1.
F R O M I D A H O T O H AWA I I , A N D H P U T O
S U LTA N V E N T U R E S … M Y J O U R N E Y
F R O M : A U G 2 0 0 3 - A P R 2 0 1 6
photo: Chase Norton
R E F L E C T I O N ‘ S

2.
T H I S P R E S E N TAT I O N WA S A D A P T E D F R O M A S P E E C H I
G AV E T O T H E M B A C L U B O F H A WA I I PA C I F I C U N I V E R S I T Y
I N A P R I L 2 0 1 6 .
T H A N K S J O H A N N A
& I D I L I A !

3.
A L O H A !
I ’ M L U K E
• I work with startups at
Sultan Ventures and
XLR8UH.
• I founded 2 companies:
Aloha Squared and Blue
Photo Stories.
• I blog at: luketucker.com
• Follow me on Twitter:
@luketucker

4.
W H AT I S A N E N T R E P R E N E U R ?
I ’ D L I K E T O S TA RT O F F W I T H A
Q U E S T I O N …

5.
H E R E A R E S O M E Q U A L I T I E S O F A N E N T R E P R E N E U R
I WA N T T O H I G H L I G H T T H R O U G H O U T A S “ L E S S O N S
L E A R N E D ” D U R I N G T H I S R E F L E C T I O N P R O C E S S
Talent
Awareness
Curiosity
Tenacity
O T H E R S I N C L U D E : H U M I L I T Y, C O A C H A B I L I T Y, I N T E G R I T Y
( B U T T H E R E ’ S N O G O O D A C R O N Y M F O R A L L T H O S E ! : )

6.
S O L E T ’ S G E T S TA R T E D !

7.
M Y C A R E E R T I M E L I N E
2007
2013
2014
2015

8.
H P U Y E A R S
2 0 0 3 - 2 0 0 7
2007
2013
2014
2015

9.
First, let me answer,
Why did I move from Idaho to Hawaii?

10.
U H , W H Y N O T H AWA I I ? ?

11.
But, Seriously,
There were 4 reasons:

12.
I wanted to go somewhere
culturally diverse.1

13.
These guys all rock! And look nothing like me (LOL)!
Experiencing new people, gives you a greater
appreciation for life and, very important, empathy!

14.
I wanted to start fresh and go where I didn’t know
anybody.
I had a great family and friend support structure, but I knew I
wanted to test myself and see somewhere new and different.
photo: Salome Jones
2

15.
I wanted to go somewhere
warm.
Ever since I lived in Jamaica
when I was young, I’d longed
to go back to the tropics (just
ask my parents).
Cruisin in Jamaica!3

16.
I wanted to learn to surf.
Because it looked amazing!
Not me!
(I wish)
4

17.
T H I S I S M E …
… C H A R G I N G A 2 F T WAV E

18.
T H I S WA S A T Y P I C A L C O N V E R S AT I O N I H A D W I T H
E V E RY P E R S O N I M E T I N T H E F I R S T 7 - M O N T H S O F
2 0 0 3 :
Person: Where you going to school?
Me: Hawaii Pacific University
Person: Hawaii, like the country?!?
Me: Hawaii, like the 50th State. And yes, that’s where
I’m going.
Person: [blank incredulous stare]

19.
A N D I T R E A L LY I S PA R A D I S E
• Being in Hawaii was a dream come true
• And, I enjoyed it… Took 12 credits (min full time
course load), learned to surf, worked part-time, met
awesome people, had fun and experienced life!
That’s me!
On the
Kalalau
Hike in
Kauai

20.
F R O M P L AY I N G H A R D T O W O R K I N G
H A R D …
• Things started shifting though in late 2004 when my
more ambitious feelings began churning (I think it was
those competitive high school years pursuing the
valedictorian crown)
• I did two things primarily since my coursework was
lighter: I learned how to salsa dance from a world-
renown pro (thank you Jerome!), and I joined a
business club on campus called SIFE (Students in Free
Enterprise).

21.
J O I N I N G S T U D E N T S I N F R E E
E N T E R P R I S E
• Best choice I made in college
• Presented at Nationals 2-years
• Ran businesses and education endeavors, worked with
key partners, storytelling, pitching, fundraising… a
microcosm of a startup

22.
M E E T I N G E VA N L E O N G
• GGR internship
• Graduated early:
• 63-credits in 11-months
• Led to first job
• Relationships are highly correlated with success

23.
L E S S O N S ?
• Curiosity - rarely it doesn’t pay off. Tact in getting
credit for my internships and successfully graduating.
_________________________________________________
• The dark side? I was lazy and didn’t get my act into
gear, as I was too busy playing. Moral of the story: don’t
wait 2 and 1/2 years before you put the petal to the
metal. And… it came at a price: I ended up getting
shingles the summer after. And it was probably the
loneliest time in my life.

