Will Fan
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Articles by Will Fan
AI Companies Are Making Normal Growth Look Like Failure. Follow Your Industry's Clock, Not Theirs.
Every industry runs on its own clock. Learn to read yours before you let someone else's revenue chart set your plan. Key Takeaways Every few weeks, another AI company posts a revenue chart that goes almost straight up. Lovable crossed a $600 million revenue run rate in September 2026, up from $500 million in June. Cursor passed $4 billion in annualized revenue in early June 2026, double where it stood in February. Three years ago, those numbers would have sounded made up.
Every company grows through thorns. Know when one has gone too deep
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Should Your AI Business Raise VC? For Most Founders, the Honest Answer Is No. Here's Why.
Most AI founders are chasing venture capital when the retention data says they shouldn't. Key Takeaways Every week another founder shows up building the same business: an AI agent that does something useful for small and medium businesses. Website agents. Booking agents. Customer service agents. Most of them are asking the same question right now — whether to raise venture capital to go after it. The honest answer for most of these businesses is no.
How to Build a Capital Stack That Gives Your Startup More Control
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. For most of the last decade, “financing strategy” for a startup meant one thing: Raise the next round on schedule, at a higher price, from a recognizable name. That approach worked when capital was free and every fund needed to deploy. It doesn’t work now, and founders who are still building around a single fundraise as the entire plan are exposed in a way they may not realize yet. Venture didn’t just get slower.
The Li-Ning And Steph Curry Deal: What Growth-Stage Companies Can Learn
Will Fan, CEO at NewCampus. Supporting 130k+ learners in SE Asia and 140+ portfolio companies in edtech and future of work. From my perspective, Curry didn’t choose Li-Ning because it offered the most money. Buried in ESPN’s coverage was a detail worth sitting with: At least one brand offered more than Li-Ning’s reported 10-year offer worth over $400 million, and Curry still chose them.
This Under-the-Radar Company Is Quietly Challenging Sportswear’s Biggest Brands — Through Structure, Not Marketing
The Amer Sports deal wasn't about learning outdoor retail. Anta bought it because Arc'teryx already had a premium customer, a global store network and brand equity that couldn't be built organically in a decade. The deal involved €2.663 billion in equity across a consortium including FountainVest and Tencent, plus €3 billion in debt financing, then monetized through a public listing that raised approximately $1.57 billion in gross proceeds.
Deja de evitar los conflictos: cómo transformar los desacuerdos en crecimiento
Will Fan is the CEO & Head of School at NewCampus. At the intersection of... Read more
How AI Agents Can Help Small Businesses Compete
Will Fan, Head of School at NewCampus. Council at Open Campus. Supporting 130k+ learners in SE Asia and 140+ portfolio companies in edtech. In my experience, every major shift in how work gets done has followed the same pattern: panic, then adaptation, then quiet acceptance. When spreadsheets replaced manual bookkeeping, accounting firms didn't disappear. They got leaner and more profitable. When CRMs replaced Rolodexes, sales teams didn't shrink; they closed more deals with less friction.
Runway Measures Survival, Not Progress. Here’s Why That Distinction Matters More Than You Think.
Deagreez | Getty Images Entrepreneur Media LLC and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some products and services through the links below. Hoarding cash doesn’t guarantee survival — what matters is whether you’re actively using that capital to learn fast enought ot stay relevant in a rapidly shifting market.
Runway Measures Survival, Not Progress. Here's Why That Distinction Matters More Than You Think.
Runway is a comfort metric. Here's why companies that treat it as strategy risk becoming irrelevant. Key Takeaways Every founder I know can tell you their runway to the month. Eighteen months. Twenty-two months. Twelve if hiring stays on plan. It's the first number VCs ask about, and the last number founders check before bed. But here's the thing nobody says out loud: Runway didn't save most of the companies that died in 2024. They had cash.
