Hyphen Nation with Dave Lu

Dave Lu
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Dave Lu, Silicon Valley tech veteran, startup founder, investor, activist, and Emmy Award-winning producer, talks to influential leaders in the Asian American community and beyond. His intimate conversations will dive into their journeys and explore how they got to where they are today, including all of the challenges and triumphs. The hope is that these episodes will be a form of mentorship and inspire others to write their own stories.

  1. Grant Lee - How to Build a $2 Billion AI Startup

    Jun 11

    Grant Lee - How to Build a $2 Billion AI Startup

    Grant Lee is the CEO and Co-founder of Gamma, an powerful AI tool to design presentations, websites and more. In November of 2025, Gamma raised $68 million at a valuation of $2.1 billion. With a team of less than 50 people, they were generating over $100 million in annualized revenue with over 70 million users. They have continued to grow their revenue and customer base, because people love their product. In this episode of Hyphen Nation, I sit down with my friend Grant Lee, founder and CEO of Gamma, the AI-powered platform reinventing presentations, documents, and storytelling. Grant shares his journey from growing up in Pleasanton, California, in a family that ran restaurants and worked at the post office, to Stanford, Optimizely, and ultimately founding one of the fastest-growing AI companies in the world. We talk about: Growing up as one of the few Asian Americans in his hometownThe sacrifices his immigrant parents made and the entrepreneurial lessons he learned from themWhy he walked away from a traditional engineering careerThe power of relationships, mentorship, and playing the long game with your networkHow to discover work that genuinely energizes youWhy too many people stay on the "default path" instead of pursuing what they truly wantThe early struggles of Gamma and the lessons learned when growth stalledBuilding conviction as a founder when everyone doubts your ideaLeadership, storytelling, and what Asian American professionals can learn from leaders like Jensen HuangWhy it's never too late to reinvent yourself and pursue your life's workGrant's story is a powerful reminder that success isn't about following someone else's definition of achievement. It's about finding the work that gives you energy, having the courage to leave your comfort zone, and taking ownership of your own path. Whether you're a founder, creator, aspiring entrepreneur, or simply wondering if there's more to your career than the path you're currently on, this conversation will challenge you to think bigger about what's possible.

    53 min
  2. Caroline Tsay - Demystifying Corporate Boards

    12/16/2025

    Caroline Tsay - Demystifying Corporate Boards

    In this episode of Hyphen Nation, Dave sits down with Caroline Tsay—Silicon Valley operator-turned-entrepreneur and board director who has served on four public company boards, including The Coca-Cola Company and Morningstar—to demystify what it actually takes to land a corporate board seat. Caroline breaks down the biggest myths (like “you must be a CEO to qualify”), and explains how her first board opportunity came not from a recruiter, but from building visibility outside her day job—speaking on panels, getting known for a clear point of view, and making her expertise legible to decision-makers. You’ll learn what boards really focus on—CEO succession, strategy, capital allocation, and risk—how board seats are commonly filled (often not through search firms), and why serving on a board is a long-term commitment where fit and governance dynamics matter as much as credentials. Caroline also shares hard-earned lessons from navigating activist shareholders, founder-controlled environments, and the fine line between giving oversight and getting too operational. If you’ve ever wondered how to position yourself for board service—especially as a woman, person of color, or “non-traditional” candidate—this conversation is a practical, behind-the-scenes playbook on how the game is played and how to start playing it.

    42 min
  3. Domee Shi - The Secret to Storytelling

    12/10/2025

    Domee Shi - The Secret to Storytelling

    Pixar director and Oscar winner Domee Shi joins Dave to share her journey from drawing anime in Toronto to becoming Vice President of Creative at Pixar. Domee opens up about the real inspirations behind Bao and Turning Red, why good storytelling requires emotional vulnerability, and how a side project changed her entire career. She also takes us inside Pixar’s story process, from pitching boards with sound effects to learning from legends like Pete Docter and Ronnie Del Carmen. She shares what it was like to become the first woman of color to ever win an Academy Award for Animated Short and the first woman to direct a short film and feature film at Pixar. A must-listen for creatives, storytellers, and anyone navigating identity, ambition, and family expectations.

    53 min
  4. Vicky Tsai - Overcoming Trauma and Finding Your Voice

    12/02/2025

    Vicky Tsai - Overcoming Trauma and Finding Your Voice

    Founder and CEO of Tatcha Beauty Vicky Tsai joins Hyphen Nation for one of the most powerful conversations we’ve had yet. Vicky opens up about her childhood in Texas, the racism and sexism she endured across Wall Street and corporate America, and the personal trauma that shaped her path. She also shares the origins of Tatcha—from a stressful career that triggered acute dermatitis to rediscovering healing, purpose, and Japanese skincare traditions. This is a story of resilience, identity, and reclaiming power—and a reminder that we don’t have to stay small anymore.

