Cover Dorothy Lam’s company represents founders of social startups, assesses their impact model and matches them with investors (Photo: Affa Chan)
Dorothy Lam’s company represents founders of social startups, assesses their impact model and matches them with investors (Photo: Affa Chan)
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The co-founder and chief catalyst of the impact investing company shares how she plays matchmaker between social startups and investors
The concept of impact investing is to bridge the gap between making money and doing good in the world. Dorothy Lam’s Dream Impact represents founders of social startups, assesses their impact model and matches them with investors.
The Hongkonger studied art in New York, which has given her a community-centric approach to running the business she founded with her father and his former university friends in 2017. They started as a co-working space with five companies and have since grown to an ecosystem of 130.
“We wanted it to be beyond a co-working space, somewhere with a sense of community and belonging,” the 29-year-old says. When Gen.T caught up with Lam, she was about to board a flight that would take her to Bengaluru, India, on a six-month sabbatical.
Here, she reveals her ethos and guiding philosophies.
Read more: Should startups look at equity crowdfunding to raise capital?
To me, impact means a sense of community; that sense of belonging and human connection. It’s also about matchmaking. By the western definition, impact has to be measurable, intentional and have financial returns. But I’ve learnt it’s a spectrum. It’s a values-driven thing, which isn’t on a monetary line. It’s about what people care about more: education? Dementia? Climate change? Those causes are influenced by a person’s past experiences. Through Dream Impact, we matchmake those values. We represent founders, and assess their business model as well as their impact model. It’s quantitative and qualitative. We want to prevent impact-washing.
When I match investor with founder, it feels magical, like bridging two worlds. It feels like we’re moving the needle and shifting capitalism. It’s hard, I won’t lie. I’ve done lots of introductions, and one out of 100 will close. But in those engagements, we also move the needle because we’re opening the minds of investors to see there’s a different way to invest. Capital shouldn’t be evil; it’s how we use it. But it almost takes a spiritual awakening for an investor to invest differently and decide they want to do more with their money.
Above Lam says it feels magical when she matches an investor with a founder (Photo: Affa Chan / Tatler Hong Kong)
Lam says it feels magical when she matches an investor with a founder (Photo: Affa Chan / Tatler Hong Kong)
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Our co-founders KK Tse and Rebecca Yung are well-established in the social innovation space in Hong Kong. My father, YS Lam, has many years of commercial business experience. His management style is very human-centric and talent-oriented. I’m from an arts and culture background and have experience in building communities and running events and residencies. The other founders trust me on decision-making and executing, while I rely on their intuition, experience and wisdom.
It’s important to treat everyone equally, so my company is very flat. I value everyone’s opinion and allow them to utilise Dream Impact to fulfil their passions and give them the resources to do so. We align their personal passion with the company’s mission so we’re in sync and the company is growing with the team. Now we have more than ten people at different stages of their careers. They want different things, but we’re in sync at this moment to make Dream Impact happen. What I want to bring through [my sabbatical] is something new for the company, and I have empowered the team to take the lead without me. I want to return with new energy and a new way of doing business and viewing the world.
See more honourees from the Social Entrepreneurship category of the Gen.T List 2022.
