"I hope that people can see impact investing as a spectrum. There is this place for highly attractive financial returns and also good, respectable impact, but if you want to tackle some of the more intractable problems in society or in the environment, you can't expect a market rate of return. There needs to be a spotlight on a lot of the most commercially attractive solutions, but also, I don't think we can just sweep all of the other problems and challenges that don't make tons of money under the rug. There are still ways to achieve sustainable returns. I'm not saying that has to be solely the purview of philanthropy or charity, but people, sometimes, have a bit of trouble looking at all the spaces in between charity on the one hand, and then all out for profit-driven investing. Let's look at that more carefully." - Shuying Tang
"Debt is an interesting option for entrepreneurs. It takes off that pressure because it's self-liquidating. In a three or four-year timeframe, the company can repay that debt and it’s done. You shake hands, and you walk away. You don’t think about year nine or ten of your fund life or that you need to get out, which is one of the tough moments in VC in this region. For other companies or other entrepreneurs, it's about control. They want to run their business their way. They don't necessarily want to be beholden to that logic or formula of VC which demands a certain growth path or expectation." - Shuying Tang
"I love VC. I love tech startups. It’s a huge part of my formative experience as an investor. The challenge is that VC is just one funding instrument in a toolkit. If you look at most companies in our region, they are SMEs, not startups. They’re not high-growth tech startups. This became very clear to me, as well as to the team. It was an interesting prompt for us to think about, given that a large part of my North Star has always been about providing capital to underserved companies who need it the most and are doing very interesting things. We thought about how we could set up a fund that really meets their needs, and that’s why we settled on launching Beacon, which is a private debt fund." - Shuying Tang
In this episode, Jeremy Au speaks on radical responsibility, strategic debt as tool, and the consultant to venture philanthropy to impact investing journey.
Keywords: Shuyin Tang, Radical Responsibility, Strategic Debt As Tool, Consultant to Venture Philanthropy to Impact Investing, Vietnam, VC, Women, Founder Story
