Cover Jehan Chu (Photo: Supplied)

In 2013, long before it became a mainstream concept, Jehan Chu began investing in cryptocurrency. Here, the first mover and self-proclaimed “ideas guy” discusses his catalyst for success and which innovative funds he is backing today

Jehan Chu is the founder and managing partner of Kenetic, a blockchain venture capital and cryptocurrency trading firm based in Hong Kong. A former front-end developer, he started investing in cryptocurrency in 2013 and, to date, has invested in and supported more than 230 projects.

Since then, Chu founded the Ethereum Hong Kong community, and co-founded both the Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong and the Hyperledger Hong Kong community. Chu is a graduate of Silicon Valley’s Kauffman Fellows Programme, designed to accelerate innovator success, and is also the co-founder and board member of Social Alpha Foundation, a blockchain and social impact non-profit. 

When he isn’t making strides in the Web3 space, Chu dedicates his time to the arts. Chu is a former art advisor for Sotheby’s both in New York and Asia. In 2008, after leaving the auction house, he founded Vermillion Art Collections, a specialised art advisory that helps private and corporate collectors manage their collections. He also served on the board of directors for non-profit art and design organisations Design Trust and Para Site.

Chu is dedicated to sharing his knowledge and has given lectures on collecting art for Sotheby’s Institute, the Asia Art Forum and Art Basel Hong Kong. He is also a member of the director’s circle of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and, when he’s really in a good mood, you’ll find him onstage, putting his auctioneering skills to use by energising audiences at charity events.

Here, he reveals how luck and mindfulness have impacted his life, why knowing your purpose is the key to career longevity, and why he didn’t invest in major firms like Bitmex, Binance, or Animoca when he had the chance. “I should have, but I didn’t,” he says. Read all about his secrets to success below:

Describe what you do in one sentence.

I invest in and support founders who are building the future of Web3 and crypto technology.

How does your business make a difference?

My company believes that blockchain technology is the next internet and that, by imagining the future and guiding or backing its founders, we can help the world take its next step into a natively digital age.

What do you put your success down to?

Luck has been the key catalyst for my success. I’m lucky that my parents instilled values like independence and imagination in me and supported my education. I’m lucky to have been born into a time and place that allowed me to focus on my dreams rather than on simply surviving. I would also say that mindfulness and resilience have helped me get through the toughest times when my luck ran out and I needed to keep going.

What are the top three ingredients for a successful business?

Being helpful is my number one ingredient for success—if you can add value and solve problems, people will always come back, whether they are customers or partners. We did extensive work on the [blockchain-based service network] BSN for almost a year before we even invested, and now it’s probably the most important blockchain project in the world. We have a close relationship because we were helpful first and foremost.

My second ingredient is to be clear about your own path. The best founders are not only skilled and resilient; they have an internal clarity of purpose that keeps them on their paths. The better you know yourself, the more successful you will be.

Number three is to be humble. I have to constantly remind myself to stay humble because nothing is more humbling than thinking you’re a genius on Monday, and then seeing a 70 per cent drop in your market, which seems to happen every Tuesday in crypto. Humility is not only about managing my ego, it’s also about trying to help others and appreciating the value in growing my community.

Do you have any mentors? If so, who are they and what is the best piece of advice they have given you?

I don’t have mentors per se, but I do have many people in my life who have helped me and supported me at different points.

"Nothing is more humbling than thinking you’re a genius on Monday, and then seeing a 70 per cent drop in your market, which seems to happen every Tuesday in crypto"

- Jehan Chu -

What qualities do you look for in a potential employee?

I look for a spark of awareness and hunger. Not raw, ambitious hunger, but a hunger to learn and solve problems. I love it when candidates can anticipate two or three steps ahead and have solved issues before I even thought they would appear. That foresight and gut instinct combined with analysis and action is what separates truly impressive candidates from the masses.

What has been your biggest career obstacle to date? How did you overcome it?

I’m an ideas guy. It’s what excites me, it’s what energises me, and it’s the possibility of something new that wakes me up every morning. My father always teased me about my eyes being bigger than my stomach, and it’s the same with my ideas. I don’t have the ability to execute everything I imagine. My daily challenge is reconciling what I dream of with what I can actually do and, more importantly, to make sure the things I do are done well. I can’t say that I’ve overcome this challenge because it’s a chronic condition, but I have been able to surround myself with extremely capable people who help bring to life the things I dream of.

Do you have any business regrets? If so, what?

In love, as in venture capital, there are always “the ones that got away”. There are so many great companies and founders who I should have invested in but didn’t, like Bitmex, Binance, and Animoca, in the seed rounds. They are all [now] incredibly successful and companies that I thought would do well, but I didn’t have either the time, focus or money to make the investment. I don’t regret missing these investments though. I’m grateful for the founders I backed and how many of them have achieved incredible success.

How do you plan to develop your business over the next five years?

As a family office, we have our own investment style. Recently, we have branched out, backing innovative funds like female-led Nural Capital, which invests in top crypto funds. We also back direct blockchain companies like Kestrel0x1 which is a crypto fund founded by a number of [US tech company] Palantir employees, and Digital Asset Collective, a crypto fund in partnership with Venture Souq [an investment service in the UAE].

We have also been incubating great ideas like Ioconic, which brings Web3 to large brands; ForceField, which is blitzscaling [building fast] growth in crypto; and Gourmeta, which tokenises the dining experience. We are also taking a major bet on the BSN, and think we can help Hong Kong claim a seat as the blockchain centre of Asia by being the home for BSN.

What is one surprising thing about you that most people don’t know?

Mindfulness is a big part of how I deal with the stress of daily life, and I’m a long-time supporter of Vipassana meditation (the breathing practice taught by Buddha). I’m not religious, but I do believe that everyone can benefit from learning mindfulness.

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