Dr. Kim Tan: Investing in Others

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About the Episode

Dr. Kim Tan, successful entrepreneur and promoter of hope through social impact, describes how investing deeply in the flourishing of other people is central to his mission in venture capital. He emphasizes the significance of intentional collaboration.

Serving with Rigor. Strengthening One Another. Inspiring a Movement.

Social venture capital entrepreneur Dr. Kim Tan sat down with Dr. Greg Jones to discuss his approach toward addressing environmental and societal needs in a way that accommodates human needs, and to stress the importance of collaboration in problem-solving and providing hope in others’ lives.

“The environment is actually a human problem,” Kim explained. “The environment is not a problem. Unless we resolve and tackle the human problems, we're not going to be successful at tackling the environmental problems.”

This episode covers…

• The significance of investing in others deeply and cultivating a passion for problem-solving within social impact projects.
  
  
• The effectiveness of accumulating a hardworking team within entrepreneurship ventures, and how successful initiatives thrive off collaboration. 
  
  
• The importance of thinking ahead on how to better the world in the future, and setting up stepping stones for the next generation to change the world.

Lift Others Up

While discussing his approach toward budgeting and time management within venture capital, Kim demonstrated how accounting for the needs of people is more critical than preoccupation with numbers.

“In our approach, we are investing in people, people, people,” Kim stressed. “We don't spend an awful lot of time on the numbers because numbers are always going to be wrong. We are investing really in the people, in the team and in the entrepreneur.”

Providing an example, Kim described how to use metrics focused on people to solve problems and create social impact.

“We can build wonderful schools, but if our kids are coming to school on one meal a day, they just won't develop. With some of the businesses that we are engaged in, we're measuring how many have two meals a day still.”

Describing a business his team developed, centered around a lack of proper plumbing in Kenya, Kim shared the investment strategy of two members of his team who are excellent at investing in others.

“These MIT students, David and Anil, just wanted to go and pilot this, and it's gone through so many iterations as well,” Kim praised. “Having capable leaders who will listen to fellow directors and advisors is how it’s gotten to this stage, and it's probably the second largest insect protein factory now in Africa.”

Tackle It as a Team

Kim credits the creation of successful businesses to developing humility, which leads to efficient teamwork.

“I think pride kills. Pride kills relationships, and pride kills businesses,” Kim illustrated. “With a business running 50 to a hundred people, at some stage, you've got to be humble enough to step aside and allow professional managers to come in and take the company forward.”

Elaborating on effective problem-solving through teamwork, Kim advised students, future leaders and future business owners to embrace creativity in collaborative teamwork.

“Employers are looking for students who can do problem solving because it requires you to understand the fundamentals of your subject, but it also wants you to be creative,” Kim said. “We are seeing the beginning of a trend that is centered more and more around project-based learning, where they're being asked to be creative and imaginative in solving problems.”

Kim’s goal is to create a movement in impactful global investments, which can only be done through teamwork.

“The only way we can change hearts and minds is through a movement. I can't do it on my own. We need a movement.”

Create A Better Future

When assessing the metrics to remedy social issues within his entrepreneurship, Kim shared how he makes it a priority to think ahead, especially in terms of human rights and basic needs.

“As a small business, we ask ourselves what metrics are the most important and meaningful and are relatively easy to measure. For us, still to this day 20 years on, the most useful metrics to measure are how many people have three meals a day.”

Kim described how he aspires to uplift the next generation through social venture capitalism and prioritizes access to higher education to create change-makers.

“Tertiary education requires the parents to start learning how to save and to say that their daughter's future is worth investing in,” Kim implored. “Women getting a college education means, in one generation, they can transform the economics of their families.”

Kim encouraged students to find people who inspire them to create change and highlighted the importance of finding encouragement to invoke hope in others’ lives.

“You’re inspired by others who are inspiring, and a bit of that rubs off on you,” Kim explained. “Go work with people who are already doing all this kind of work. That's the best thing to do. Go and work and spend some time with people who are inspiring you.”