Min-Yi Shih: Intrapreneurship Through the Lens of a Scientist Solving Nonlinear Equations

On today's episode of The Founder's Sandbox, our host Brenda McCabe speaks with Min-Yi Shih. Min- Yi has a background in Physics and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, (quantum optoelectronics field aka laser, etc), got his MBA from UCLA, prior CTO, COO and GM in the R&D, defense, medical and communication equipment industries, angel investor and more recently advisor to early-stage founders and academics in the deep tech space.

 Brenda and Min-Yi speak about “intrapreneurship through the lens of a scientist solving nonlinear equations”; How his journey started as a Research scientist at GE Global Research – where he considered himself an individual contributor; soon evolved to an individual enabler as a program manager, and eventually as an organizational “sherpa “guide for startups and academic institutions.

You can find out more or connect with Min-Yi on his linkedin page at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/min-yi-shih-86506a3/

 

Transcription

00:04
We're standing on the edge of something big. We're gonna make some changes. Welcome back to the Founder's Sandbox. I'm Brenda McCabe. I own and operate NextAct Advisors, a consulting firm. Where I have a very simple mission. I want to assist entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs in building scalable,

00:33
well-governed and resilient businesses. The Founders Sandbox podcast that you're listening to today is an additional channel that features founders, business owners, corporate directors and professional service providers who like me want to use the power of the private enterprise, be that small, medium or large to create change for a better world. Through storytelling with each of my guests, we'll touch on topics.

01:03
like resilience, purpose-driven enterprises, and sustainable growth. And my goal is to provide a fun sandbox environment where we can equip one startup founder at a time to build a better world. Today, I'm absolutely delighted. I'm joined here with my guest Min Yi Shi. Min Yi has a background in physics, and he has a PhD in electrical engineering.

01:32
actually in quantum optoelectronics field, I got lasers. We're gonna talk about lasers today. He got his MBA from UCLA after prior operating roles as chief technology officer, COO, and general manager in the R&D, defense, medical, and communication equipment industries. He's also an angel investor, and more recently advisor to early stage

02:01
founders and academics in the deep tech space. Min Yi and I are going to talk about entrepreneurship through the lens of a scientist solving non-linear equations. So welcome Min Yi to the Founder's Sandbox. Hi, glad to be here. Thank you. How his journey started first as a research scientist at GE Global Research, where he considered himself

02:30
an individual contributor. It soon evolved to an individual enabler, in his own words, as a program manager. And eventually as an organizational sherpa, or guide for startups and academic institutions, is what today's podcast is about. So thank you again for joining me in the founder's sandbox. You know, you and I, we've...

02:56
found each other in many pitching events, largely in deep tech, you're with Tech Coast Angels, Los Angeles Adventure Association, and a lot of the universities here in Los Angeles, UCLA, USC. So we've run into each other, but more frequently, more recently, you posted in LinkedIn an interesting post about how you work with deep tech scientists

03:26
to identify pricing strategies using nonlinear equations. And I thought it was interesting how you work with these scientists and it struck an interest in me because I work with the Deep Tech founders and I work with them on pricing issues around supply and demand. So I come at it from an economist point of view. So can you share a little bit about that post that you provided in LinkedIn and that cut?

03:54
caught my eye and I asked you to be a guest and you delighted me and agreed. So thank you. Sure. Well, thank you very much for the very kind introduction. The post, the reason I wrote the post is that after talking to a few startups, specifically those are startup with a co, with a founder that have a very deep technical background.

04:21
Right. They all start up with, you know, CEO is in a financial background or any other background, sales background. But because I work in my field, I talk to a lot of founder in the deep tech area or med tech area, medical. Oftentimes they are approached things in based on their training.

04:47
And what I try to do is actually speak the same language, the language we share as a scientist or engineer that be able to convey the message and then we can move forward and be able to ask you what we discuss and then come and find the answer or the answer is close enough to what we try to achieve by the sensor. So...

05:16
During the conversation, and I used many example of how we were solving equations, those equations don't have exact analytical answers, but there's an approach to find a range or getting too close to the true answer, for say. So that's how we started. I love it. So let's talk about nonlinear equations, bringing it into the mix and entrepreneurship. I love it.

