EP 165 - Kastytis Kemezys - CEO of WhatNot StartUp Studio - I Always Saw Startups as Art

Asia Tech Podcast welcomed Kastytis Kemezys - CEO of WhatNot StartUp Studio for a really great face-to-face chat.  Kas is a co-Founder and the CEO of WhatNot, turning it into an idea powerhouse with a commercial interest in big, scalable ideas.

Some of the topics that Kas and I discussed:

• The belief that there is NOT a 10 step process to building a successful startup
• The rebranding of WhatNot from a corporate venture builder into a startup studio
• Some of the difficulties of building startups with corporates
• Trying to formulate a new mission and vision during a trip back to Lithuania
• Having the courage to admit that you are not what society wants you to be
• Creating his own empire as a child and having the paperwork to prove it
• The throughline from his childhood empire to building startups
• Designers versus artists and imagining how the world should be
• Caring about the output of your effort
• Building the 'House of Yes'
• The three things that Grandpa says matter the most (Spoiler Alert - Adventures, Love, and Being Proud of Your Work)

Other titles we considered for this episode:

1. I Did Road Trips With My Grandpa
2. Let's Just Do a Leap of Faith
3. They Read Too Much
4. This Was Harder Than We Expected
5. I Can Tolerate a Lot of Risk
6. The Child In Me Always Loved Playing with Different Ideas
7. I Can't Have Shallow Conversations
8. Building Startups for Nature and Culture