Meet Luke Kim | Serial Entrepreneur, Angel Investor, Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Luke Kim and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Luke, what role has risk played in your life or career?

Life is both a playground and a battlefield where most pivotal moments happen once and for the first time. False starts and setbacks are to be expected. At first, we learn to take risks on ourselves. Then, we learn to take risks on others. To evolve, we must each take risks even if we haven’t done something before or we feel discouraged. Courage does not always roar loudly. Sometimes, it’s the quiet voice at the end of the day saying “I will try again tomorrow.” As long as you’re following a sense of curiosity, pride, and belonging, you’re probably on the right path. When things go wrong, don’t turn a moment into a story. When you’re at a crossroads, beware of analysis paralysis and false dichotomies. Consider your doubts but do not entertain them.

There used to be a time when I was all in all the time. I met the world with enthusiasm and optimism, leading with my heart. This open attitude was the key to my early success when I had nothing to lose. Growing up in Tokyo and Seoul, I had a tumultuous childhood involving getting (almost) expelled thrice, spending most of my free time wrestling, and causing trouble in the city. When I immigrated to California, I tested into public school.They tried to put me in special education. During those years, I spent 100% of my waking hours studying, volunteering, doing team sports, and taking remedial classes. Three years later, I’d won national championships, got into UC Berkeley, and no longer spoke English with an accent. Constancy was a path to nowhere and, as painful as it was to admit, I couldn’t just be myself – I had to become someone else. The first big risk we take is to move past our limiting beliefs. We need to go kinetic in order to shake off the inertia of negativity and nothingness. People overestimate their short-term potential but underestimate their long-term potential.

Once we learn to take risks on ourselves and see them through, we can take risks on others with perspective and integrity. As a university student and young professional, I learned how to take risks with others, leading with my head instead of my heart. To pay my way through school, I joined an Estonian company when I was 19. I met with the founder and asked to lead North America sales. I offered free work since I had no experience, negotiating a contract for 10% of revenue and performance-based bonuses. I ended up tripling revenue, launching new offices in Europe, enjoying that sweet EUR/USD exchange to cover tuition. During this time, I volunteered by building communities and hosting events including hackathons like 3 Day Startup. One time, my friends and I found a proprietary smartwatch technology (James Bond level coolness) at a Spanish Consulate event. We pitched them a closed-door hackathon at UC Berkeley and took it all the way to the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, organizing (and winning) a broader hackathon across multiple nations. While all of this was happening, I still held gigs including ice cream server, night security, cleaner, office admin, martial arts coach, and barback.

These days, my formative years seem so far away. I’ve grown into a mindset of practical optimism and opportunistic wonder. I see risks and rewards in ways that are actionable and easeful. When assessing risks, seek inner lucidity instead of external clarity. Risks tend to feel bigger when we have more to lose. I see that life is a chain of events where we’re all just a few good decisions away from making a breakthrough.

What should our readers know about your business?

I’m an entrepreneur and investor at heart. I feel belonging in the world of venture startups and pride in my work building teams, products, and services. I’ve spent ten years running businesses in frontier tech and emerging markets worth tens of millions of dollars. I’ve lived and worked in more than 30 countries to make money and try things with friends. Being on the operator side of startup life is a massive hustle but it’s a better learning experience than any business school curriculum. If you’re the kind of person who has a bias for action and an experiential style of learning, think of the false starts and setbacks as tuition for your training.

When I started my career, I worked in cannabis venture capital, Swiss wealth management, civic innovation, and higher education. I studied Political Economy with a minor in Engineering Leadership, with a focus on transition economies from socialism and/or communism to capitalism. Prior to all of this, I organized several conferences with over 1,000 attendees in France, Portugal, and the United States.

These days, I specialize in go-to-market, strategy, and leadership. My main focus has been web3, which is the world of blockchain and crypto. Over the past seven years, I led marketing at (and/or cofounded) more than ten successful projects including a public token raise of $20 million and UC Berkeley’s blockchain accelerator. In 2018, I co-created the first public finance crypto models in the world with the Mayor’s Office of Syracuse (smart contract micro bonds and municipal utility tokens). I’ve consulted with public sector entities including the Dutch Consulate, Swiss Consulate, Latvian Commercial Service, South Korean Foreign Service, U.S. Department of Defense, and Norwegian Consulate about venture capital, startup ecosystems, and cutting-edge industries.

In order to make my expertise scale up and serve more people, I run an agency with a close friend who’s also a kickass marketer: Truth Cartel has looked after more than 40 clients and we offer performance-based growth and public relations. I also run sales at a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) called Raid Guild, which is a collective of the best web3 engineers doing business entirely through smart contracts. Until recently, I was the founder and director of a chapter of Startup Grind, which is the biggest entrepreneurial community in the world. My team built a local base of more than 600 people who came together to make friends, collaborate, and share.

My dream is to become a professor. I love to cultivate talent and help people solve problems. As a labor of love, I help select clientele with 1:1 coaching. I serve good people trying to increase freedom and prosperity in their lives. It’s best to make a living on your own terms and, in today’s economy, relying on salary instead of self is a path to poverty. Going from employee to entrepreneur is the modern-day American Dream. It could be a big change like quitting one’s job and building a startup. Or it could be small, creating some freelance income and making side projects that don’t conflict with full-time work. People no longer seek “fuck you money” – they seek “fuck you cash flow.” These days, the economy is rife with market disruptions, layoffs, and high inflation rates. I help people create total freedom in their lives by being mindful and self-aware about what calls to them, instead of finding a new job or going to school. My path was not easy and I enjoy helping others from firsthand battle-tested experience being an entrepreneur, digital nomad, and angel investor.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
When I moved to California from Tokyo and Seoul, I ended up in Orange County. I have fond memories of Los Angeles but my favorite places are the authentic Korean restaurants. Comparable to K-town in New York. Even in Seoul, we have 엘에이 갈비 which translates to “Los Angeles Ribs.”

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
First Sergeant Lyon (https://troynjrotc.org/naval-science-instructors-about) was the most important mentor of my formative years and he inspired me to stay the course when things were hard – with family, school, and life. He teaches at Troy High in Fullerton, California, and has more than 20 years of service in both the United States Marine Corps and in public education. He has a team-first mentality in all situations and he understands how to develop normal people into exceptional talent. I believe we have many unsung heroes in the world and this is a great example.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luke_use.the.force

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/lukekim153