05:45
So you agreed to join me here in the sandbox. And I'd love to go back to your origins. You were born in Taiwan. Yes. And always wanted to be a scientist from get go. And you have a huge fixation with physics and specifically lasers. Was it Star Wars time? Or can you give us some background on where did it all begin?

06:12
So if I say Star Wars time, is that review my age? It does. It is. When I grow up, I want to be a scientist from the early age for sure. And, you know, watch TV, reading books.

06:36
The fascinating thing is there are things that make sound like a pew pew pew. And it's visible, it's a colorful. And I was fascinated by those things. And then naturally getting to start my early interest in the physics, particularly in the optic area. And then that's how I get my things going, we'll say.

07:03
And what was going on in Taiwan about that time when you were in high school? There were four Asian dragons that were largely growing really rapidly. Today Taiwan is a lion or a huge dragon in terms of semiconductors, which is front and center due to the supply chain constraints.

07:33
do in your spare time that led you to continue to follow a science education. You picked up parts, you made a laser. What was that you did? Yeah, lots of people that are close to me probably heard that story more than one times. Yes, in the high school time, it's a doom in the booming of the economic in Taiwan and

08:02
or Little Dragon. And everything's just booming and lots of material. You'll be surprised at a time the reason Taiwan grow really fast because a good tie with the U.S. And in fact there are specific industry that import lots of scrape parts from U.S. high-tech industry. They have a

08:32
you know, there are huge market in Taipei at the time. And then that's what I spend most of my weekend just going through the scrap yard and just see if there's anything interesting and useful. And then sometime I even get to ask the questions of what is that? And then there are people be able to answer me and help me to understand. So early on, that's my...

08:58
my own adventure to expose myself to the technology. And then I come across a few parts and then I was able to make the connection, actually acquire a laser tube and the amplifier and a few other components and go back home and put the trigger and turn it on. And that was my first laser. Amazing. And it's still operating today, right? If you go back. Yes, it's still operating today. And last time I checked, yes.

09:28
So after completing your undergraduate degree, you did military service and continued to be in the physics field and came to the United States to get your master's degree, right? And on to get your PhD in electrical engineering, always in the optoelectronics field? Yeah, yeah, optoelectronics. Yeah.

09:56
you know, continue with a journey that, like I said, early on, interesting in physics and the specificity in optics, naturally, I'm getting to those areas surrounding by lasers or quantum optoelectronics. I also, because from Taiwan at the time, we have a very good solid training on the solid state physics, which is a fundamental for the semiconductor.

10:25
So combined with the optics and the semiconductor that allow me to continue my own pursue or being a scientist for say, and then the focus on those area on the content side. All right. So after graduate school, your first employment was with GE Global Research. And I loved how you shared with me

10:54
that you considered yourself, you're a scientist, right? An individual contributor. You were gonna let him, right? And while still at GE Global Research, you then moved kind of up the food chain to a program manager, right? Acquiring. Yeah, I was fortunate enough. And throughout my journey, even in my school, and I go to GE,

11:20
I consider a lot of people that being important and critical that helped me to grow. And the very fortunate I was given a certain opportunity and be able to get into play a bigger role and making more impact. And I feel like I'm extremely blessed. And what I found interesting too, when speaking with you.

11:50
preparation for this podcast is you after GE, you then moved into a for-profit company. And you were managing first office CTO, then COO, an entire program of different grants that eventually would be...

12:16
commercialized, right? So products that had received grants and then were commercialized. So you were managed an entire set of programs. And again, moving up the food chain. And that I found was interesting, because you decided at one stage to go to the dark side, you went off and got your MBA at UCLA. Yes, I think I'm a PhD, you know, did you were you missing a degree? What made you do that?

12:45
Well, I cannot get enough of school. So I decide to go back to school, spend more time in school. Now it's this, it's throughout the journey. And like I said, I was giving and I was super blessed and giving a lot of opportunity after GE war for defense industry. And then lots of those government grants, non-diluted funding, be able to translate innovations.

13:15
good ideas into commercial. That whole journey is just to keep me going. And of course, during the time that I was giving many opportunity become a top executive for the company. However, I always feel like I'm learning things from quote unquote street, from my supervisor, from my colleagues.