Forbes JAPAN 公式サイト（フォーブス ジャパン）
Will Fan（NewCampusのHead of School）。Open Campusのカウンシルメンバー。東南アジアで13万人超の学習者と、EdTech領域のポートフォリオ企業140社以上を支援している。 長年、スタートアップの助言は創業者に「舞台裏にいろ」と語ってきた。素晴らしいプロダクトをつくり、優秀な人材を採用し、賢い資本を調達し、仕事そのものに語らせよ――というわけだ。だが、いまはそれでは足りない。世界はあなたのプロダクトを使いたいだけではない。誰がそれをつくり、なぜつくったのかを知りたがっている。この変化により、成功する創業者がクリエイターでもあるという新しい時代が到来した。 このアプローチの「手本」を示しているのが、AirbnbのCEO、ブライアン・チェスキーだと私は考える。チェスキーはAirbnbのブランドボイスだけに依拠せず、自身のソーシャルチャンネルを通じて顧客とコミュニケーションを取っている。2016年末、チェスキーはTwitter上で翌年に同社に何を期待するか、世間に直接意見を求めた。返信は1,000件を超えた。...
Your Brand Needs A Face: Why Successful CEOs Are Now Creators
Will Fan, Head of School at NewCampus. Council at Open Campus. Supporting 130k+ learners in SE Asia and 140+ portfolio companies in edtech. For years, startup advice told founders to stay behind the scenes. Build great product, hire well, raise smart capital and let the work speak for itself. But today, that’s not enough. The world doesn’t just want to use your product—they want to know who built it and why. This shift has brought in a new era where successful founders are also creators.
Why Transferable Skills Are a Game-Changer in Startups Today
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. The idea that it takes a decade to master a craft has roots in research from psychologists like Anders Ericsson, whose studies formed the foundation of the “10,000-hour rule.” But in today’s tech economy, accelerated by access to information, open-source tools and AI-enabled workflows, the timeline for building meaningful expertise is no longer so fixed. What used to take 10 years can, in some cases, happen in three.
Will Chicago Bears move to Indiana? 50-year fan doubts it
As the city of Hammond and state of Indiana roll out an orange and navy-blue carpet for the Chicago Bears, tens of thousands of fans in northwest Indiana, including me, remain skeptical that the team will build its new stadium here. kAmx 5@?’E @AA@D6 :E] x’5 6>3C246 :E] qFE x 5@?’E ECFDE E96 E62> E92E x’G6 366? 2 =@J2= 72? 7@C >@C6 E92?
Forbes JAPAN 公式サイト（フォーブス ジャパン）
NewCampusのHead of School。Open Campusの評議員。東南アジアで13万人以上の学習者と、エドテック分野の140社以上のポートフォリオ企業を支援している。 創業者が受け入れるべき最も厳しい真実の1つは、事業を始めた時の専門知識が、必ずしも将来の成長を支える専門知識ではないということだ。市場は進化する。顧客ニーズは変化する。業界全体がリアルタイムで台頭し、融合し、崩壊する。今日安定していると感じるものが、明日には容易に制約となり得る。それは事業の失敗ではない。周囲の環境が変化しているという兆候であり、最も賢明な創業者とは、その変化とともに進化する者たちなのだ。 NewCampusでは、長年にわたり教育分野で深い基盤を築いてきた。アクセラレーターを運営し、研修プログラムを構築し、大学を支援し、企業の人材育成を手助けしてきた。しかし、私たちが支援する事業運営者たちに近づくにつれ、知識だけがボトルネックではないことに気づいた。より多くの場合、それは資本だった。創業者たちに必要だったのは、学習体験だけでなく、資金調達戦略だったのだ。...
Category Is A Crutch: Build For Problems, Not Sectors
Head of School at NewCampus. Council at Open Campus. Supporting 130k+ learners in SE Asia and 140+ portfolio companies in edtech. One of the hardest truths for any founder to accept is that the expertise you started with may not be the expertise that carries you forward. Markets evolve. Customer needs shift. Entire industries rise, blend and collapse in real time. What feels stable today can easily become a constraint tomorrow. That’s not a failure of the business.
Should You Diversify or Dominate One Niche? Here's How to Decide.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Every founder eventually faces a strategic question that’s harder than it looks on a pitch deck: Should you build a lightweight offering that serves many types of customers, or go deep into one vertical and build a full-stack product that locks in loyalty from a single group? It’s one of the most defining decisions a company makes, especially in the early stages. In theory, going wide brings exposure and speed.
