In this episode of Conductive Conversations, Carey Lai, co-founder and managing director of Conductive Ventures, speaks with Abigail Hing Wen, New York Times bestselling author and former Silicon Valley dealmaker at Intel Capital. Abigail shares her unique journey from clerking at the DC Circuit Court to working at Intel on AI investments, and becoming a celebrated author and Hollywood filmmaker. She delves into her life, growing up with activist parents, navigating the often challenging career path as an Asian American woman and how she has honed her creative process writing novels. Abigail also discusses her transition to filmmaking with her directorial debut, 'The Vale', and the challenges and rewards of adapting her books into movies. 

About Abigail Hing Wen

Abigail Hing Wen works at the intersection of storytelling and technology. She is a New York Times Best Selling Author of five novels, producer, director, woman-in-tech leader specializing in artificial intelligence, as well as a mother of two. She writes and speaks about tech, AI ethics, women’s leadership and transforming culture.

Abigail penned the New York Times Best Selling and Indie Best Selling novel LOVEBOAT, TAIPEI and its two companion novels. She executive produced the film adaptation of the Paramount Plus original film, LOVE IN TAIPEI starring Ashley Liao (Hunger Games) and Ross Butler (Shazam). Her middle grade debut, THE VALE, has been partially adapted to a short film prequel THE VALE–ORIGINS starring Lea Salonga. She and her work have been profiled in Entertainment Weekly, The Hollywood Reporter, NBC News, Forbes, Fortune, Cosmopolitan, Bloomberg, Seventeen, Google Talk, People, People en Espanol, South China Morning Post and the World Journal, among others.

Abigail holds a BA from Harvard, where she took coursework in film, ethnic studies and government. She also holds a JD from Columbia and MFA in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. In her career in tech, she has negotiated multibillion dollar deals on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley, worked in venture capital and hosted Intel’s Artificial Intelligence podcast.

About Carey Lai

Carey Lai is a Founder and General Partner at Conductive Ventures focused on finding overlooked entrepreneurs who are building capital-efficient businesses who punch above their weight. With deep experience in software and tech-enabled services, Carey brings a results-driven, hands-on approach to scaling businesses empowering founders who dare to dream big and make the nearly impossible a reality.

Carey’s journey to becoming a seasoned venture investor over the past 20 years has been anything but conventional. Before founding Conductive Ventures, he spent over seven years diving into the world of tech investing at Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), where he specialized in later-stage, high-growth companies in the enterprise software realm.

He was involved with companies like ArcSight (ARST), At Road (ARDI), Business.com (DEXO), Concur (CNQR), Cortina Systems (acquired by Inphi), Danger (MSFT), Data Domain (EMC), Mobile365 (SAP), SuccessFactors (SFSF), Synchronoss (SNCR) and Yodlee (YDLE). After IVP, Carey continued to sharpen his investment experience at Intel Capital, where he honed his focus on the most promising Internet and enterprise software companies. His portfolio included 500Friends (acquired by Dentsu), Box (BOX), BrightEdge, Gigya (acquired by SAP), Kabam (acquired by Netmarble), Nexmo (acquired by Vonage), Onefinestay (acquired by AccorHotels), Sprinklr (CXM), and SweetLabs.

This episode of Conductive Conversations was produced by Carissa Lai for Conductive Ventures.

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In this episode of Conductive Conversations, Carey Lai, Founder & General Partner of Conductive Ventures, sits down with Joshua Lee, the comics-loving entrepreneur and former CEO of Ardius. Joshua opens up about his leap from a 14 year tax career at Ernst & Young to building and investing in startups, an inspiring path shaped by his single mom upbringing and experiences as an Asian American founder.

He dives into aligning passion with career, lessons from the venture capital world, and the tricky balance between family and work. As a founder and investor, Joshua leaves founders with one powerful insight: “Your cap table is everything—it’s the only thing that truly matters at the end of the day.”

​​Joshua and Carey met while in UCLA and have been life-long friends since.

About Joshua Lee

Joshua Lee is the co-founder and CEO of Ardius, which sold to Gusto in 2021. Prior to Ardius, Joshua served as a senior executive for over 13+ years with Ernst & Young, a leading global consulting and advisory firm. It was there he focused primarily on understanding the impact of various credits and incentives for both start-ups and Fortune 100 companies alike. After starting his own venture fund(s) soon thereafter, he noticed his portfolio of companies did not have the same access to these types of credits and decided to set out to democratize taxes.

