Outblaze’s CEO: here’s what it takes to become a builder of meaningful products

Outblaze’s founder and CEO Yat Siu is widely known as a serial entrepreneur, but he declared onstage at Tech in Asia Singapore today that he hates the term. Instead, he prefers to be known as someone who “builds meaningful things”, and under the banner of Outblaze – a company specializing in gaming, cloud technology, and smartphone and tablet software development.

Yat Siu first become a serial entrepreneur, or a builder of meaningful things, back in 1998. Outblaze was founded then, and somehow rose out of the ashes of the dot-com bubble and subsequent crash. Because he was unable to secure venture capital, Yat Siu was forced to build his platform on Linux, which gave him an advantage in terms of cost when the crisis hit. The crisis, he says, forced him to “make the best of little,” and he believes that an entrepreneur’s best moments come from situations that “shake you up.”

“I’m scared all the time,” Yat Siu admits. “If you don’t feel it, that’s when you should be most worried […] you’re too comfortable.”

This goes against conventional career wisdom that emphasizes stability and eschews insecurity. However, like Yat Siu, Outblaze is a company full of problem solvers who are always on their toes, and he says this path isn’t for everyone.

Yat Siu thinks that serial entrepreneurs are a special breed – people who have many ideas, and are “easily distracted.” Beyond the building stage, Yat Siu finds that he quickly loses interest, especially if the venture is unable to retain customers. He usually gives it three to four serious tries before giving it to someone else, or putting it to sleep.

To date, Outblaze has launched some 800 apps with partner companies. The passion to pursue these projects didn’t come out of nowhere. Each of their origins, Yat Siu explains, come from his life experiences, whether business-related or not. “The richer your life experiences are, the more meaningful the products you build will be,” he adds.

He uses the example of a venture that he recently invested in, which automatically decodes songs into chord structures. Yat Siu’s parents were professional musicians, and that influenced him. With his own children, he noticed they tended to play and learn better when they listened to songs they enjoy. On the other hand, kids who were learning music in schools tended to see it as “something to get through.”

In the same way, as a parent, Yat Siu also eventually became passionate about kid-focused apps and education technology. There is a gap between what kids were learning in school and what they would eventually experience in the real world, he says, and “amateurizing stuff” was the key to bridging it. “Tablets can accelerate learning and democratize learning that wasn’t available before,” he adds.

Surely the most serial of serial entrepreneurs face a lull in passion once in a while, especially when faced with the daily grind? Yat Siu says that this might be the case, but as long as you are “building something that is greater than you, then passion takes over, even through the grind.”

Here’s his final word of advice for budding company builders: “hang out with the weird guys.”

This is part of the coverage of Tech in Asia Singapore 2015, our event running on May 6 and 7.