Narrative Is Currency: How To Build Your Startup’s Market Story
Will Fan, CEO at NewCampus, a modern business school for emerging markets at the intersection of education, community and new technology. getty Last month, Duolingo’s stock price dropped sharply after Apple announced its latest AirPods with real-time conversation translation. The market interpreted Apple’s move as a direct competitive threat. Despite Duolingo’s strong brand, loyal user base and proven gamification model, its valuation experienced immediate volatility.
Why Pivoting Is the Wrong Move When Your Industry Is Failing
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Over the last few years, we’ve witnessed entire industries experience meteoric rises followed by equally dramatic contractions. Edtech, for instance, saw an incredible surge in funding, attention and adoption during the pandemic, but as 2024 rolled in, many of those tailwinds began to dissipate.
Embracing Conflict As Your Business Advantage
Will Fan, CEO at , a modern business school for emerging markets. At the intersection of education, community and new technology. Conflict often feels like something we should avoid at all costs. It's uncomfortable, unpredictable and messy. But here's a reality check for any ambitious founder or leader: Avoiding conflict can cost a business more than embracing it. The truth is, conflict can be your greatest ally in driving growth and resilience.
Aceptar el conflicto puede impulsar un crecimiento sostenible y con propósito. Aquí te explicamos cómo.
El conflicto. La mayoría de los emprendedores lo ve como una fuerza temida y disruptiva, algo que hay que evitar a toda costa. Pero si hay algo que hemos aprendido del crecimiento explosivo de las marcas Web3, es que el conflicto puede convertirse en tu mejor aliado. Especialmente en el panorama en constante evolución del blockchain y las fintech, los desacuerdos, la fricción y la controversia no son obstáculos, sino peldaños hacia una mayor innovación, resiliencia y fortaleza comunitaria.
Why Entrepreneurs Should Stop Trying to Avoid Conflict
Conflict. Most entrepreneurs see it as a dreaded, disruptive force — something to avoid at all costs. But if there's one thing we've learned from the explosive growth of Web3 brands, it's that conflict can actually become your greatest ally. Especially in the rapidly evolving landscape of blockchain and fintech, disagreements, friction and controversy aren't setbacks; they're stepping stones to greater innovation, resilience and community strength.
Stop trying to avoid conflict. Here's how to turn disagreements into growth.
Entrepreueur The opinions expressed by contributors to Entrepreneur are theirs. Conflict. Conflict is viewed by most entrepreneurs as a disruptive force that should be avoided at all costs. We’ve learned that the explosive growth in Web3 brands has taught us one important lesson: conflict can be your best ally. disagreements and friction are not setbacks, but rather stepping stones for greater innovation, resilience, and community strength.
La guía del CEO para prosperar como padre primerizo
Convertirse en padre por primera vez es una de esas experiencias transformadoras que cambian por completo tu perspectiva. Como CEO y nuevo padre, mi mundo se puso de cabeza recientemente… en el mejor sentido posible. La paternidad trae una enorme alegría, pero también introduce una nueva serie de desafíos relacionados con mantener la motivación, delegar, cuidar la salud mental, aprovechar oportunidades y administrar el tiempo.
Top Startups Use Parental Leave To Win Talent And Scale Sustainably
Will Fan, CEO at NewCampus, a modern business school for emerging markets. At the intersection of education, community and new technology. getty When I recently became a father, my perspective on leadership and workplace culture shifted dramatically. Parenthood is transformative, and as entrepreneurs building businesses that scale, we have a unique opportunity and responsibility to craft world-class parental leave policies that reflect our values and support our teams.
The CEO's Guide to Thriving as a First-Time Parent
Becoming a first-time parent is one of those transformative life experiences that fundamentally reshapes your perspective. As a CEO and a new father, my world recently flipped upside down, in the best possible way. Fatherhood brings immense joy, but it also introduces a whole new set of challenges around balancing motivation, delegation, mental fitness, opportunity pursuit and time management. For leaders accustomed to full-throttle work, the transition to parenthood can seem daunting.
