# Soon Yu

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**Soon Yu** (born August 5, 1965) is a [Taiwanese-American](/source/Taiwanese-American) speaker, writer and former adjunct professor at [The New School](/source/The_New_School)'s [Parsons School of Design](/source/Parsons_School_of_Design).[1] Yu is the founder of Gazoontite, the author of the book *Iconic Advantage*[2] and *Friction*[3]*,* and host of Aconic Podcast.[4]

## Early life and education

Yu was born in Taiwan and moved at age 3 to [Davis, California](/source/Davis,_California), where his father was an agricultural geneticist.[5] Soon received his BS in electrical engineering from the [University of California, Davis](/source/University_of_California,_Davis) in 1988 and his MBA from [Stanford University](/source/Stanford_University) in 1993.[6]

## Career

Soon served as the global VP of innovation and as a corporate officer for VF Corporation from 2010 to 2016.[7][8][9] Prior to working at VF Corporation, he has also worked at The Clorox Company[10] He left his management position at [Clorox](/source/Clorox) to pursue a sales associate position at Crate & Barrel, taking an 85% pay cut and earning $5/hour to gain retail experience.[11] He has also held positions as an engineer with Advanced Micro Devices, an associate consultant with Bain & Company,[12] general manager at Chiquita Brands International,[13] and chief marketing officer at SafeWeb.[14]

In 1998, Yu founded Gazoontite, a retailer of allergy and asthma related products.[15][16][17] It was one of the first retail/eCommerce companies to promote and build its business model around the multi-channel shopping environment.[16][18]

His book, *Friction: Adding Value By Making People Work For It* won the 2022 NYC Big Book Award in Sales & Marketing.[19] His book, *Iconic Advantage*, won the 2019 Axiom Business Book Award in Advertising / Marketing / PR / Event Planning.[20]

He is host of the Aconic Podcast, which won Signal Awards Gold in the Genre - Diversity, Equity and Inclusion[21] for its episode with [Sheila Lirio Marcelo](/source/Sheila_Lirio_Marcelo), CEO of [Ohai.ai](/source/Ohai.ai) and founder of [Care.com](/source/Care.com).

Other guests that the podcast has featured are [Kristi Yamaguchi](/source/Kristi_Yamaguchi), [Jeremy Lin](/source/Jeremy_Lin), [Andrew Yang](/source/Andrew_Yang), [Lisa Ling](/source/Lisa_Ling), [Elaine Chao](/source/Elaine_Chao), Joe Bae ([KKR](/source/KKR_%26_Co.)), [Manny Maceda](/source/Manny_Maceda), [Abigail Hing Wen](/source/Abigail_Hing_Wen), [Ashley Liao](/source/Ashley_Liao), [Dan Tani](/source/Daniel_M._Tani), [Janet Yang](/source/Janet_Yang), [Tiffany Chang](/source/Tiffany_Chang), [Bing Chen](/source/Bing_Chen), [Guy Kawasaki](/source/Guy_Kawasaki), Mayor [Aftab Pureval](/source/Aftab_Pureval), [Charles Yu](/source/Charles_Yu), [Jenny Ming](/source/Jenny_Ming), and [Deb Liu](/source/Deb_Liu).[22]

## Writings

**Books**

- Soon Yu, Dave Birss (May 24, 2022). *Friction: Adding Value By Making People Work for It.* ZenKarma Media. ISBN 979–8985967210
- Soon Yu, Dave Birss (February 6, 2018). *Iconic Advantage: Don't chase the new, innovate the old*. Savio Republic. ISBN 978-1682615409

## References

1. ["Iconic Brands in the Age of Anarchy with Soon Yu"](http://sds.parsons.edu/designmanagement/iconic-brands-in-the-age-of-anarchy-with-soon-yu/). *MS Strategic Design & Management*. 2018-04-24. Retrieved 2021-03-26.

1. Peter Rubin, James (2000-06-12). ["Business Acceleration"](https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB96021623839582169). *Wall Street Journal*. [ISSN 0099-9660](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0099-9660). Retrieved 2021-06-23.

