3 pieces of advice for the aspiring founder from Unravel Carbon’s Grace Sai

You’re tired of your 9-to-5 job. You want to solve a real problem in the world. You want to build a company culture you’re proud of. You want to make an impact.

You want to be a startup founder.

Photo credit: gorodenkoff / 123RF

Congratulations! That’s great! Startups are always on the cutting edge of innovation, coming up with solutions that may go against conventions but solve real-world issues and can transform the way things work through scalable, tech-powered solutions with great growth potential.

As you dive into the entrepreneurial life, it’s important to take stock of and think carefully about what this journey could look like – and who better to hear from than someone who has walked the road before?

Grace Sai is a serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist who’s the co-founder of Unravel Carbon and currently CEO of the firm, which offers an enterprise software to help companies track and reduce their carbon emissions. She’s had two exits, and is certainly no stranger to the startup life.

Grace Sai, co-founder and CEO of Unravel Carbon / Photo credit: Grace Sai

As part of Tech in Asia School’s Aspiring Founders Program, she shared some insights on things founders-to-be should keep in mind as they start on their journeys. Here are three takeaways from her session.

1. Make sure you have founder-market fit

You’ve likely heard about product-market fit. But you first have to find a founder-market fit, which is “an indicator of a match between the founder and the problem they are going after.”

Broadly speaking, you need to be able to answer at least one of two questions:

• Why are you more qualified than anyone else to work on this problem?
• Why are you more passionate than anyone else about tackling this problem?

Founders either need to have the background and domain knowledge to effectively address the problem at hand – be it the technical know-how, industry experience, or even a network that others may not have – or be so passionate and obsessed with solving this problem that their lack of experience doesn’t matter.

“I don’t have the sustainability background like my co-founder, but I’m dead sure that I want my daughter to have a habitable planet in her generation and more,” said Sai, speaking about why she founded Unravel Carbon. “That motivation is enough for me to outcompete anyone else.”

If you don’t meet either of these two criteria, you may need to rethink your startup idea – the last thing you want to do is to burn out on the journey.

2. Fall in love with the problem

As an aspiring founder, you may have already come up with an ideal solution to address the problem you’re facing. You may have a vision of what the product could look like and what it should do, but the reality is that it might not be the best way.

“You cannot fall in love with your idea, you need to fall in love with the problem,” said Sai. “The moment you fall in love with the solution, you’re screwed.”

In order for your startup to succeed, you need to make sure you’re building something that really solves the problem, not something that you think solves the problem.

This is where user interviews, research, and that elusive product-market fit comes into the picture. In order to succeed, your startup needs to figure out where it stands and whether it’s really solving the problem it’s looking to solve.

And if it’s not, you’ve got to be ready to face the hard truth and keep iterating in search of that right solution.

3. Build something that people really need

We’ve mentioned the term “product-market fit” at least four times in this article already because it is probably the most important factor for your company’s success.

There are many ways of defining the term, but simply put, you’ve found product-market fit when there’s strong demand for what you’re offering – so much so that people are willing to pay for it and are spreading the word about it to others. If you can achieve this, you know that your solution is truly addressing the needs of the market, and that you’ve got something with potential for greatness on your hands.

According to Sai, once you’ve decided to launch a startup and go all-in on becoming a founder, your top priority for the next 12-18 months is finding product-market fit. You have to be committed to this goal – it’s absolutely essential if you want to build something that lasts and makes a difference in the world.

Ready, get set, go!

As you commit yourself to being a startup founder, you’ll probably have lots of questions along the way, especially as you begin to build your product, get your first customers on board, and work toward achieving product-market fit.

If you’re looking for a place to get answers to your questions and learn more about the adventure that is the founder’s life, Tech in Asia School has got your back.

As a player that’s been around in the Southeast Asian tech and startup ecosystem for over 10 years, we’ve had the opportunity to connect with the region’s most successful tech leaders, and we’re bringing together all the resources we have to create content, community, and mentorship, tailored to the most critical stages of the startup journey to help companies see success.

Whether you’re still in the early stages of the startup journey, trying to fundraise, or just looking for mentorship, there’s something for every founder at Tech in Asia School.

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