13:41
and then slowly acquire a different skill and along the growth of my own career. So at a certain point, I decided to go back to school and to see what exactly is being done. And I'll try to get more from the street smart for say that gets a little bit more book smart. Right. And you know, as a physicist, right?

14:09
Yeah. And fast forward to what you do today, advising startup companies or even academic programs. You continue to think like a physicist in solving equations, right? Nonlinear equations. But what is that? What are those elements that you found while doing your MBA? So time, money, resources. And what does a physicist bring to solving

14:38
business problems with great technology. What's in that equation, Min Yi? Okay. First of all, let me clear that. Yes, I want to be a physicist. And then some of my friends even always call me and say, you are the one to be a physicist. Because I get my degree, they teach me because I eventually get my degree in the electrical engineer.

15:03
I think that train me well in a sense that we can streamline a complicated problem and be able to hopefully and see what the essence about any complicated issue or challenge and be able to address that. So by training, we solving equations, we solving complicated equations that involve with the time.

15:32
and of course apply to a business that is money. And if you want to extend the equation with a different parameter that I for say, there will be things like an infrastructure, like IT, like a location, like resource, the tool, the hardware tool, the software tool you use for the enterprise. And then eventually,

16:00
that all include the most, I find out the most important factor and which is a super, super nonlinear in those very competent equation is the human. Business around the human. So just in addition to those factors, human become a, human factor become a big of my own thesis for say, or the equation for say, and try to solve in the daily.

16:30
basis for the business. Yeah, so managing personnel, right? Managing the talent is one of those critical elements in the equation. I think you were still at GE Global Research. You were working largely in, I think, fiber optics. 9-11 happens, right? Oh, yeah. Yeah. I believe it was the first week I worked at GE.

17:00
Oh my god. 9-11 happened and everybody running around and don't know what's going on. Internet literally down, CNN only have one page and they say, we will be right back. There's a jet hit the World Trade Center. At the GE, someone in engineer was be able to salvage a

17:25
black and white TV with antenna and the plug-in and turn on and see a live broadcast from TV. So that changed me a lot. And then that's also triggered me later on that want to get involved on the homeland security and defense side because I think that is a point a lot of people triggered and start to pivot their thinking.

17:55
what they really want to grow into and get back to the society or community. Yeah, that's a very critical point in my life, yeah. And so you started working more in defense, as you said, and also the US government's budget, right? Yes. Through lots of money. I mean, there was a major shift and the largest seed fund in the United States of America

18:24
for my listeners, a lot of people don't know this is SBIR, right? Small business. Yeah, and STTR. And can you talk about, first of all, some of the defense programs, or R&D programs that had dual purpose technologies, and explain that to my listeners, right? Because there's a commercial component. And likewise, you know, speak to

18:53
What is SBIR? What is STTR and how you are today collaborating with a lot of companies and academic institutions, right? At LARTA. So, it's a loaded question. Thank you. Yeah, it is. And I will say that I have a lot of experience with SBIR, STTR, and they are many, many experts out there. And I'm going to provide my own point of view.

19:22
It is a big industry and it is the biggest, largest seed funding for innovations. The US government different agency, not just in the Department of Defense, is that also the Department of Energy, NASA, NIH, and Health, and Homeland Security, and Department of Transportation. Everybody have SBIR program.

19:52
is to encourage that the small business that specifically defined it for small business. It's not for the large corporate to grab the money for the encourage a small business, especially startup to be creative and to generate a new idea to, and then throughout this funding, allow those founders and the small business and be able to get help from the federal government, execute their plan and then...

20:21
eventually commercialize it or transition their technology or solution into the market. The dual use is mentioned a lot in those programs. Basically, the government, different agencies like NASA, Defense, Homeland Security, NIH, they may have a different point of view of certain applications for certain technologies.

20:48
So they use the funding to encourage small business to be creative and then establish their business because all the startup in the early stage, they all need a certain cash injection. That's capital injection, that's for sure. Right. And for- Yeah. And by that, it's not only, I think the return

21:15
to the US government is not just help the small business for say, but it's also promoted the entire entrepreneur spirit for say, I mean, in the entire US. I do think that is a cornerstone for the US economy. And then, in fact, if you want to call that a be part of the American dream, that is what is a program actually leading to.