1. ["Adding friction can heighten customer value and build relationships"](https://justinkbrady.com/notes/soon-yu-friction/). *Justin Brady*. 12 January 2022. Retrieved 2022-07-11.

1. ["Soon Yu"](https://www.forbes.com/sites/soonyu/). *Forbes*. Retrieved 2025-07-27.

1. ["A Nose for Business / Entrepreneur molds his startup dreams into allergy-products specialty store"](https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/A-Nose-for-Business-Entrepreneur-molds-his-2939246.php). *SFGate*. 1999-03-31. Retrieved 2018-11-28.

1. ["The Secrets of Staying Power"](https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/secrets-staying-power). *Stanford Graduate School of Business*. Retrieved 2018-11-28.

1. Nishi, Dennis (2014-12-07). ["How to Break Your Bad Work Habits"](https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-break-your-bad-work-habits-1417914748). *Wall Street Journal*. [ISSN 0099-9660](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0099-9660). Retrieved 2017-04-14.

1. ["How removing fear can be your innovation trump card"](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2015/05/15/how-removing-fear-can-be-your-innovation-trump-card/). *Washington Post*. Retrieved 2017-04-14.

1. ["Art and Science Leads to Iconic Products"](https://www.vfc.com/news/company-news/detail/16788/art-and-science-leads-to-iconic-products). *www.vfc.com*. Retrieved 2018-12-27.

1. Eu, Geoffrey (2017-08-12). ["Soon Yu"](https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/lifestyle/weekend-interview/soon-yu). *The Business Times*. Retrieved 2018-12-29.

1. Sinton, Peter (March 31, 1999). ["A Nose for Business / Entrepreneur molds his startup dreams into allergy-products specialty store"](https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/A-Nose-for-Business-Entrepreneur-molds-his-2939246.php). *SFGate*

1. Sinton, Peter (1999-03-31). ["A Nose for Business / Entrepreneur molds his startup dreams into allergy-products specialty store"](https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/A-Nose-for-Business-Entrepreneur-molds-his-2939246.php). *SFGate*. Retrieved 2018-12-29.

1. ["Chiquita Brands International, Inc in Franklin Park, IL 60131 - ChamberofCommerce.com"](https://www.chamberofcommerce.com/franklin-park-il/33733949-chiquita-brands-international-inc). *www.chamberofcommerce.com*. Retrieved 2018-12-29.

1. Rubin, James Peter (May 14, 2001). ["No Surrender"](https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB989356513857118687). *The Wall Street Journal*

1. Donovan, Aaron (2000-04-02). ["IN BRIEF; Can blessyou.com Be Far Behind?"](https://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/02/nyregion/in-brief-can-blessyoucom-be-far-behind.html). *The New York Times*. [ISSN 0362-4331](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0362-4331). Retrieved 2017-04-14.

1. ["The Hybrid Company: Reach All Your Customers Through Multi-Channels Anytime, Anywhere - PDF Free Download"](https://epdf.tips/the-hybrid-company-reach-all-your-customers-through-multi-channels-anytime-anywh.html). *epdf.tips*. Retrieved 2019-02-19.

1. ["Gazoontite Seeks Brand Awareness Offline"](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-nov-08-fi-31245-story.html). *Los Angeles Times*. 1999-11-08. Retrieved 2021-06-18.

1. ["Gazoontite: Going, Going, Gone"](https://www.wired.com/2001/01/gazoontite-going-going-gone/). *Wired*. [ISSN 1059-1028](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1059-1028). Retrieved 2021-06-18.

1. ["NYC Big Book Award Winners"](https://www.nycbigbookaward.com/team-1/9798985967210). *nyc-big-book-award*. Retrieved 2023-07-19.

1. ["2019 Medalists"](https://axiomawards.com/83/award-medalists/2019-medalists). *axiomawards.com*. 31 October 2019. Retrieved 2022-08-24.

1. ["Winners"](https://www.signalaward.com/winners/). *Signal Awards*. Retrieved 2026-03-08.

1. ["Episodes"](https://www.aconicpodcast.com/episodes). *Aconic Podcast*. Retrieved 2026-03-08.

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