A Lonely Domain Founder

Among startup hashtag#founders, one of the saddest categories would be ‘first-time solo founders with strong domain knowledge’.

When I applied to one of the well-known startup programs from the UK around 10+ years ago, there were 3 categories of founder types: Business/Tech/Domain. I needed to choose which one was my identity as a founder. Usually, I would pick tech as a founder, but I thought I have strong domain knowledge in the automotive domain and product-related ones as I worked the domain over 10 years, so it seemed domain founder could also be the top pick.

Later, I wanted to try applying as a domain founder. Luckily, I got invited for an onsite interview with the program director and some practical/technical rounds. I went there a bit earlier and met other aspiring founders; they looked so much younger than me. And every person asked me what my major was as a pickup line. Oh boy, I graduated from school at least 10 years ago, don’t ask me that :).

Time was up, so I went to the meeting room. It went well with the program director; she was brilliant and knew what I could do well. And the second round was about what I did before, aka a domain-related interview. The first question was shocking: What was your major????

So… for around 20 minutes, they asked me about what I did in school. Anyway, the interview went on, and they tried to ask about technical ability instead, which was another weird feeling as the interviewer was not a tech person.

After 2 weeks, they were supposed to send the final decision on my application, but there was no news, so I thought I had failed to get accepted. But one day later, I got another email saying they could not decide yet about me, so they would like to invite me for another round.

Hey…. LOL

In fact, in most hashtag#startup programs, it is hard to figure out whether they are experts in the domain or not. As with most VCs/startup programs, they don’t have enough experience in the domains.

You may be treated like nobody just because other people don’t understand your domain. So… buckle up.