THERE IS A BATMAN AND JOKER IN EVERY ENTREPRENEUR'S JOURNEY

I grew up with comic books because they gave me life lessons about being a minority and how to always fight for what’s right. Superman and Batman did annoy me though; they seemed a little too self-righteous and I get it, it’s to keep up with the storylines. Not only were comic books empowering me to reach for better but gave me hope that I could be something great one day.

The moment I realized I could never develop these superpowers, was a sad day for me. I realized I might have to actually go to the gym, and at least try and look like a superhero. If you had asked me when I was ten years old if I would ever be a founder of a beverage company, I would have told you that would never be an interest. I never expected to be a founder of SANSby Taejin Beverage, a producer of Asian-lead love stories, an actor, and a reality TV personality. This wasn’t what I aspired to be when I was growing up. I actually wanted to be a comic book artist. However, after taking a few art classes and realizing that I didn’t have the natural talent, I made a move to sports.  At the time, everyone thought being a nerd was doomed to be stuck in a room by yourself.  It wasn’t like it is today with gamers and comic cons and A list celebrities.  

In every entrepreneur's journey, I believe there is a Batman and a Joker, and depending on who you are and what happened in your life, you are either the Batman or the Joker (the hero or the villain), or you exchange characters at some point. It’s worth pointing out that the hero /villain dynamic also happens to be a matter of perspective. I always wanted to be the bad guy because I thought that they were cooler and the girls liked the bad guys more. As I got sober, I found my authentic self and became who I really was, not what I thought the world wanted. I wasn’t “the bad guy,” and once I got that and became comfortable with myself, the miracles of sobriety started to happen for me. 

Bling Empire came during the pandemic when everyone was watching TV and the social media platforms blew up. I went from someone who was talking on TEDX and someone who produced (and was in) a documentary on Asian Masculinity, to now a Netflix reality star. From this, I attracted many types of people, and even then, friends from the past treated me differently.

It was great to be invited to everything, to be asked to host or give out awards. The red carpets and the new TikTok influencers that came out of the pandemic, it was an overwhelming year of going to events and going to birthday parties, launch parties, red carpets, and dinners. I used to host potlucks when I first moved to Los Angeles. They were small gatherings for 6-15 Asian Americans where we gathered monthly to bring a dish and get to know each other at a more meaningful setting and we’d go around Jeffersonian style, where we all answered the same questions that went around the table. It was a great way to actually connect and create a deeper bond with someone. I brought people together, mostly entertainers and entrepreneurs, who I thought would like to meet. I’ve connected people to their current love interests, managers, business partners, investors, and much more. I used to invite 10-15 guests at a time, and I’d be lucky to get six who showed up. After Bling Empire, 15 out of 15 guests wanted to attend and showed up and even wanted to bring plus-ones.

I was asked to come to fashion events, I was asked to come to birthday parties to meet affluent and important people in my community. I was asked to show up to events to meet other “public figures” or come to dinners where there would be other people that “I have to meet.” I’d be asked to host other people’s dinners to build communities. I’d be asked to connect people for people raising money. I’d be asked to show up to screenings and go places, and something people always told me was that I showed up. 

I’m glad to show up, but the one thing that’s funny to me is when people tell me that I’ve changed. Sure, I’ve changed and so have the people around me — even some friends in the past have changed how they treat me. At times, I felt  like the shiny object for people to “get something” that they wanted or needed from others, whether it was social validation, connections, closing business deals, I’ve seen it all.   The potlucks and parties started to lose their innocence.  I started to realize that I had tangible real value finally.

But what I have learned from these “Jokers”, is that I do NOT want to be like them. Even if (or dare I say, when) I become as wealthy or successful as these Jokers someday, I will still remember that my moral compass was shaped by my heroes such as Batman and Superman. They always do the right thing no matter what, even if it can serve them to do the opposite. 

When I say “Jokers” in this context, I mean the folks that have used me or taken advantage of me or just straight-out lied to get something from me, and partially because they thought of the platforms I was on that I’d have endless cash to settle or just give out. 