A seasoned leader in start-up operations and funding, Joshua has had multiple exits as both an investor and founder. He continues to focus on fintech because it blends all of his accounting/tax knowledge with his passion for technology. Joshua currently serves on the boards of directors/advisors of numerous companies and holds multiple degrees in Business-Economics, Accounting, and Taxation.

About Carey Lai

Carey Lai is a Founder and General Partner at Conductive Ventures focused on finding overlooked entrepreneurs who are building capital-efficient businesses who punch above their weight. With deep experience in software and tech-enabled services, Carey brings a results-driven, hands-on approach to scaling businesses empowering founders who dare to dream big and make the nearly impossible a reality.

Carey’s journey to becoming a seasoned venture investor over the past 20 years has been anything but conventional. Before founding Conductive Ventures, he spent over seven years diving into the world of tech investing at Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), where he specialized in later-stage, high-growth companies in the enterprise software realm.

He was involved with companies like ArcSight (ARST), At Road (ARDI), Business.com (DEXO), Concur (CNQR), Cortina Systems (acquired by Inphi), Danger (MSFT), Data Domain (EMC), Mobile365 (SAP), SuccessFactors (SFSF), Synchronoss (SNCR) and Yodlee (YDLE)

After IVP, Carey continued to sharpen his investment experience at Intel Capital, where he honed his focus on the most promising Internet and enterprise software companies. His portfolio included 500Friends (acquired by Dentsu), Box (BOX), BrightEdge, Gigya (acquired by SAP), Kabam (acquired by Netmarble), Nexmo (acquired by Vonage), Onefinestay (acquired by AccorHotels), Sprinklr (CXM), and SweetLabs.

Carey’s roots trace back to Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he worked in the Technology Investment Banking Group. It was here that he got intimately involved in the software and financial technology sectors, handling high-profile offerings for tech giants like some of the leading technology companies in the world, including Blackbaud Software (BLKB), Computer Associates (CA), Hewlett Packard (HPQ), Sungard Data Systems (SDS), and Tibco Software (TIBX).

This episode of Conductive Conversations was produced by Carissa Lai for Conductive Ventures.

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In this episode of Conductive Conversations, Carey Lai, founder and managing director of Conductive Ventures, speaks with Kevin Chou, the Founder and CEO of Kabam and a five-time entrepreneur. He shares about the struggles of fundraising and competing against Facebook, why venture capital wasn't for him, and how AI is transforming the world. Join us as Kevin candidly discusses his unique career journey, the evolution of his first company into Kabam, and the essential qualities needed for entrepreneurial success.

02:15 Kevin’s unlikely path to entrepreneurship

08:34 Facebook and the birth of Kabam

12:37 Navigating the Financial Crisis and Pivots

20:58 Lessons in Leadership and Team Building

37:48 Fun Rapid-Fire Questions

41:01 Bill Gates' Leadership Style and Philanthropy

43:12 The Importance of Grit for Entrepreneurs

44:24 Luck vs. Hard Work

46:11 Finding the Right Mentor

48:29 Do Founders Need to Be Technical?

50:37 What Makes a Good VC to a Founder?

54:00 Fundraising vs Board Meetings

57:54 Staying Grounded in Silicon Valley

01:00:35 Being an Asian American Founder

01:05:50 The Future of AI On Learning and Jobs

01:13:50 Reflections on Success, Happiness and Legacy

01:20:17 A Minor Detour into Professional Poker

01:23:22 Outtakes

Kevin Chou is a five-time entrepreneur behind the companies Kabam, SuperLayer, Rally, Gen.G and Forte. Most recently, he co-founded Bright Saver, a nonprofit with the mission to make solar energy and storage accessible to everyone.

Kevin founded venture studio SuperLayer in 2021, whose mission is to build easy-to-use consumer crypto products that can bring in the next 100 million people into crypto. Prior to SuperLayer, Kevin founded Rally, a Creator Economy crypto protocol. Rally is a blockchain project for Creators and their fan communities to thrive together. In 2021, Rally reached a fully-diluted market cap of over $3 billion. Prior to that, Kevin was the founding CEO of Forte, a blockchain game developer platform. Forte's mission is to build a more collaborative future in gaming by realigning the economic relationship between players and developers. Forte raised at a multi-billion dollar valuation from SEA, Kora, Griffin, a16z, Union Grove, Canaan, and Battery in 2021.

