William Kurniawan is a Partner at Caballeros Capital, a founder-driven early-stage venture firm focused on investing in web3 protocols, projects and companies.

While they invest globally, they have a special emphasis on the Asian region and help teams navigate the enormous opportunity that is the Chinese-speaking and Southeast Asian markets.

👋🏼 How would you explain your job to someone outside tech?

We invest, partner, and work alongside startups! A startup: a very young company or team with a vision to solve an existing problem people face.

We give them money, and hopefully, they do well and grow into a large company! Whether they do or don't do well, it's our job to be committed and help them in whatever way we can. Oh, and we specialize in that web3/crypto thing you heard about over the last few years :)

🧐 What's something about you or your job that would surprise us?

As someone who's part of a new fund, I can tell you that the venture business is hard, and competitive, and it takes a long time to know whether or not you are a good venture capitalist.

It takes years, even over a decade, before teams succeed or decide to throw in the towel. It's definitely not for everyone, and honestly, statistically speaking, it's probably not the best field to be in if you're optimizing for your wallet.

But, at the end of the day, if you enjoy working with founders, sharing their dreams, and researching/thinking about the future, then there truly is no other job than VC. No other job pays you to work with everlasting optimists, innovators and people with big dreams!

🏆 What has been the biggest highlight of your career so far?

I think living and working in China. I moved to Shanghai a short while after graduating from university. It was a dream I had, and I wanted to give it a shot while I was still young.

I basically packed my bags and got a one-way plane ticket. It was difficult, my Chinese was horrible, and I had no network to speak of when I first got there, but eventually, things started to fall into place, and the memories I made there were irreplaceable.

I got my start in venture capital from a job in China, which led to me doing what I'm doing now. So I guess that has to be the highlight.

🔍 What's a startup trend or space you're watching this year?‍

There's a lot we're looking at right now, but just to name a few: real-world assets on the blockchain, the financialization of NFTs (and the broadening of what an "NFT" actually means), and native-to-layer 2 dApps.

What would be more relevant to BackScoop readers: we're also looking at "web 2.5" (projects that bridge TradFi to crypto) applications in Southeast Asia. We're looking at these in particular right now because we feel the timing is ripe for adoption for all the topics above.

💼 What advice would you give someone starting out in your industry?

Once you have the basics of VC covered (how to source, due diligence, and execute deals), you want to develop an edge:

Are you the guy with the gift of gab, who's really good at helping portfolio companies fundraise? The gal with a Ph.D. in materials science, who knows all the nano-technology startups by name? Or maybe the go-to human resources guru that helps startups recruit?

The VC world is a multi-faceted one — it's crucial to have all the general skills covered, but you need to start developing an edge that's personal to you in this highly competitive space.

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🗣 What's one thing you can keep talking about for hours?

I know this seems boring, but anything business related. Doesn't have to be about tech or venture at all.

I once spent a day with one of the largest franchisers of western fast food chains in Southeast Asia. I think I talked to him about his business for over 7 hours (the entire time I was with him).

🎥 What's your favorite movie/TV show?

The Grand Tour

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🍨 What's your go-to ice cream flavor?‍

Vanilla (no, really)