Surviving Volatility: Lessons From Dot-Com Crash Survivors
Will Fan, CEO at NewCampus, a modern business school for emerging markets. At the intersection of education, community and new technology. getty Finding product-market fit is one of those evergreen startup challenges, but throw in a volatile environment, and you’ve got a whole new ballgame. Volatility in markets can hit startups hard, whether it’s economic uncertainty, sudden shifts in consumer behavior or regulatory changes.
Cómo construir una red de aliados clave para tu startup
Cuando estás lanzando una startup, especialmente en las primeras etapas, es común caer en la tentación de enfocarte únicamente en desarrollar tu producto o servicio y perfeccionar tu propuesta central. Pero la realidad es que ningún negocio prospera en aislamiento. A medida que escalas, uno de los aceleradores más poderosos para el crecimiento no es solo la ejecución interna, sino la solidez y profundidad de tu red de aliados estratégicos.
How to Build the Ultimate Partner Network for Your Startup Original
When you're launching a startup, especially in the early stages, the temptation is often to keep your head down, build your product or service and focus solely on perfecting your core offering. But the reality is, no business thrives in isolation. As you scale, one of the most powerful accelerators for growth isn't just internal execution; it's the strength and depth of your network of partners.
How Firing Bad Customers Can Save Your Startup
Firing a customer. It sounds counterintuitive, especially for startups hungry for revenue and growth. But the truth is, knowing exactly who your customers are — and more importantly, who they aren't — is one of the most critical skills for founders. It's a tough conversation, but sometimes you have to fire a customer to ensure your startup thrives. When a company is young and resources are scarce, every customer seems valuable.
Beyond The First Win: Why Product-Market Fit Doesn’t Last Forever
Will Fan, CEO at NewCampus, a modern business school for emerging markets. At the intersection of education, community and new technology. Product-market fit: Every founder obsesses over it. Investors grill you about it. Media treats it like some mythical milestone that, once achieved, guarantees success. But the reality is that product-market fit isn’t a one-and-done event. It evolves.
Hiring Like Crazy? Ignoring These Processes Could Derail Your Business.
Hyper-growth is exhilarating — the pace, the scale, the market dominance. It's what every founder and investor dreams of. However, as companies in AI, Web3 and other frontier industries double and triple their headcount within a year, there's one major question that doesn't get enough attention: When does a company actually need real people processes? We've seen this story play out before.
What VC Founders Need To Know About Exit Pressure
Will Fan, CEO at NewCampus, a modern business school for emerging markets. At the intersection of education, community and new technology. The venture capital (VC) world is buzzing with tension, and it’s not hard to see why. Many VCs are nearing the end of their investment cycles, and that means one thing: The clock is ticking. For startups, especially those thriving in this challenging market, this dynamic can bring a mix of opportunities and challenges. Are you ready for exit conversations?
AI Isn't the CEO — Why Human Judgment Still Rules in Business Decisions | Entrepreneur
AI is no longer a futuristic buzzword; it's here, and it's reshaping how companies operate. From automating repetitive tasks to offering insights that were once impossible to uncover, AI has become integral for businesses looking to scale smarter, not harder. But with the rise of AI agents — tools capable of interacting autonomously — we're on the cusp of a new chapter in how AI integrates into daily processes.
AI Isn't the CEO — Why Human Judgment Still Rules in Business Decisions | Flipboard
11 hours ago The Latest iPhone Update Includes 1 Feature You Might Want To Turn Off ASAP You will be surprised how much storage this feature takes up. If you are an iPhone user, you have been hearing a lot about the AI-powered “Apple Intelligence” tools.
Council Post: Mindshare Mastery: Turning Attention Into Influence And Growth
Will Fan, CEO at NewCampus, a modern business school for emerging markets. At the intersection of education, community and new technology. Capturing mindshare is a crucial step in building a brand that doesn’t just thrive but dominates. Whether you're innovating in the Web3 space or leading a charge in an old-school industry, the battle for attention is where all your other battles are won.
Why Startup Founders Need to Look Beyond Traditional Funding
If you're running a business, capital remains the fuel that keeps the engine running. Yet, for startup founders, traditional funding routes like venture capital or bank loans can often feel like a crowded freeway — full of competition, gatekeepers and compromises. The savviest founders throughout history have consistently looked beyond the obvious, tapping into alternative forms of capital to not only fund their growth but also gain an edge in their industries.