24.
C P B
2 0 0 7 - 2 0 1 0
2007
2013
2014
2015

25.
L E A R N I N G T H E R O P E S
From L to R: Kevin Matsuura, Scott Nojiri, Luke Tucker, Paul Vella, Chris Yasuma
Management Trainee
(hired 11/17/16)
Loan Underwriter: Joined
Hawaii Commercial Banking
Group in Sep/Oct 2007
Me when I still had hair!

26.
It was a special time in banking… Bear Sterns, Countrywide, Merrill
Lynch, Lehman Brothers, GM / Auto bailouts, Madoff, subprime
mortgage crisis, unparalleled zero interest rate environment… tons
of craziness in capital markets and economy.

27.
And it truly was a crazy time in our country… the election was in full swing and
right in the midst of it the markets were unravelling.

28.
A L O N G WAY F R O M N Y C , B U T I N
H A WA I I W E W E R E F E E L I N G T H E C R U N C H
CPB was hit really hard about 9-12 months after the 2008
bloodbath. A $1B CRE exposure in California and tons of C&D
Loans in Hawaii meant bad news.

29.
G R E AT T I M E T O B E A B A N K E R
• At the end of 2009, the TR for CPB was 116% and it
got even higher after that.
• I distinctly remember sitting in my cubicle calculating
financial ratios to determine the health of our Bank. It
was not uncommon for us to find out weekly that
more employees had left the bank.

30.
W I L L I H AV E A J O B T O M O R R O W ?
Highlights:
• Net loss of $314M (For perspective: the retained earnings of the company was $750M
approx. That means, 42% of the value built over 50+years evaporated in one
year - whoah!)
• MOU with Feds
• Layoffs
E X C E R P T F R O M 2 0 0 9 1 0 - K

31.
S AV E D B Y T H E F E D E R A L G O V E R N M E N T
The bank likely would have
gone under had it not been for
a $135M capital infusion from
the US Treasury (thank you
Senator Inouye, one of the
original founding Directors of
the Bank), the loyal customer
base that did not withdraw all
their money, and eventually the
Board bringing in new CEO
John Dean, Bank turnaround
expert.

32.
W E L O V E Y O U J O H N D E A N
The bank likely would have gone under had it not been for the $135M
capital infusion from the US Treasury (thank you Senator Inouye, one of
the original founding Directors of the Bank), the loyal customer base
that did not withdraw all their money, and eventually the Board
bringing in new CEO John Dean, Bank turnaround expert.

33.
L E S S O N S ?
• Tact: I was learning and planning. I had enough talent
to get in the door. But I was also lucky to learn in bad
times.
________________________________________________
• The dark side? Learning on some one else’s dime
means you get… comfortable. I waited longer than I
should have to move on probably. I needed to put the
ACT in TACT.

34.
C P B PA R T 2
2 0 1 0 - 2 0 1 3
2007
2013
2014
2015

35.
S T I L L V E RY S P E C I A L T I M E I N B A N K I N G
• In September of 2010, I began working in Special Assets…
We worked out various loans, did lots and lots of reporting,
sold some chunks of loans to Morgan Stanley and others,
managed a large influx of Residential OREO assets.
• Bank needed help - I was able to work part-time and
doubled my hourly rate as a contractor.
• But I was getting more and more interested in technology,
so while in Special Assets, I started doing work with the
new CIO…

36.
I N T R A P R E N E U R
• Networked with CIO … I got better at the internal
politics
• Mobile banking + Social Media… both were new
frontiers. Making the shift in my career to technology
focus. Rebranding myself : lots of reading, studying.

37.
AV P M O B I L E & S O C I A L M E D I A
S T R AT E G I S T
• Noticed our mobile traffic continued to grow every
month. So we launched a mobile website.
• Led launch of the mobile platform: SMS, web, native
mobile apps
• Worked with marketing and other internal
stakeholders to create social media policy for
employees.

38.
L E S S O N S ?
• Curiosity FTW! And Talent - showcased my work and
ethic. Awareness of what metrics to track.
_________________________________________________
• The dark side? Getting things done in a very
conservative culture is haaaard. Doing anything in a
larger organization is tough.

