What happens when you build something you thought would work and then it doesn’t? And there’s no plan B.
Sutian Dong, Partner at Multitudes and Co-Founder of Global Women in VC, is fascinated with creating products, technologies, platforms, services, and communities that move humanity in a positive direction by not changing how we do things, but the way that we think and feel. After years of lucky breaks and things always just working out, Sutian found herself in uncharted territory when her original concept for Multitudes failed and she had no idea what came next. That moment of disorientation became the catalyst for profound self-inquiry that ultimately sparked the insights that created her new venture, Multitudes, which invests in and incubates ideas that explore the edge of human consciousness.
This conversation is a reminder that growth isn’t always a straight line and that the best ideas often happen when you give yourself permission to rest and reflect.
On this episode of Character, Sutian joins me to talk about:
Why running a business is one of the rawest forms of self-expression
The modalities Sutian used to move through processing failure and figuring out what came next
Navigating discomfort to support your growth
The relevance of spirituality in the modern world
Using tools like astrology, tarot, and aura photography to access self-connection and build community
The second-order effects of AI
Multitudes’ approach to investing in initiatives at the edge of human consciousness
This episode was recorded at Love Letter, an aura photography studio, on the Lower East Side.
Learn more about Sutian’s work: https://www.sutiandong.com/Learn more about Love Letter: https://www.loveletter.nyc/
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 — The Power of Pause
00:52 — Meet Sutian Dong
02:10 — Childhood Dreams
04:17 — Growing Up Entrepreneurial
05:30 — From Structure to Self-Reliance
07:34 — When Success Stops Working
09:56 — Forced Introspection
11:50 — Feeling the Feelings
13:57 — Tools for Healing
16:35 — The Gradual Sunrise of Change
19:16 — Compounding Change & Self-Advice
20:58 — Redefining Venture Capital
23:01 — The Power of Belief Systems
24:08 — Following Curiosity
25:57 — Flux and Rebirth
27:10 — Searching for Meaning in Chaos