There was a point as well where I started to have an unhealthy perspective about wealth and wealthy people because it was difficult to watch the ultra-wealthy spend endlessly on luxury and then when it came to helping out a struggling entrepreneur, it was easy to say no and not help out or invest but they would spend a year's worth of salary on a handbag. They were basically saying that their handbags were worth more than I was. There’s a saying I came across — ‘if you’re fortunate enough to do well, it’s your responsibility to send the elevator back down’. That’s what Bruce Wayne would do. 

Getting into business, I realized that status and luxury were what they valued and where they are at their point of lives. Most ultra-wealthy that I’ve been around would wine and dine and not care  — some would want to split the bill. I promised myself if I ever became one of them, I wouldn’t be the latter with someone who was like me because I’ve seen good people in great positions who saw it as a pleasure to mentor and pick up the bill because it was their way of giving back. 

With all of my run-ins with successful folks (both kind and selfish), they turned me into something that drove me to remember that I don’t want to be the “Jokers” of the successful. The ones who take advantage, don’t give back, and are super self-focused. I’m not saying I’m so altruistic like Batman and fighting better causes or great causes, but it made me more driven to want to be the entrepreneur that wanted to do more good than just a “winner take all at all cost mentality.”. 

Batman could have killed the Joker so many times, but he chose to show mercy. Batman has all the money in the world, and he chooses to spend his nights fighting crime. The Joker had a lot of bad stuff happen in his life as well, and he chose a life of crime. Without the Joker, Batman wouldn’t exist. I think as an entrepreneur the bad drives us just as much as the good, and there’s always Jokers around who are out to steal or just get things from us. It’s not just wealthy people who are Jokers — bad bosses teach us how not to be, sort of like reverse role models. It’s all how we use these experiences to shape us. Will you be the Batman or the Joker? 

I used to believe you have to ‘fake it until you make it’ or even better, do whatever it takes for success, even if you need to screw someone over once in a while. What I’ve learned is that it doesn’t feel good to do it, and nor do you have to. Adam Grant talks about this in his book, Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success. In the book, Grant talks about three types of people — Givers, Takers, and Matchers. Givers give more than they take. Takers take more than they give. Matchers give and take roughly the same. Givers tend to be more successful than Takers and Matchers because they build and nurture meaningful relationships on their journey. They’re using trust and reliability to build their reputation. This form of networking ultimately helps elevate their success. Takers can also succeed in life, evidence of that is all around us. However, they can often don’t build the same kind of reputation through trust and reliability so their gains may be short-term or come at a price. 

Sure, some Jokers are successful, but I choose to do my best not to emulate or choose that path of success. Through the success of Bling and going into entrepreneurship with SANS by Taejin Beverage, I’ve wanted to become more and more like Batman rather than the Joker, minus the life of isolation and being a night owl like Batman, but I used to carry a darker and jaded viewpoint and energy my first year of starting SANS.   But like Batman, the Jokers I’ve encountered and overcame, have created me.  There’s been a lot of Jokers in my life. But along the way, I’ve seen the good guys as well. 

My company has lasted longer than a year, a milestone I’m proud of.  We had a hot start and then had to slow down intentionally, but we are finally over that hump.   I’ve spotted the Jokers more quickly, and I’ve come to realize that I’m now realizing how the bad guys create the good guys and the Batmans. Again, I’m not saying I’m really Batman, I’m just saying that I always aspire  to be more like Batman — a guy who isn’t stingy with his resources and wants to give back to his community. I don’t want to be a multimillionaire sitting on a pile of cash thinking to myself “is this really worth my time and money, and what return will I get?” While I could be the Batman to someone else in their lives, the people I really needed at the time of my journey. Investing in the community will always have a return. 

I can’t tell people how to spend their money or their time, but I hope one day I can say I’m truly the Batman and use my power for good. I live in a fantasy world most likely, but I think all entrepreneurs live in a fantasy world because we have a vision of change that the rest of the world might not see or hasn’t caught up to yet. 

So I ask again, will you be the Batman or the Joker?