Harbinger Asia

Kai Huang – From selling dance pads to rock stardom: bootstrapping Guitar Hero to $1B

Today we sit down with Kai Huang, co-founder of RedOctane and the iconic game Guitar Hero. Kai shares his journey, from growing up in Silicon Valley as the child of Taiwanese immigrants to creating one of the most legendary music game franchises of all time. He reflects on key lessons from building RedOctane, including an early pivot from renting video games (like Blockbuster) to selling high-margin dance pads — a move that helped them bootstrap growth despite early struggles raising venture capital. Kai reveals the inspiration behind Guitar Hero, their immediate and explosive growth, and the challenges of forecasting demand. He also shares clever strategies for managing retailer demand that fueled their rapid rise, ultimately leading to a $100m exit to Activision (all in stock) just eight months after launch. Activision’s stock went on to 10x (not a bad return!), while Guitar Hero generated billions more for the company. Kai also reflects on the role of luck, the importance of survival, and other key lessons learned along the way. Finally, he shares what he’s spending time on today, including with 886 Studios, a venture studio helping founders in Taiwan build for the global market. Show Notes (00:02:54) — Growing up in Silicon Valley and early influences (00:09:20) — Jumping into start-ups during the internet boom, Adux Software, early lessons (00:13:15) — Launching RedOctane: from video game rentals to dance pads. The importance of pricing (00:37:10) — Transitioning into music games and seeing the Guitar Hero opportunity (00:41:38) — Launching Guitar Hero, early success, managing retailers, and scaling up (00:59:41) — $100M acquisition by Activision and navigating post-acquisition growth (01:09:35) — Reflections on luck, survival, and entrepreneurship (01:17:55) — Building 886 Studios and supporting start-ups in Taiwan ----------------------------------------------- Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0wTzRhxv1K7UogRzXxllhz?si=OK3QErmaSjmp2zj1E3uYtg Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kai-huang-from-selling-dance-pads-to-rock-stardom-bootstrapping/id1271715066?i=1000702678710 Visit our Website: https://harbingerpodcast.substack.com/ Visit 886 Studios: https://886studios.com/

Building off the Beaten Path in Asia – with Metatheory COO Adam Bao

Hi folks, welcome back! Today Sandy Diao (Director of Growth at Descript) joins us to guest host and interview Adam Bao, founder of The Harbinger and COO at Metatheory. Since 2017, Adam took the path less traveled to explore business model innovation and venture deals across China, Taiwan, and SEA. Adam double clicks into startups he evaluated alongside Hurst Lin (Cofounder at Sina and DCM Ventures) during the Covid years. It’s a roving discussion that highlights the importance of unconventional thinking and competitive differentiation across categories ranging from e-bikes to K12 dance networks to selling upcycled trash products. Adam also describes his early entry into the world of Web3, building games + new IPs at Metatheory with Kevin Lin (Twitch cofounder) and the team. To date, Metatheory has launched the DuskBreakers IP collection, raised $24m+ from lead investors including a16z, Pantera, Dragonfly, Breyer Capital, Sfermion, and Merit Circle, and is currently building out its flagship games. Finally, Adam shares hard earned lessons about scaling high quality teams and organizations, and how he manages (and leverages) chronic pain as a lever. Show Notes (00:00:00) — An early education on the value of differentiation (00:04:40) — Insights into Chinese startups at Shunwei Capital (Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun’s fund) (00:07:35) — Building out The Harbinger podcast and network (00:14:05) — Generating 100m+ views for The Harbinger while on Chinese dating show 非诚勿扰 (If You Are The One) (00:18:33) — Segue to Segway-Ninebot (Loomo, delivery robots, and e-scooters!) (00:22:42) — Launching Beam, Asia Pacific’s largest shared micro-mobility company (00:27:32) — Moving to Taiwan during COVID, sniffing out unconventional opportunities and hidden gems with Hurst Lin (Cofounder at Sina and DCM Ventures) (00:41:28) — Taiwan the “recycling kingdom” and a business in upcycling trash! (00:47:52) — K12 dance education to power the next vertical social network? (00:53:03) — But what about manufacturing opportunities in Taiwan? (00:56:53) — The wacky world of games, Web3, and building with Kevin Lin (Twitch cofounder) (01:06:32) — Lessons learned while building Metatheory & DuskBreakers (01:11:53) — Managing chronic pain and finding strength in vulnerability Medium post here: https://medium.com/the-harbinger-china/building-off-the-beaten-path-in-asia-with-metatheory-coo-adam-bao-a31f16c750eb.

