A few moments from teaching, writing, speaking, and building.
My first week at INSEAD, kayaking down the River Loing with fellow PhD students, is a memory I look back on with so much fondness. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but even knowing what I know now, I’d do it all over again. Fall 2012.
Right after my dissertation defense, with three of the committee members who had anchored my doctoral journey: Phil Anderson (chair), Gabriel Szulanski, and Jason Davis. (Frédéric Godart, who was based at our Fontainebleau campus, could not be in the photo.) I was truly, truly fortunate to learn from and stand on the shoulders of giants in management scholarship.
Hooded at last at INSEAD! I got my PhD in Management, specializing in Organizational Theory and Entrepreneurship. More than anything, those years taught me to be a thoughtful steward of my “idea-children” -- to nurture them with rigor and patience, bring them to life, and help them create meaningful value in the world. June 2018.
Giving the graduate address at the INSEAD PhD Award Ceremony. Singapore, June 2018. "We owe an obligation of stewardship to our ideas. They are struggling to be given life, to achieve currency in the world, to create real value for people who can build and run a better society. So, today, as we step out the door as newly-minted doctors, let us continue to inquire and inspire to be the best possible representatives of our idea-children that we can be."
With my colleagues in the Management & Organization (M&O) Department at the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business, where I worked from 2018 to 2021. They were not only among the most prolific researchers in our field, but also genuinely good human beings. I learned as much from them about life as I did about scholarship.
A proud moment for my department: UW Foster's M&O, ranked #2 in the nation for its five-year research record.
An early morning in my faculty office at PACCAR Hall. My favorite memories here are the countless office hours spent with students whose dreams reached far beyond these four walls.
In the classroom at UW Foster, teaching strategic management and entrepreneurship. Most of my courses were heavily project-based, giving me a front-row seat to what some of the brightest minds of the next generation could create: new business ideas with both meaningful social impact and financial viability.
The University of Washington's Seattle campus offered a breathtaking view of Mount Rainier, which greeted me on every commute.
In December 2020, I was named one of Poets&Quants’ Top 50 Undergraduate Business Professors in recognition of my research and teaching. (Click the photo to read the full article.)
In the fall of 2021, I published "NFT Revolution," a book about NFTs that I had never imagined myself writing. It soon became a national bestseller in Korea and was later translated into several languages across Asia. Seeing it on a bestseller shelf was a strange and wonderful experience. September 2021.
Behind the microphone, mid-recording. In the months following the success of "NFT Revolution," I found myself moving from one talk, interview, and guest appearance to the next. I had not expected any of this when I left UW to build a Web3 startup, so I was especially grateful for every opportunity that came my way.
Speaking at TWIN Virtual 2021 alongside professionals from around the world working at the intersection of art and business. November 2021.
Trading academic conference panels for media interviews took some getting used to, but I soon discovered how much I enjoyed the change of pace.
Whenever I had the chance, I tried to shift the conversation from the trees to the forest: beyond the craze for NFT collectibles to the broader rise of the token economy.
Signing copies of "NFT Revolution," one of the small rituals that made the book feel real.
I even had the chance to record voice-overs for a few documentaries about crypto and Web3. I still cringe a little at the sound of my own voice, but I had so much fun doing it. Sometime in 2022.
On stage at the 2022 World Cultural Industry Forum (WCIF), speaking about the metaverse in music and entertainment. July 2022.
One of my fondest memories of 2022 was mentoring an inspiring group of college students from across the United States at a Web3 camp in Hawaii. August 2022.
Speaking about life, work, and DAOs at a Web3 mentoring camp in Hawaii. (Click the photo to read the full speech.)
Inside Madrona Venture Labs (MVL), where I spent the first half of 2022 as an Entrepreneur in Residence (EiR) leading a Web3 project. Working alongside some of the brightest minds in the space was a true joy. The experience also helped me transition from academia into practice and ultimately build my own startup, SQRT.
A breathtaking view of Seattle from the MVL office. It was the same Mount Rainier that had greeted me on my daily commute to and from UW, but somehow it felt different to see it this time as an entrepreneur.
On the panel at the World Knowledge Forum (WKF) 2022, Seoul, under the theme "Supercompensation." September 2022.
The fashionxDAO launch party in the winter of 2022 brought together NFT enthusiasts, collectors, and investors. Our goal was to move beyond the craze and create something tangible with real-world utility, beginning with clothing. We experimented with token-based membership and governance as a way to democratize participation throughout the fashion production cycle.
A selection of our fashionxDAO character NFTs, created for the pilot season, “Save the Whales.” This one and the next two belong to the super-premium tier because each was individually designed by hand rather than generated algorithmically, as many NFTs on the market were at the time.
Aren't they adorable?
Our NFT collection featured three tiers: super-premium, premium, and basic, each offering its own set of perks and membership benefits.
This one looks a little simpler than the previous characters because it belongs to the basic tier, but I chose it for myself because it’s just too damn cute. I mean, a bear-whale? Come on!
An early product from a fashionxDAO pilot, turning a Web3 idea into something you can physically hold and cherish.
After months of preparation, SQRT was born in the winter of 2022 from our mission to democratize access to quantitative ("quant") crypto trading, making wealth building simpler and safer for everyday investors. Our motto was simple: hedge fund sophistication with robo-advisor simplicity.
Welcome to the SQRT office! Wondering what the name stands for? SQRT is short for square root, a nod to the mathematical operation used to calculate volatility, one of the most common measures of risk in quantitative finance. The name reflected our mission to help everyday investors better manage the risks of crypto trading.
We were a small team of five, mostly quant traders and developers. It wasn’t easy from the start: building a B2C crypto business came with a lot of regulatory challenges, so we explored different options, including setting up a B2B side of the business to generate cash flow while testing closed betas with some early ambassadors.
Our office essentials were a makeshift bed and a blessing tree. “Are you a Web3 company, or just a financial platform? If the former, why don’t you just go fully on-chain and offer DeFi products exclusively? If the latter, why operate in crypto at all? And if your track record is so strong, why don’t you just become a fund?” Those questions kept me up night after night.
A pause after winding down SQRT over the fall and winter of 2024. Looking back, there are things I would have done differently, but I’m forever grateful to my team for their commitment and spirit through the very end. I took a few months to reflect, reset, and find a new passion.
Holding "Beyond AI: The Human Strategy" for the first time, hot off the press! The book asks a central question: as intelligence becomes increasingly ubiquitous, what will allow us to remain distinctive and fully human? December 2025.
Endorsements for my book include: “The most illuminating guide to the AI era published this year.” - Eugene Cook, Senior Managing Director and Head of Korea, Blackstone / “A wide-ranging exploration of what makes us human.” - Mi Seob Kim, Vice Chairman and CEO, Mirae Asset Securities / “An invitation to rethink your life and rediscover what makes you uniquely human.” - Samuel Kim, Global Head of M&A, Deutsche Bank
Building on the ideas in my latest book, I designed and delivered the CEO Insight Series and other executive education programs for corporate leaders. These programs translated the book’s central themes into practical frameworks for leading in the age of AI, with a focus on judgment, sensibility, trust, and meaning. The first half of 2026 and counting!
Back at INSEAD, roughly 8 years after earning my doctorate here in 2018, this time as a visiting scholar! I return with a perspective shaped by my training as an organizational theorist and by what I learned in the field as an entrepreneur. 2026 -
Off the grid at the Silky Path in Strategy research workshop in Bintan. Sometimes the best thinking happens on the water. 🌊 May 2026.