21:42
Yeah. Right. And SBIR is Small Business Innovation Research and STTR is? The STTR is similar to the SBIR, but that require a collaboration for the small business with nonprofit institute. Oftentimes it's academia. So the STTR will be a vehicle that for example, you can help a group of researcher or professor or students.

22:11
they have a great idea of a certain technology or solution and be able to through the similar channel and bring the solution to the commercial market. Yeah, so dual use and dual purpose technologies are goods and software and technology that both have a civilian as well as a military application. Right? Military and can be at home and security. Right, home and security, exactly.

22:40
You know, the...

22:47
You started at GE Global Research. We jumped ahead today in the podcast to talk about what you do today as an angel investor and advising early stage companies. There was a middle. I'm going to bring us back to the episode title of the podcast, which is intrapreneurship through the lens of a scientist solving nonlinear equations. And when I was reading your bio,

23:17
Minyi, it just jumped out at me because you truly moved to the private enterprise as CTO for IntelliSense systems. And you were responsible for a wide range of standard and customized integrated electronic systems. Some of these were at early stage and you were eventually selling these, spinning these off, right? And, you know, so I'd love you to talk about

23:47
What was it like being an entrepreneur, right? Within a corporation, what was that like? Yeah, that's maybe that's what I try to explain that is everyday gimmick going.

24:10
Because as a scientist, if you, not just myself, even when I interview my fellow employee throughout my journey of my career, is always ask and I interview a lot of PhDs. And I always ask them, what's your vision? What's your dream? And everybody is more or less, I will say more than 90% of people are saying that I want to working on a unique solution, innovative solution.

24:39
and I will make it work and I will bring into the market so other people can benefit from it, from my innovation, from my good ideas. And I think that was a fundamental driving force for a lot of scientists and engineer to continue to improve their own skill and continue to working on a solution and eventually be able to solve problem.

25:08
to overcome any limitations and to face a challenge, a different challenge every day. And that is a truly a driving force for a lot of scientists and engineers outside, out there. Amazing. So while this podcast is being released in the month of May, 2023, the first week of May,

25:36
from April 30th to May 6th is National Small Business Week. Every year since 1963, the President of the United States has issued a proclamation announcing National Small Business Week, which recognizes the critical contributions of America's entrepreneurs and small business owners. You currently are serving as a principal advisor at LARTA Institute. Yeah.

26:06
where you contribute to programs both in the Department of Energy and National Institutes of Health, SBIR and TABA program. Yes. So what are you seeing as a principal advisor? What's coming through the pipeline in terms of interesting small business ideas? Oh, there are plenty. And that's, that's why we are in the United States. There's a plenty of good idea and

26:33
I love it. And yeah, this is the spirit of the entire country, I will say even, and that is to be innovative and to continue to progress, making progress, face challenge, overcome challenges. There are plenty of new ideas in different areas. I think the medical area specifically is booming.

27:02
because the aging population, and as well as a lot of new technologies, such as AI that we heard morning, one time per day now, and different infrastructure, architecture like IoT, that enable a post-COVID environment that there's a fast growing of the telemedicine, there's a fast growing of how to

27:32
analyze the data and be able to create new solutions, even in the drug discovery right now. And so I think that there's a, because the innovation we accumulate over the time and because the society is also changing, I think is a great opportunity for a startup entrepreneur to start a new idea and then leverage the SBIR, STTR opportunity to get the funding.

28:01
And along the side, the Top Prop Program is designed to help these founders specifically to do the market research because oftentimes they may have a lack of experience on how to conduct a proper market study and go to market strategy, pricing strategy. That's how we met at the beginning.

28:26
and all the different aspects of how to really run the business and then address any met need from the market and tailor their solution for it. So I believe the pop-up program on top of the SBIR, STTR program is definitely the way to go for a lot of...

28:53
a startup and they definitely should look into and try to leverage it. Yeah. And you were saying that the application, well, the grant writing process for an SBIR STTR is very similar to writing a pitch deck, right? Oh, yeah. Yeah. That's also come to.

29:16
That's why we have the episode today is to the lens of the scientists, right? Yeah. A lot of founders, they are scientists and engineers to begin with, like I say. They oftentimes write or put together a pitch deck, write a proposal or pitch deck in a way that presents their technology, presents their idea. It becomes a publication at a conference, scientific conference or...

