Why Most Founders Fail at Selling Their Company | TUT

Описание: Han Ko (USAKO Group) joins Raj Tut to share his journey from being born in South Korea, immigrating to Southern California, and ultimately building his career in the St. Louis region after studying engineering at Washington University. With a background in computer science, electrical engineering, and signal processing, Han climbed the corporate ladder in the telecom industry before taking the entrepreneurial leap to build and own software products himself. Over the years, he has become an active venture capitalist and advisor, involved in 80+ companies with collective valuations exceeding $1B, while also serving in regional economic development roles and supporting entrepreneurship through mentoring and speaking engagements.

The conversation centers on Han’s core investing and leadership philosophy: taking other people’s capital creates a real moral responsibility, which is why he favors full transparency, clear risk disclosure, and investors who do proper diligence upfront. Han breaks down how he identified market needs early, made a high-risk decision to resign to protect IP ownership, and learned that building a product is only half the battle—distribution, validation, and relationships are critical to closing enterprise deals. He also explains how he “accidentally” became a venture capitalist by helping friends through funding gaps, then intentionally built his finance skillset to operate professionally. The episode closes with a practical operating principle that shows up in every chapter of his story: learn aggressively from mistakes, put in your best effort with the information you have, and build a life you can look back on without regret.

Connect with the Host

Twitter: ⁠twitter.com/ItsRajTut⁠

⁠LinkedIn: ⁠  / rajtut  
⁠
Instagram: ⁠instagram.com/ItsRajTut⁠


TikTok: ⁠  / itsrajtut  

Connect with Han Ko

Linkedin:   / han-ko-3b8814185  


Timestamps for Key Segments

00:00 Investor philosophy: responsibility, transparency, and disclosure


01:04 Storyboard Living sponsor message


01:35 Guest introduction and credentials overview


02:41 Han’s background: Korea to California to St. Louis via WashU


05:05 Early career: telecom engineering and moving up the corporate ladder


06:12 The inefficiency he spotted and the automation opportunity


07:26 The entrepreneurial leap: resigning to own the IP and build the software


10:46 Selling enterprise software: production validation and due diligence lessons


11:55 Networking as the unlock for landing the first license deal


12:28 Timeline to exit: roughly three and a half years


13:26 Choosing signal processing and “following the money” in grad school


14:29 After the exit: travel, restlessness, and returning to build again


15:57 Becoming an “accidental” VC by helping friends through funding gaps


17:32 Dot-com bubble context: overheated investing and lack of diligence


20:11 Transition from investing personal capital to managing outside funds


20:44 Building finance competence: learning valuation concepts like EBITDA


21:14 Professional growth: learning from mistakes and doing your best


28:09 Valuation and marketing: why attention and positioning matter


30:34 Making buyers come to you: the billboard strategy story


33:12 Helping portfolio companies: sharing mistakes and guiding decision-making


34:52 Why he’s an active investor: founder fit, communication, and empathy


36:14 Current portfolio examples: infrastructure inspection, AI research, EV safety


39:02 Regional mission: bringing global companies to St. Louis for jobs and growth


43:08 Gateway South overview: role, vision, and projected job creation


45:06 Why St. Louis: river, highways, rail, and airport infrastructure advantage


46:42 Project phasing: historic building redevelopment and innovation ecosystem


47:34 Workforce gap: training center and trade pipeline focus


50:27 Groundbreaking timeline: aiming end of year or next year

51:20 Illinois-side coordination and regional partnership efforts


53:06 Commercial real estate legacy: multi-generation background


54:12 Real estate training: learning the operational details hands-on


57:02 Hole-in-one advice: do your best and live without regret


This podcast is brought to you by Storyboard Living.
If you're looking to sell us a 40+ unit multifamily property in the St. Louis region, or another part of MO/IL, please email [email protected]

Connect with us at our Website: https://storyboardliving.com/

LinkedIn profile:   / storyboard-living  


#VentureCapital #Entrepreneurship #StartupAdvice #BusinessPodcast #FounderMindset #InvestorMindset #DueDiligence #Leadership #BusinessGrowth #CompanyValuation #MarketingStrategy #RiskManagement #ExitStrategy #PrivateEquity #CommercialRealEstate #RealEstateInvesting #StLouis #EconomicDevelopment #Innovation #Mentorship