Kevin currently serves as the Chairman of Gen.G, an esports enterprise bridging Asia and North America. He was the founding CEO of Gen.G in 2017. Gen.G is the parent company of Seoul Dynasty in the Overwatch League, as well as the 2017 League of Legends world champions.

Previously, Kevin was CEO and founder of Kabam, a top developer of mobile games. Kevin led the company from business plan founding to over $400M in annual revenue serving over 500 million players. Kabam developed leading partnerships with Marvel, Star Wars, Fast & Furious, Lord of the Rings, and Hunger Games. Kabam was profitable from 2012 until the sale of the company's studios to Netmarble, 21st Century Fox, and GAEA, which in total generated nearly $1 billion in value. Early in his career, Kevin was a venture capitalist at Canaan Partners investing in consumer internet and digital media.

In 2017, Kevin and his wife Connie Chen made the largest gift UC Berkeley has ever received from any of its alumni under the age of 40 to fund the Connie & Kevin Chou Hall at Berkeley Haas.

He's been honored by Fortune in 40 under 40, CNN in Smartest People in Tech, and Business Insider's Silicon Valley Top 100. In 2019, Kevin was honored as UC Berkeley's Alumnus of the Year. Kevin graduated magna cum laude from the UC Berkeley undergraduate Haas School of Business program. He serves on the Board of Trustees at UC Berkeley.

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In this episode, Carey Lai and Robin Chan from Conductive Ventures speak with Scott Kincaid, CFO of Zingtree. They dive deep into the evolving role of CFOs, the dynamic relationship between CEOs, CFOs and board members, and Scott's journey from Wall Street to the startup world. Discover the critical skills and experiences that shape a successful CFO and gain unique perspectives on corporate strategy, financial operations, and the impact of AI on the finance industry. Learn from Scott's intriguing anecdotes, career advice, and why being curious and having a strong opinion can be critical to success. Zingtree is an AI CX workflow platform for B2C enterprises, powering 500+ customers to create, manage, and automate support processes that everyone can follow. Carey is a Board Member of Zingtree, and led Zingtree's Series A investment for Conductive Ventures. 

02:30 Sports and Finance

07:22 JP Morgan, Wall Street and Pallets

16:00 I Went to Oxford to Get a Different Experience

21:20 From Corp Dev to CFO

28:02 Investor Blindspots

30:00 Running a Business is like Being GM of a Sports Team

34:12 The Evolving Role of The CFO: Strategic, Operational and Tactical

38:28 The Baby Snake Syndrome

40:56 Building Relationships With The Board

43:18 Being a CFO is a 24/7 Job

53:00  No Meaningful Lift from AI Yet

56:59 Superpowers

58:50  If You Don't Have An Opinion, You Are Less Valuable

59:24 Outtakes: Basketball, the Dol, and One Plant

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In this episode of Conductive Conversations, Conductive Ventures founding member and managing director Paul Yeh speaks with Steven Hong, the co-founder and CEO of Oculii, about his fascinating story growing up an “accidental entrepreneur” from Ohio, building a company with his father and his “oh crap” moment before he sold Oculii to Ambarella for $400M.

