Entrepreneur Stories: Jin Hwang from EveningFlow

Interview conducted by Audrey Cheng (1871 intern)

What is EveningFlow?

We tell you what’s happening inside every venue in the city so that you know what’s happening before you go there. In two words, it’s local omniscience. You just know everything that’s happening in real time.

How did you become an entrepreneur and what were you doing before?

I was in investment banking for Niemann Capital Markets. Being in that environment was great in terms of learning about business and business etiquette and a lot of basic financial work, but it really wasn’t something I was passionate about. When I went to business school as the University of Chicago, I was an open book for everything and was really open to trying new things. I started gravitating towards the entrepreneurship classes, and I started helping various startups doing pro bono work. Those guys were all brilliant and could have six figure salaries anywhere, but they chose to create something they were really passionate about. That really struck a cord with me. Creating something out of nothing was inspiring, so I started writing down problems I saw. Then I got to my idea for EveningFlow.

How did you know you were passionate about this idea?

Honestly, I don’t think you know how passionate you are until you start running into problems. In the beginning, it seemed like such a great idea and I had a kind of fervor about it. Everything is very exciting, and then as soon as you start hitting adversity and overcoming it, that’s when you know you’re really passionate.

What appealed to you about entrepreneurship?

It was meeting entrepreneurs. That was the crux of it. These were guys that were very similar to me and a lot of my fellow students at business school. The only difference was that they were really passionate about some problem, and by any means necessary they were going to solve it. For me, that geared me to want to build something of my own to help people.

Why do you think Chicago is a good community for entrepreneurs?

Honestly, Chicago is an extraordinarily fast growing tech community. A couple years ago, there wasn’t this infrastructure for people to meet, talk, etc. And just the Midwest attitude—people are really nice and are willing to help you out as long as you’re passionate and are a worthy student. They’ll always offer you help. Honestly from a combination of the cost of living and the growing resources around, it’s an awesome place.

What is it like working at 1871?

Honestly, it’s fantastic. Basically, doing a startup business is very hard. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone honestly. Unless you absolutely have to create this particular thing where nobody can stop you. What 1871 does is that if you’re absolutely passionate about building a solution, it has all the resources in one place—you can talk to investors right away and speak to mavens of certain expertise during office hours. Time is your biggest asset. Also, having all of these other entrepreneurs nearby is amazing. Everybody is an expert in their own right, so getting advice really quickly is great. There’s a cathartic component wen speaking to other entrepreneurs going through the same things.

What are your words of advice for budding entrepreneurs?

First, keep a positive attitude. Second, take care of your team. Make sure they’re happy. Third, remain confident; never quit. Constantly surround yourself with good people that give you good advice and criticism, and do as much homework as possible.

Words that you live by?

You are a lot smarter than you are yesterday. You’re growing. You should focus on that.