Ep 38: John Kim [Managing Partner, Amasia; Vlogger, Musician & Serial Entrepreneur]

John Yohan Kim serves as Managing Partner at Amasia, a cross-border venture capital firm that helps technology companies get global. He is a Kauffman Fellow, a Term Member at the Council of Foreign Relations, a member of the Young Leader's Circle at the Milken Institute and serves on various corporate and non-profit boards including those of Dialpad Communications, Kairos Society Asean and the Choson Exchange. But before all that, John began his career as a serial entrepreneur, founding a music internet and e-consulting business called The Y Group before joining as a violinist in the Ally, where he toured around the US and collaborated with top artists across the US and Korea, most notably receiving a platinum record for contributing to an album with Grammy Award winner, Brandy. All of that ended when John realised that he was still depressed despite pursuing his passion in music and during one performance, he heard God’s voice calling him to come home. Which kickstarted a journey that took him from the USA to Korea and now, Singapore. Highlights: 3:36: Being a rebel to be accepted by society 6:04: Suffering senioritis & nearly losing his place in University of Pennsylvania! 9:04: Hearing God telling him to “Come home” 17:56: Joining the rock band, The Ally, as a performing musician 19:09: Getting a platinum record for contributing to Grammy award-winning Brandy’s album 22:25: Crossing paths with John… Legend! 29:35: Pivoting from music to hedge funds 31:56: Corporate culture in Asia versus the West 33:18: Co-founding his own VC firm, Amasia 41:22: God is not a vending machine 43:25: Workplace conflict when work clashes with faith 54:57: Amasia’s 4Rs of Behaviour Change 58:01: Investing in Dialpad 1:05:00: Hearing God tell him to become a vlogger 1:06:00: Meeting Nuseir Yassin of Nasdaily 1:09:00: What Nas advised John to go from 200 views to 170k views and now, almost 1 million views! 1:12:23: Involving his family in his vlogs 1:17:14: Thoughts on Clubhouse 📍Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/38 💌 Sign up for the weekly STIMY newsletter: https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/ebf231f605