00:00 Introduction to Conductive Conversations

02:33 Growing up in Ohio: Steven's Early Life and Inspirations

04:28 The Accidental Entrepreneur: Stanford and Kumu Networks

15:44 How Oculii was Started

24:32 Working with His Father as a Co-Founder

29:18 Joining Kleiner Perkins and the Road Ahead

34:24 Going Back to Oculii and Learning from Mistakes

37:36 One of His Toughest Times

42:49 Getting a Second Wind

43:46 Going through the "Oh Crap" Moment

46:51 Out of the Darkness and Into the Light - Selling to Ambarella

50:25 I Learned You Have to Play Through the Whistle

53:02 Making the Decision to Sell

01:01:03 VCs are Here to Serve Our Entrepreneurs

01:02:08 The Future of Autonomous Driving

01:08:00 It's the Golden Age of Building Technology

Steven Hong is currently VP/GM at Ambarella (NASDAQ: AMBA), one of the market leaders in Multi Modal AI Inference Silicon. Steven joined Ambarella through its $400M All Cash acquisition of Oculii, where he was the CEO and Co-Founder, growing the company to become the leading provider of AI Software for Radar Perception. Prior to founding Oculii, Steven was a partner at Kleiner Perkins where he invested in early stage HardTech companies pioneering Autonomous Systems, AI + Machine Learning, Space, IoT, 3D Printing, Robotics, and Cloud Infrastructure. Before KP, Steven co-founded Kumu Networks. Steven started his career as a management/strategy consultant at McKinsey and Uber, where he specialized in M&A diligence and expansion strategy. Steven holds a PhD and MS in EECS from Stanford University where he won several best paper awards for his research in AI + Wireless Communications, and graduated at age 23 – completing both degrees in 3 years. Prior to Stanford, he received a B.S. in EECS from the University of Michigan.

Paul Yeh is a Founding Member and Managing Director at Conductive Ventures with $450M in AUM focused on investments in the areas of software, hardware, and technology-enabled services. Paul has over 20 years of venture capital, technology, product, and operations experience. Prior to Conductive Ventures, Paul was a Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), where he focused on KPCB’s hardware and sustainability investments. Paul has worked as a board director/observer with entrepreneurs at Ambiq Micro, Beyond Meat (BYND), Desktop Metal (DM), DJI, Gen.G esports, LuxVue (acquired by Apple), Oculii (acquired by Ambarella), Self Financial, Tripalink, among others. Before joining KPCB, Paul served as Director of Strategy & Business Development at Fisker Automotive, the manufacturer of premium plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. He worked directly with CEO Tom LaSorda (former President and CEO of Chrysler Group) and founder Henrik Fisker in setting the company’s short and long-term strategies. Paul also led joint-venture discussions with other automotive manufacturers across the world, where he managed team members from powertrain and vehicle engineering, manufacturing, purchasing, logistics, and sales. Paul has also worked at Next Autoworks as Director of Marketing & Finance. He began his career as an investment banking analyst focused on technology M&A at RBC Capital Markets. Paul also spent time at Ford Motor Company, McKinsey & Company, and Tesla Motors in various product development and operating roles. Paul earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. He also graduated with a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of California Berkeley.

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Carey Lai is founding member and managing director of Conductive Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm he founded with Paul Yeh in 2017. In this episode, Carey discusses his path into venture capital and the challenges of starting his own firm, why he likes investing in capital efficient companies and unconventional founders and what's next for the firm, seven years in. Conductive Conversations is a series from the Conductive Ventures team featuring tech investors, founders and CEOs and their authentic stories. This episode's host is Robin Chan, an investor at Conductive Ventures.

Carey Lai is a Founding Member and Managing Director at Conductive Ventures with $450M in AUM focused on investments in the areas of software, hardware, and technology-enabled services. Carey has over 20 years of venture capital and technology experience. Prior to Conductive Ventures, Carey spent over four years investing at Intel Capital focused on Internet and enterprise software companies. His portfolio included 500Friends (acquired by Dentsu), Box (BOX), BrightEdge, Gigya (acquired by SAP), Kabam (acquired by Netmarble), Nexmo (acquired by Vonage), Onefinestay (acquired by AccorHotels), Sprinklr (CXM), and SweetLabs.

Prior to Intel Capital, Carey worked at Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) where he focused on rapidly growing later-stage and growth-equity investments in Internet & enterprise software companies. He actively worked with the following IVP portfolio companies: ArcSight (ARST), At Road (ARDI), Business.com (DEXO), Concur (CNQR), Cortina Systems (acquired by Inphi), Danger (MSFT), Data Domain (EMC), Mobile365 (SAP), SuccessFactors (SFSF), Synchronoss (SNCR) and Yodlee (YDLE).

Carey also worked in the Technology Investment Banking Group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch as an Investment Banking Analyst focused on the software and financial technology sectors. His transaction experience included offerings for some of the leading technology companies in the world, including Blackbaud Software (BLKB), Computer Associates (CA), Hewlett Packard (HPQ), Sungard Data Systems (SDS), and Tibco Software (TIBX).

Carey has an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. He also graduated with a B.A. in International Economics from the University of California Los Angeles.

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