Hey 👋 I go by HaoHao (like *how* are you doing, but twice). I’m a Torontonian based in SF who is trying to recover from one of the worst downturns of my life.
I recently uprooted my entire life and almost got disowned by my parents to try and build a company with my childhood friend in the golden city of tech, San Francisco.
Only for him to get poached less than a month into the new year.
Let’s back up a little. I started my builders journey at the beginning of the pandemic (summer 2020) with a not-for-profit called iContribute. Our goal was to help students discover their career passions through volunteering. What began as a side project quickly grew into something much bigger.
Within a year, we launched 3 separate products, partnered with 70 not-for-profits, and distributed our app to over 7000 students. Unfortunately, as I was nearing graduation, I realized that the road to monetization was much harder than I thought.
And so I left the not-for-profit I had poured 2 years of time, heart, and soul into, dropped out of school, and embarked on the path to being a founder.
Over the next 10 months, I looked into hand hygienics in hospitals, keyboard alternatives for AR glasses, vetting systems for caregivers, and so much more. None of which worked out.
Eventually, I started working with an old friend and finally things looked promising.
We decided to go all in and move to SF. We shared a dream of building something incredible, together. We were on a mission to go to the moon.
Things took a turn for the worse when we realized our product wasn’t working the day before our flight left. We spent the next 3 weeks in pivot hell, searching for any version of a problem we could tackle.
Towards the end of the month, my co-founder was scouted by another company to join their founding team. They were well funded, had a reputable team, and were in one of the world’s top accelerator programs. It was everything we had ever dreamed of, and more.
The only problem? They only wanted a technical founder.
My co-founder and I talked for hours over the next few days. Eventually we decided it was better for him to move forward and join their team.
For myself, it was as if I was a piece of broccoli trying to disguise myself as a big mac. I realized I didn’t have a superpower to pitch to this new company.
Over this last year, I’ve gone through 5 separate co-founders and 4 different ventures, all of which ended for one reason or another. Like relationships, after a certain number of breakups, you start wondering if something is wrong with you and your traits, and not the people around you.
I realized I was a generalist, a jack of all trades, a master of none.
This was one of the moments where I had put all my eggs into one basket, and it didn’t work out. With limited information, I tried to do what I thought was right and what I believed in.
So what now? I’m in SF for the next 5 months, I want to grow, I want to maximize my time here for this next half year. Will I co-write a novel with ChatGPT? Work as a barista? Join the guy who sells mushrooms at Dolores Park?
One of my professors once said, “magic can only happen when you commit — fully”.
I have never hoped for something to be more true.
Anyways, how is YOUR day coming along?
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Check out an animated video of the story here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH1mfobqSS0
