Suggestions
Eunse Lee
Early-stage Investor - Entrepreneur - Strategist - Ex-Techstars MD
Professional Background
Eunse Lee is a remarkable leader in the world of entrepreneurship and venture capital, dedicated to empowering extraordinary founders and fostering innovation through strategic investments and mentorship. As the first Managing Director of Techstars for its inaugural Korea program, Eunse played a pivotal role in establishing the Techstars Korea Accelerator, a vibrant platform that supports early-stage startups in their journey from concept to market. His vision and expertise have helped launch numerous startups, guiding them toward success in a competitive environment.
Prior to his tenure at Techstars, Eunse served as the Managing Director at BEYOND STARTUP, working closely with nascent companies to navigate the challenging early phases of development, known as the 0 to 1 stage. His unique ability to identify opportunities and devise innovative solutions has made him a coveted mentor among aspiring founders. Eunse's experience in the startup ecosystem extends beyond managing accelerators; he co-founded ELEVEN
Before diving into the world of entrepreneurship and venture capital, Eunse honed his skills as a strategy and management consultant. He is celebrated for developing the proprietary business strategy framework known as the Fan-oriented Strategy, which focuses on customer-centric approaches to business growth. His consulting career saw him leading both domestic and cross-border projects in diverse industries, including Information and Communication Technology (ICT), automotive, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), and service sectors. Additionally, Eunse has served as an advisor to various Korean government agencies, leveraging his insights to bolster the startup ecosystem in Korea.
Eunse continues to push the boundaries of what is possible in entrepreneurship while educating the next generation of business leaders. He has taught courses on business strategy and entrepreneurship at Yonsei University and the Yonsei School of Business Global MBA program, imparting his wealth of knowledge to students eager to make their mark in the business world.
Education and Achievements
Eunse's academic journey began at Yonsei University, where he pursued a Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A). His educational foundation enabled him to develop a robust understanding of business principles, which he has effectively translated into his professional endeavors. Throughout his career, Eunse has consistently sought opportunities to learn and grow, thereby enhancing his ability to make a significant impact on the entrepreneurial landscape.
In addition to his role as an educator, Eunse has held several notable positions that reflect his dedication to fostering innovation and entrepreneurship. He is the Founder and Managing Partner at Coming Soon, where he continues to work with innovative startups and visionary founders. His previous roles include being a Managing Director at Techstars, where he not only shaped the course of the accelerator but also influenced the startup community in Korea profoundly.
Eunse's commitment to supporting young entrepreneurs is evident in his efforts at BEYOND STARTUP and as a Founding Special Partner at ELEVEN
Achievements
With a wealth of experience in management, strategy, investment, and venture capital, Eunse Lee has earned distinction as a leader in the field of entrepreneurship. His innovative thinking and collaborative spirit have contributed to numerous accomplishments throughout his career. Key highlights include:
- Successfully launching and managing the Techstars Korea Accelerator, which has become a premier program for startups in South Korea.
- Cultivating early-stage companies at BEYOND STARTUP, guiding founders as they transformed their ideas into viable businesses.
- Co-founding ELEVEN
CAPITAL, where his strategic insights played a significant role in the firm’s investment successes. - Establishing the Fan-oriented Strategy framework, which has been widely recognized as an effective approach to driving business growth through customer-centric practices.
- Serving as an educator at Yonsei University, where he has inspired and equipped students to pursue careers in business and entrepreneurship.
- Advising various Korean government agencies, leveraging his expertise to enhance the national startup ecosystem.
Overall, Eunse Lee stands out as a dynamic force in the world of venture capital and entrepreneurship, holding a deep commitment
Highlights
Founders:
I am not speaking for other investors and I certainly cannot speak for other investors, but one of the biggest questions for me - when I meet a founder or a founding team, is whether these are the people that I want to get into trouble with for the next 10 years. Why? It is because venture is a really long journey, and over the long journey, everything - market, technology, trend, etc, will change but the people won't. Also, really smart people - most of you are, figure things out eventually anyway.
It's not that I want you to just pander me or pander to everything I say (I'm actually quite the opposite). Aside from your intelligence, you'll be surprised how many of you are unintentionally (I hope) being an a-hole just by not paying attention to the basic stuff. You know - be nice, be open, be appreciative, be constructive, these kind of really basic people stuff. But guess what? These STUFF is actually way more important that you might think because you're building a company and really great people won't stick around you if you're an a-hole.
So remember: just be the person people want to hang out with and stick around first. And this is just not to your investors but to all the folks you're dealing with.
Founders:
Learn to say "tell me more."
When faced with challenging questions or negative feedbacks in a meeting with investor or business partner, or when in a tough negotiation, your instinct will be to respond and counter immediately because you don't want to look bad. Don't do that. Instead, say "tell me more."
In most cases, such challenging questions or negative feedbacks are only a very small expressed part of the entire context. By saying "tell me more" you can extract more context behind them and better understand what that someone on the other side of the table really wants to know or concerns about, and it will help you regain the control over the conversation. Especially with investors, if you're a seed-stage company, most of the seed-stage VCs ask challenging questions just to see how you can clearly and logically think and respond as we understand that you may have to change your strategy, product, etc, going forward.
In tough negotiations also, even when some things seem non-negotiable with the other side, there are usually always second best and third best alternatives which you could find simply by saying "tell me more."
Of course sometimes those tough questions, negative feedbacks or tough negotiations are the indicator of a flat-out 'No.' But in such cases, just by simply asking them to tell you more, you just - at the very least, learned a new perspective. So learn to say "tell me more."
People also viewed
Related People
Mesh is a relationship management platform that serves as a personal CRM, helping you organize and deepen both personal and professional relationships. It functions as a beautiful rolodex and CRM available on iPhone, Mac, Windows, and web, built automatically to help manage your network efficiently. Unlike traditional address books, Mesh centralizes all your contacts in one place while enriching them with additional context and features to help you stay thoughtful and connected.
Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
- Network Strength: Visualizes the strength of your relationships relative to others in your network
- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
- Smart Search: Allows you to search using natural language like "People I know at the NYT" or "Designers I've met in London"
- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
Nexus is Mesh's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Mesh isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Mesh instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Mesh is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Mesh can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.
People also viewed
Related People