    1h 32m
  5. Faye Iosotaluno - Climbing the Corporate Ladder to the Top

    11/18/2025

    Faye Iosotaluno - Climbing the Corporate Ladder to the Top

    Former Tinder CEO Faye Iosotaluno joins Dave to talk about her unlikely path from growing up in West Covina to leading one of the world’s biggest tech brands. She shares her family’s immigrant story, her dual finance and English background at Penn, and the career leaps that took her from Merrill Lynch to Viacom, SoundCloud, and ultimately the CEO seat at Tinder. Faye opens up about navigating male-dominated industries, learning to speak up, building products that serve women, and the responsibility of being one of the very few Asian American women to lead at the highest levels of tech.

    1h 23m
  6. Manny Maceda - King of Consultants

    11/10/2025

    Manny Maceda - King of Consultants

    In this episode, I sit down with Manny Maceda, the former Worldwide Managing Partner and CEO of Bain & Company, and now Chair of the firm. Manny’s story is one of resilience, reinvention, and leadership across cultures. Born in Boston and raised in the Philippines under a dictatorship, Manny’s family fled to the U.S. after his father, then a senator, was forced into exile. What began as a visit to see his father turned into a lifelong journey in America that led him from Illinois Tech to MIT and, eventually, a 37-year career at Bain. We talk about how his early experiences shaped his empathy and adaptability, his path from a young immigrant engineer to the first Asian leader of Bain, and how he’s helped transform the company into a $6 billion global firm while keeping its culture of mentorship, diversity, and purpose at the core. Manny shares lessons on leading through transformation, building inclusive teams, and why culture, not strategy, is the most sustainable competitive advantage. We also discuss his remarkable encounters, from nearly derailing Jack Welch’s MIT speech (and ending up at lunch with him the next week) to navigating racial barriers in corporate America and staying grounded through mentorship and family. It’s a powerful conversation about leadership, identity, and giving back, both to the next generation and to the countries that shaped us.

    1h 5m
  7. Ju Rhyu - Creating a Cross Cultural Cosmetics Success

    11/04/2025

    Ju Rhyu - Creating a Cross Cultural Cosmetics Success

    Ju Rhyu is the founder and CEO of Hero Cosmetics, the company behind the cult-favorite Mighty Patch that redefined acne care and became one of the most successful K-beauty exports in America. Born in Korea and raised in Seattle, Ju’s story spans continents — from her father’s entrepreneurial journey in the logging business to her own winding path through Brown, an NGO in Kenya, Kraft Foods, and Samsung before taking the leap into entrepreneurship. In this conversation, Ju opens up about growing up between cultures, the lessons she learned from her father about independence and business, and how a simple patch she discovered in Korea turned into a $630 million brand acquisition by Church & Dwight. We talk about the early scrappy days of bootstrapping, the mindset shift from scarcity to abundance, what it’s like building a category-defining brand, and how she’s now reflecting on life and purpose after a major exit. For Asian American professionals and founders, Ju’s journey is a reminder that success doesn’t have to follow a straight line — and that sometimes the best way forward is to bet on yourself.

    49 min
  8. Lisa Chang - What Does HR Really Look For?

    10/28/2025

    Lisa Chang - What Does HR Really Look For?

    A lot of people are in the job market right now and not sure how to differentiate themselves. On this episode, I talk to my dear friend Lisa Chang, the Global Chief People Officer of The Coca-Cola Company. We talk about growing up in the South as the daughter of Taiwanese immigrants and not really embracing her Asian identity until she was in college at the University of Virginia. She has literally run human resources for the biggest companies in Atlanta from The Weather Channel to Turner (Turner Broadcasting System, Inc) to Equifax to the Blank Family which owns the Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta United FC, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, PGA Superstores. Now she runs human resources for Coca-Cola worldwide. We get into breaking the bamboo ceiling. We also discuss curiosity, asking for help, learning the right kind of mistakes, and the power of real networking and results-driven resumes. This one is packed with insightful advice from someone who has hired top executives from around the world.

    53 min
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4.7
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About

Dave Lu, Silicon Valley tech veteran, startup founder, investor, activist, and Emmy Award-winning producer, talks to influential leaders in the Asian American community and beyond. His intimate conversations will dive into their journeys and explore how they got to where they are today, including all of the challenges and triumphs. The hope is that these episodes will be a form of mentorship and inspire others to write their own stories.

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