29:43
a proposal will read like a publication, a scientific publication. And so I'm right now actually guiding and coaching a lot of small business and try to put together a business idea to support their technical solution. Like a pitch deck and all the proposal. They are a sale document.

30:12
you try to sell your ideas. And that, no, so not only you need to address there's a truly a market need and that you would be able to address the need, but you also need to come out with a show, both you have a capability and a capacity to execute the business plan, which means money, people, tools, infrastructure.

30:40
And so a lot of this is very similar, is a pitch deck versus just a proposal on paper. In fact, recently the Department of Defense, a lot of different agency, Air Force specifically, that they start have a very similar like a shark tank style pitch day. Oh really? Yeah, you submit your presentation within 15 minutes.

31:10
And by end of the day, you maybe got a check size this big. With your name on that. And then so, yet again, and there's a very similarity for the startup on how you prepare your pitch deck as well as you prepare for the proposal. Right, then you know the CIA has their own seed fund. In Utah, right? Yeah. In Utah, so. Yeah.

31:39
That's out there. We're all innovating. Hey, this is, this is your moment, Mindy. I'd like you to help my listeners know how to find you. You want to share your, your information, please? Yeah. I think that nowadays social media, LinkedIn. Yeah. LinkedIn will be the easiest way to find me. I do not have a TikTok though, so don't try to find me there. And linking will be the best way.

32:10
Fantastic. So I love to bring my guests back to the founder sandbox. I work on three topics with founders. I work with a lot of founders in deep tech myself, but it's around the topics of resilience, sustainable growth, and purpose-driven organizations. And I'd like to ask my guest, what does resilience mean to you? Meany?

32:40
that that's actually right away two words appear in my mind. Okay. One is core and the other word is flexible. So there's a one old Chinese saying that a good gentleman should be like a bamboo. You are strong, tall, but when the wind's coming, storm coming, you will bend.

33:09
and you'll come back. That to me is that you have a very strong core, you'll believe of what you are doing. And, but meanwhile, when we reach everybody knows, I mean, especially startup company, it's not easy to navigate through different obstacles and challenges. So from time to time, you need to be flexible, you need to adapt to the environment, but don't lose your core.

33:38
and don't lose your vision. And that to me is a resilient. Thank you. R.

33:50
It is, they have a different meaning now. So if I use the latest trend, the AI type of thinking, I will say that means your decision-making is based on data. Got it. Your decision-making or the way you run business is based on measurable KPIs. Right.

34:16
And that to me is a purpose driven enterprise that as long as you understand what you're doing and then equip yourself with the latest technology or tools and then build a business strong. Nice. Final question. Actually, it's second to last question. Sustainable growth.

34:44
and the work you do, what does that mean to you? That means that you not only need to take all the short-term challenges, but you also need to be ready to address long-term goals. Mm-hmm. So

35:07
So for an entrepreneur, for say that you need to deal with a daily activity, you are wearing multiple hats, there are many things throughout the year, maybe a finance, maybe an employee issue, maybe the markets, maybe the funding. But go back to what we just talked about previously that

35:31
Throughout this time, not only you deal with short-term challenges, but also you need to start to equip yourself and then learn from the data, learn from the information you gather throughout this journey and be able to prepare when is a new challenge coming up in the long run. So as a result, a sustainable growth that can really occur.

36:01
Lots of people try to fight and have a short-term vision and work on short-term things. And then you're going to have a hard time to pivot if you don't equip yourself or have enough capacity for say when a new challenge presents themselves. For the long term. That's super helpful. Thank you. Last and final question, Min Yi. Did you have fun in the sandbox today? No, I don't have fun because I could check out quiz.

36:30
No, I have a great fun today. Yes. Yes. I hope that everybody understand I'm, you know, gobbling and understand I'm, you know, sharing my experience and that kind of thing. Yeah. So I thank you. It's been a lot of fun. I love talking about deep tech. I like to have guests that are practitioners working in this fabulous ecosystem on building.

36:58
really resilient companies that can scale and have a purpose. So thank you, Mingyi, and your insights about intrapreneurship through the lens of a scientist solving nonlinear equations was a delight. Thank you to my listeners. I'm signing off for this month and thank you for joining the Founder Sandbox. Have a great day.