39.
B L U E P H O T O
S T O R I E S
2 0 1 3 - 2 0 1 4
2007
2013
2014
2015

40.
A multi-millionaire is
offering to pay you to
have him pitch you
several ideas and you
get to pick one. He will
personally mentor you,
give you office space,
and you go through his
startup accelerator.
W H AT W O U L D Y O U D O ?

41.
You take the gig

42.
T H E P R O D U C T W E L A U N C H E D WA S C A L L E D “ R I T I F Y ” ( R I T I M E A N S
M E M O RY I N S A N S K R I T ) A N D I T A L L O W E D Y O U T O TA K E P H O T O S
A N D R E C O R D M E M O R I E S A B O U T T H E P H O T O S .

43.
L A U N C H E D I N A P P L E A P P S T O RY I N M AY 2 0 1 4

44.
L E S S O N S ?
• TAC - all represented. But what was missing here?
Passion!
_________________________________________________
• The dark side? Walking away from a paycheck, and
promise of future banking career. We split $20K
amongst 4 founders to live on for 3 months. You do
the math.

45.
S TA R T U P S A R E H A R D
C L I C K H E R E T O S E E
T H I S T O P S L I D E S H A R E
P R E S E N TAT I O N
T R U T H !

46.
S U LTA N
V E N T U R E S
2 0 1 4 - C U R R E N T
2007
2013
2014
2015

47.
T H E B E S T K I N D O F C H A L L E N G E
All my past experiences have been put in to play at SV.
P R O D U C T M A N A G
E M E N T
M A R K E T I N G F I N A N C E
D E S I G N
T E A C H I N G
O P S

48.
XLR8UH is the University of Hawaii’s first Proof of Concept Center and
Venture Accelerator. XLR8UH is a public-private partnership with The
University of Hawaii and Honolulu-based Sultan Ventures.
Launched
August 2014!

49.
SULTANVENTURES
Snapshot
W E ’ V E H A D S O M E G O O D E A R LY
S U C C E S S !

50.
SBA Growth Accelerator Fund Awardee 2015
SULTANVENTURES
A N D W E ’ V E W O N S O M E AWA R D S ! !

51.
E D A
G R A N T !

52.
A T I M E O F A G G R E S S I V E E X PA N S I O N
SV team was 3 in 4/14… now it’s 6 FTE with interns,
summer fellows, and several independent contractors.

53.
L E S S O N S ?
• Curiosity - probably never better represented in my
time at SV. We have a lot of deals, pitches, and
meetings.
_________________________________________________
• The dark side? Long hours, working Saturdays,
getting investor fatigue and calloused in some ways
because you’re constantly being pitched because
everybody thinks you’re a big-time investor! (I’m not)

54.
A L O H A
S Q U A R E D
2 0 1 5 - C U R R E N T
2007
2013
2014
2015

55.
M A K E S O M E T H I N G Y O U A N D O T H E R
P E O P L E WA N T ( A N D W I L L PAY Y O U F O R )

56.
J U S T D O I T
• DIY: DO IT YOURSELF
I built this site
on squarespace

57.
• Learn how to write a press release
• Use relationships
• Enhances perceived value + Can drive sales
G E T T I N G P R E S S I S N ’ T A S H A R D A S
P E O P L E T H I N K !

58.
L E S S O N S ?
• Act - took action and had Awareness of a market
need, observing trends.
_________________________________________________
• The dark side? Inventory in your house, spending
weeknights packaging goods, dealing with taxes and
customer requests (refunds, inquiries, etc.), buying
inventory that doesn’t sell! :)

59.
I M P O RTA N T L I F E L E S S O N O N
N E X T S L I D E ! !

60.
– L U K E T U C K E R
The recipe isn’t, ‘Make money and
then give back’. It’s ‘Give back, while
you’re making money’.

61.
G I V I N G B A C K I S A
B I G PA R T A B O U T
W H AT I D O AT
K O K U A . O R G A N D
A D U P H A WA I I . C O M

62.
F O R E V E RY P O C K E T S Q U A R E P U R C H A S E D ,
A L O H A S Q U A R E D D O N AT E S T O T H E
H A WA I I F O O D B A N K T H E E Q U I VA L E N T
C O S T O F O N E S Q U A R E M E A L .

63.
S O T H AT ’ S S O M E O F M Y S T O RY,
T H A N K S F O R S T I C K I N G A R O U N D !

64.
C O N N E C T
W I T H M E !
(That one time I sang for
my wife at our wedding)
I W O U L D L O V E T O
C H AT : )
L U K E @ L U K E T U C K E R . C O M

65.
A L O H A !