference entrepreneurship materials, books, podcasts, videos, and articles, it’s extremely hard to relate to those stories. Those stories are usually written by or depict non-minority founders.

My collection of questions starts growing while consuming those materials:

• Did they ever face any discrimination or bias in their career?
• How did being a minority complicate the process of building their startup?
• What did they do to overcome a stereotype?

Some founders simply may or may not have faced the struggles of minorities in technology, for example:

• Type-casted as poor leaders
• Not being outspoken or charismatic
• English as a second language
• Lack of sponsors, mentors, or promoters

Which leads me to say, “I have so many more questions!”

A quick Google search yields plenty of results and names: Tony Xu of Door Dash, Steven Chen of YouTube, Yony Feng of Peloton, and others but not much can be found covering their journeys.

I suspect this happens due to a myriad of reasons but we can save that discussion for another time. My initial hypothesis – privacy, cultural stigma, or even “can’t be bothered” is at play here.

Perhaps, as these successful folks move on in life, their ambitions (focused on other pursuits) have created a vacuum, shutting the door behind them, similar to when you rush inside your home over your door’s threshold and a gust of wind and flurry closes the door for you. Or maybe they’re simply tired? In any case, I certainly feel a void left behind some of these early, minority pioneers.

With introspection, my own path of entrepreneurship feels similar to my experience while applying to colleges in high school.

There was a lot of knowledge that seemed to be common but unbeknownst to myself and some of those around me. It wasn’t until my first year at USC, did I realize how much knowledge and experience some of my classmates had. It was also obvious that some of us were woefully underprepared.

The playbook of starting a tech company is clear and well trodden, similar to gaining admission to a university, but the playbook of starting a tech company as a minority? It feels like we’re still writing the first draft. Of the prologue.

It could be that my own peer group is at the forefront of this change, maybe we’re the second wave? It could also be that I’m looking in the wrong places. Regardless, we still hold the responsibility and privilege of blazing this path together.

As I work on Serendipity, there are days I wonder if I’m spending my time on the wrong things and there are days I have the strongest conviction that I’m building great things. This ambiguity is further compounded when I research for inspiration or guidance and all I see are experiences that don’t resonate with me personally.

This isn’t to say I’m feeling discouraged or wanting to quit. I take pride in my product conviction and have confidence in the direction I’m taking my company. I promise you, I will keep going.

For today’s essay, my call to action is asking all of you, raise stories, share successes (and failures), and educate those around you that aren’t privy to the inner-workings of some closed-system, whether it’s entrepreneurship, technology, or even education.

I’ll leave you with that promise I made above. I’ll keep building and keep sharing my experiences with you, in hope that for those wanting to follow on the same path, you’ll give me the honor of holding the door open for you.

All the best,

Jonathan

P.S.

As I was working on this essay, this podcast episode came up – which gave me the namesake of the essay, “Hold the Door Open”. The folks at the Level: Asian podcast are doing great work – I strongly suggest you give them a listen!

P.P.S.

I’ll have some fun business updates on Serendipity in the coming week or so! Keep an eye out for that post.