5 Questions For Founders with Diana Hu

Curiosity as a Driver for Building Businesses

Being curious and getting deep into something new is part of who I am. For Escher Reality, it started with me being curious about where computer vision was going.

There were papers coming out of academia on “Simultaneous Localization and Mapping” — “SLAM” for short. It is used to help robots “know” where they are in the world. This technology, which is the same as that behind self-driving cars, uses cameras and builds 3D maps to help robots navigate.

When I first heard of “SLAM”, it was still very much in “academia land”. Another trend at the time was the increase in power efficiency and computing in mobile devices — you had an iPhone from 2015 or 2016, and it was just as computationally powerful as a MacBook from the year before, but far more efficient. That triggered my ‘aha!” moment — I realized there could be enough computation in a mobile device to run “SLAM” algorithms. I started thinking more about what would happen if we actually did this, and that was part of the curiosity maze I started with.

We started exploring more, and this exploration built a powerful foundation to enable Augmented Reality to happen. Essentially, everything started with a curiosity that became about utilizing computational and digital trends to build a service, which eventually became Escher Reality.

What drives me to keep building my companies is my constant curiosity to learn. I have always been very curious.. When my parents immigrated to Chile, they picked one of the most remote cities in the middle of the Atacama Desert to settle in — which is also one of the driest deserts in the world. It is so dry and foreign that NASA used to do tests for the rover mission to Mars there.

Long story short, I grew up in a very remote place, and on top of that, we were probably the only Chinese family there in a 300-mile radius. I was always very aware of being different and that I stood out, because Chile is so homogeneous. That made me keep a lot to myself, and I would spend a lot of time in my inner world — being curious.

My curiosity manifested in many ways. When I was young, I used to like reading a lot — it’s what nurtured me to escape, as it was uncomfortable to always be the “different” person. The other thing I was curious about was science, and because Chile had these beautiful clear skies, I delved into cosmology and the universe. It became my dream to perhaps become an astronomer. I also really liked that, with science, you could easily make sense of and explain things — there’s often a model of what I was trying to understand. It was all very grounding. Whereas, as a Chinese immigrant, people would stare at me and make me feel like I didn’t “make sense”. As such, I found solace in the concreteness and curiosity I gained from science and reading.

This curiosity manifested in other ways as well. For instance, my favourite TV channel used to be Animal Planet — I would be able to name all the animals, and I knew all these random facts about them. I would develop these geeky learning obsessions in my life that I would get super deep into, and even now, it’s become a part of me. It’s what drives me to keep diving into the topics I’m interested in and to build my companies — which then become an outlet of my exploration and curiosity.

For a first-time founder, there’s so much thirst to succeed at all costs. And with startups, there’s the reality that many will statistically “die”. As such, there’s so much first-time founders have to do to fight that reality, which often requires them to “fake it until you make it”.

I’ve found that this mentality often leads to many founders hiding the real struggles they’re facing — things that might have been resolved if they’d felt comfortable sharing them. Founders are always trying to appear confident and to be their startup’s “number one cheerleader”, because as leaders, they’re supposed to know exactly where they’re going, right? However, I think hiding emotions can be counterproductive to having the tough conversations needed to drive forward a startup.

So, how can founders create spaces within their companies where they can have these conversations? I like to think of it is as a dance, where the founder must lead, until everyone else is comfortable with the moves. When the founder leads the way by being comfortable and by publicly admitting to their vulnerability, this can signal to the rest of the team and company that it is okay to do the same. Founders must develop a mindset that allows them to open up and share.

Besides this, founders should also know how to listen. In my management style, I’ve developed deep relationships with the people I work with, and some share very personal things with me. We could all be better at listening and showing a more empathetic attitude — I truly think that’s a key skill and I fully believe in people being able to learn it. The first thing it requires is for founders to be intentional, and with practice, I believe that one can get better at empathizing with others.

Both mindsets require each other to flourish — it’s about being known and knowing others, and both feed off one another. After all, wouldn’t others feel more comfortable sharing if you opened up as well? It’s a careful tango.

Recently, I went through the transition of starting another company, and what helped me through this period of uncertainty was being okay with the uncomfortableness, the restlessness, and the chaos. Often, chaos is needed and is a part of building a new vision and strategy. Surrendering to the moment, and learning how to do that with consistent mindfulness and self-care, has been a valuable resource for me.

Over the last couple of years, I’ve been getting deeper into the space of mindfulness. Before, being perhaps a bit too “scientific” in my approach, I was skeptical and hesitant of all this stuff. However, I’ve noticed the difference of having a “mindfulness practice”, which some weeks is consistent and others not so much, allowing me to develop a deeper awareness of where I am and how my inner world manifests outside. This has helped me approach life’s uncertainty and chaos with calmness.

My “practice”, which has helped me operate closer to my peak, has included self-care and a few basic things — tracking sleep and meals consistency, exercise, etc. I sleep a lot more — eight hours or even more — because that’s what I need to best function. It’s funny, because I think back to my younger self, who used to be proud of working hard and not sleeping, or to when I was a student, when I’d cram my work into a night, not get any sleep, and go do an exam the next day. I now really appreciate being aware of my self-care needs, and how much that impacts me. Just making small changes has gotten me to operate better, and allowed me to pursue my well-being mindfully.

With investing, I’ve made the choice of investing in places where I feel I can truly contribute and be helpful to founders. I enjoy going into spaces where I have expertise, for instance computer vision, machine learning or VR. I enjoy working with founders in deep tech and helping out with startup problems that involve technical challenges.

Another important thing is that as investing can be a long-term journey, for instance lasting even 10 years, I like to work with founders that I can feel happy to continuously support and relate to in the future. I also value a growth-oriented mindset in the people I work with. I’m looking for people who are hungry, and who are always seeking to better themselves.

I also strive to get a sense of what keeps founders motivated. The standard investor thinking often looks into the product, but one thing many investors don’t look into enough is the “product-founder fit” — you can have an awesome person, but what they’re pursuing might not be a fit with who they are.

Furthermore, I often try to have as much time as possible with the founders before I make my decision to invest, while also being respectful of their time. I like to have a couple of meetings to ask some deep questions and to get to know them. I’m trying to get as much data as I can, because my best relationships are those where I’ve been able to get some snapshots over time to truly understand the investors before making my decision.

To dive even deeper into Diana’s founder journey, check out our podcast episode with her (and hosts Maria Sipka & Stacey Lawson), available on all major podcast platforms!

Find us on: Spotify, Apple Music, Google Podcast, Red Circle & Stitcher