Council Post: How Edtech Is Transforming Student Loans With Innovative Financing Options
Will Fan, CEO at NewCampus, a modern business school for emerging markets. At the intersection of education, community and new technology. The student debt crisis is a financial burden affecting many people, with over 43 million people in the U.S. alone facing over $1.7 trillion in debt.
Why an Amazing Product Isn't Enough for Startup Success
Investors love to say that "first-time founders focus on the product, while second-time founders focus on distribution." But what does that really mean? And how does it impact the success — or failure — of a business? Let's break it down. First-time founders often fall in love with their product. They pour endless hours into developing every feature and perfecting every line of code, believing that if they create something amazing, customers will come flocking to them.
Council Post: From Classroom To Career: AI's Impact On Edtech Jobs Original
Will Fan, CEO at NewCampus, a modern business school for emerging markets. At the intersection of education, community and new technology. Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a buzzword confined to tech-savvy circles, permeating across sectors and especially transforming areas like education and edtech. As AI continues to evolve, it is revolutionizing how we teach, learn and manage educational environments, spawning new career paths that were unimaginable a decade ago.
Southeast Asia’s marketing renaissance: How up-and-coming marketers are leading the charge
Verify Your Email Address Your account contact email hasn't been verified yet. Please verify your email address Add your investment information {{name}} You are part of this round Were you a part of this investment round? No Yes Add me to this round This company hasn't added any fundings yet. Notes Success! Note is successfully saved. Error! Note is not saved. Download Resume/Cover Letter Join the e27 community! Sign me up for the Daily Digest Please login to continue Forgot your password?
Council Post: Power Plays: How Web3 Companies Leverage Tokens And NFTs For Influence
CEO at NewCampus, a modern business school in Asia. Exploring the intersection between the future of work and learning with an Asian twist. Companies are increasingly leveraging assets like tokens and NFTs from other projects to build influential positions within the ecosystem. This strategy has the potential to not only enhance their market influence but also foster significant partnerships and collaborative opportunities.
How to Build a Sustainable, Future-Ready Tech Business Original
A paradigm shift from traditional SaaS models to service-based strategies heralds a new era for tech startups, especially in the realm of artificial intelligence (AI). This transition is not just a trend but a strategic response to the current market's demands for better cash flow management, scalable operations and the necessity to accommodate a burgeoning remote workforce.
From gold rush jeans to digital skills: Edutech’s Levi Strauss moment Original
When we examine the trajectory of fast-growing sectors such as fintech and crypto, it’s evident that these industries have harnessed the power of momentum markets to achieve exponential growth. For edutech companies looking to replicate this success, there’s much to learn from the strategies employed by these sectors.
Locus Ceruleus Dynamics Are Suppressed during Licking and Enhanced Postlicking Independent of Taste Novelty
fiber photometry licking locus ceruleus norepinephrine novelty taste Significance Statement Major neuromodulatory systems in the brain respond selectively to various forms of salient information, resulting in a diversity of neuromodulatory states. Novel tastes are a unique form of salience that increase norepinephrine (NE) release in taste-processing brain regions, yet the source for this release is unknown.
Council Post: Balancing Acts: How EdTech Can Satisfy Investors, Educators And Learners
CEO at NewCampus, a modern business school in Asia. Exploring the intersection between the future of work and learning with an Asian twist. Managing a diverse array of stakeholders is a challenge familiar to founders across various industries, but I've found it is particularly pronounced in the edtech sector. Edtech founders must navigate the expectations and demands of investors, buyers, corporate partners, learners, students and parents.
Bold moves: Capitalising on market dips in edutech
Verify Your Email Address Your account contact email hasn't been verified yet. Please verify your email address Add your investment information {{name}} You are part of this round Were you a part of this investment round? No Yes Add me to this round This company hasn't added any fundings yet. Notes Success! Note is successfully saved. Error! Note is not saved. Download Resume/Cover Letter Join the e27 community! Sign me up for the Daily Digest Please login to continue Forgot your password?
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