From Middle School Dreams to Founding a Unicorn: Tim Hwang Shares His Journey

Welcome to my story - as founder and CEO of FiscalNote, a legal and information data company, I'm Tim Hwang, and I'm thrilled to share with you the journey of building a successful startup in the US B2B market, from scratch, against all odds.

  • 1. Tim Hwang is the founder and CEO of FiscalNote, a legal and information data company.
  • 2. FiscalNote has raised around $250 million in venture capital from investors like Mark Cuban and Jerry Yang.
  • 3. The company recently went public with a valuation of over $1 billion.
  • 4. Hwang never considered himself an entrepreneur while growing up, but became interested in startups after working for Barack Obama's presidential campaign in 2007-2008.
  • 5. He was inspired by the idea of quickly building a product, getting it to market, and helping customers.
  • 6. Hwang started FiscalNote while finishing his degree at Princeton and starting his MBA at Harvard.
  • 7. The company's vision is to help businesses navigate complex regulations and political challenges.
  • 8. FiscalNote uses AI and machine learning to collect and process legal data from various countries.
  • 9. Hwang secured Mark Cuban as an investor by reaching out to him directly after finding his email address through a Google search.
  • 10. Many founders struggle to get investment because they don't understand the interests and focus areas of different investors.
  • 11. FiscalNote built its network from scratch by reaching out to people on LinkedIn, attending events, and cold-calling potential customers.
  • 12. The company's first customer was a defense contractor, which provided validation for their product.
  • 13. Hwang believes that failure is not an option and has a strong determination to make his company successful.
  • 14. As a founder from a non-wealthy background, Hwang has faced challenges related to being part of an "invisible club" in the business culture.
  • 15. He emphasizes the importance of startups for economic opportunity and encourages twenties and thirties to start businesses that solve problems.
  • 16. FiscalNote aims to grow its revenues to half a billion or $1 billion as quickly as possible.
  • 17. Hwang aspires to build new businesses, joint ventures, and products within FiscalNote to achieve this goal.
  • 18. He sees his 30th birthday as the beginning of a long career and wants to ensure that FiscalNote becomes an even greater company.
  • 19. Hwang admires Jeff Bezos, who founded Amazon at around the same age.
  • 20. The excitement of startups comes from the fact that they can be started by anyone with a good idea and hard work.
  • 21. Startups represent hope and economic opportunity for the younger generation.
  • 22. Hwang encourages founders to put in extra effort when facing disadvantages, such as being part of a minority group.
  • 23. The startup culture has always been strong in America, contributing to the creation of successful companies like Starbucks, Apple, and Amazon.
  • 24. FiscalNote is still small compared to Hwang's ambitious goals for revenue growth.
  • 25. Hwang sees building a $1 billion sales company as an opportunity to create multiple $100 million sales businesses within FiscalNote.

Source: EO via YouTube

❓ What do you think? What drives your passion and determination to build a unicorn startup, and how do you envision your legacy in the business world? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!