Welcome back to ALC in Action, an occasional message from American Lending Center Holdings highlighting the people, partnerships, and ideas that strengthen our communities.
Parallel entrepreneur John Shen – founder of ALC, Sunstone Investment and several other companies – recently had the chance to share why first-generation immigrants to the U.S. may have an advantage when it comes to succeeding as entrepreneurs and business founders. The occasion was the Open Atlas Summit, a gathering of more than 1,000 highly skilled immigrants coming together to connect, learn, and help each other succeed.
John Shen knows about that journey – he is a first-generation immigrant himself. After growing up in China, he immigrated to the U.S. to attend Duke University, began working in finance, then struck out on his own. During his keynote speech on Aug. 22 at the Open Atlas Summit, John shared his own story, also chronicled in his book, “Crossing The Swamp.”
“Plenty of you have been on the same journey I have been on,” John told the audience. “I came here on a student visa, got an H1B visa and a job, and it took me six years to get a Green Card. Finally, at 35, I started my first business.”
“Being a first-generation immigrant can be truly an entrepreneurial advantage,” he added. “You have made the decision to leave something familiar behind… You have to redo everything. There’s something to learn. Your immigrant experience prepares you to be an entrepreneur in that way.”
John wrote about his journey in the book “Crossing The Swamp,” which he published in 2023. It quickly became a best seller on Amazon. The book is the story of triumph after failure, with a multitude of lessons about how to succeed as both an immigrant and an entrepreneur.
That journey, John said, started with a failure. In his case, a successful real estate business collapsed when the subprime mortgage crisis hit in 2008.
“Failure is a big part of entrepreneurship,” John said. “Let’s face it – most businesses fail. How to handle failure is the number one lesson to learn. It teaches resilience. Failure is the beginning of a more successful chapter.”
For many immigrants, resilient is already part of the journey. Starting a business can be a natural next step.
But it doesn’t have to be done alone – in fact, John believes it shouldn’t be done alone. Success comes with a community of builders, and from building a community of your own.
“When we come to this country, we’ve had to build everything from scratch,” John said. “One of the first things to build is a community, where you can find business resources. We built a community at American Lending Center, and now it is a unicorn.”
ALC is a non-bank lending institution working with foreign capital investment and government programs to provide flexible financing solutions that fuel growth, create jobs, and strengthen communities. John and his partners have since launched Sunstone Investment Group, Sunstone Bank & Trust, Partake Collective, and other companies. All are based on strengthening communities, he said.
“Success is about helping others,” John said. “I firmly believe we collect positive energy from the people we’re helping… Success isn’t defined by hard work alone. It is largely amplified by the people who help you along the way.”
That idea of community is central to ALC. Partnering with communities of small business owners, entrepreneurs and innovators, immigrants, and of fellow dreamers remains an important part of ALC’s work.
Sponsoring the Open Atlas Summit gave ALC another opportunity to connect with a community of builders and support the exchange of ideas, experiences, and resources.
It was ALC in Action!