Hunting for Chinese Cloud Unicorns – with Eminence Ventures Founder Peter Cheng

Today we have joining us Peter Cheng, who is founding partner at Eminence Ventures. Eminence just raised $120m for its second fund focused on backing Chinese enterprise software and cloud start-ups. After a decade of torrid start-up growth driven by mobile and consumer internet, China’s enterprise software market is poised for a breakout and expected to reach $40bn in revenue in 2025. Peter shares with us his formative experiences across eBay, AdChina (adtech start-up he founded that was acquired by Alibaba), and Tencent (as GM of ads products), before launching his career as a venture capitalist. Peter provides an overview of China’s cloud market, key opportunities across horizontal and vertical software, AI, and IT infrastructure. He describes key success factors and go-to-market strategy for such companies, including for portfolio companies Tsign and Recurrent.ai. Finally, Peter illustrates key differences between the US and Chinese environments and how that impacts the development trajectory of software companies.

Ice Cream, Masa Son, and Bringing Wireless to China – with UT Starcom Founder Hong Lu

Today we have a special episode with Hong Lu, founder of UT Starcom, one of the pioneering telecom companies in China. Hong is widely respected not only as a tech entrepreneur, but also as founding chairman at SoftBank China Venture Capital (which wrote an initial $18m check for Alibaba), and for his close friendship and successful collaboration with Masayoshi Son, founder of SoftBank Group and the Vision Fund. The story goes, while working the night shift at an ice cream shop near UC Berkeley, Hong met Masa Son, who refused to pay for a milkshake unless it was made extra thick. The two Japanese speakers became fast friends and eventual business partners on Masa’s first start-up, an electronic translator that would sell to Sharp for $1.7m, and the rest is history. Hong shares with us his personal story, what it was like partnering with Masa on multiple ventures over the years, bringing wireless services to China, and key lessons learned along the way. Enjoy! Link to write-up: https://www.theharbingerchina.com/blog/ice-cream-masa-son-and-bringing-wireless-to-china-with-ut-starcom-founder

NFTs and the Metaverse - with Axie Infinity Cofounder Jeff Zirlin

Hi folks, welcome back to the Harbinger VC podcast. Today we have a conversation with my old friend from college, Jeff Zirlin, who is one of the founding members of Axie Infinity and runs their global growth efforts. In short, Axie Infinity created a Pokémon-inspired universe where players can earn tokens through gameplay, and in a just few years has become the #1 Ethereum game with over $1bn token market cap. Today’s interview is spontaneous, but I had to get Jeff on since NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and the Metaverse are white hot conversation topics these days, especially after Beeple’s $69 million NFT sale and Roblox’s IPO. We cover Jeff’s initial foray into the world of crypto starting with Ethereum and CryptoKitties, which eventually led to Axie Infinity. We talk through NFT technology in practical terms… what ownership over digital assets enables, starting with collectibles and brand IP but moving into games and virtual worlds. In particular, Jeff highlights the strength of the Axie Infinity community. While Axie is a fun game, it has also created a social network (and jobs platform!) based on play to earn opportunities and community engagement across its players globally, from the US and Europe to Japan and Southeast Asia. Write up: https://www.theharbingerchina.com/blog/nfts-and-the-metaverse-with-axie-infinity-cofounder-jeff-zirlin