(Image by Craig Garner)
Whether you’ve already built a successful business, are currently setting one up, or are just thinking about trying one day – when it comes down to it, we all want to be inspired. At Tech in Asia, we talk to founders and entrepreneurs day in and day out, so we’re never short on tales of startup heroism and tragedy. 2015 has been especially ripe with tech drama; so much the case that we had trouble curating just 30 of the best founder stories from across Asia.
Tech entrepreneurs are everywhere: from the streets of Bangalore to the high rise buildings of Jakarta; from Tokyo’s robotics labs to ecommerce offices in Pakistan. In no particular order, we’ve taken the liberty of aggregating a list of true and inspiring must-read founder tales from all across the continent. We hope you enjoy them as you look toward the new year.
1. She created Japan’s Xiaomi, launching 21 gadgets in 2 months
If Yuko Nakazawa, founder and CEO of UPQ (pronounced “up-Q”) knows anything, it’s how to move fast. The Tokyo-based startup, founded in early June, unveiled 24 consumer electronics products earlier this year. Ranging from a SIM-free smartphone and GoPro-like action camera to a 50-inch 4K display and a variety of earphones, each item went from idea to production in just two months.
2. This guy turned Go-Jek from a zombie into Indonesia’s hottest startup
Go-Jek CEO Nadiem Makarim takes questions from the press.
Go-Jek is one of the fastest-growing and most visible tech startups in Indonesia. The courier, transport, and shopping service legitimizes previously informal motorcycle taxis by outfitting drivers with green uniforms and helmets, but also by organizing them through a mobile app which lets users book drivers. Founder and CEO Nadiem Makarim shares how the company came about.
3. The porn industry loves this virtual reality startup, but its CEO has bigger plans
A largely unknown startup has developed a way to turn subjects captured on two-dimensional video into virtual three-dimensional models. DoubleMe, based dually in the US and South Korea, was founded by Albert Kim, a machine vision expert with 23 years of experience helping computers and robots “see” through cameras. The startup hopes to revolutionize the burgeoning virtual reality and augmented reality industries by letting anyone create 3D content viewable via a head-mounted display. The startup has already been approached by big players in the porn industry, but aims to draw the line for mainstream audiences.
4. Fove’s eye-tracking headset aims to shake up VR, launches on Kickstarter
Fove CEO Kojima (left) and CTO Wilson (right).
5. Japan’s Hakuto is reaching to the moon for outer-space mineral development
6. 13 years of hustle: how Jay Winder built the only company in Japan backed by AngelList
7. After building a hospital in Cambodia, this doctor is bootstrapping a new mission in Japan
8. How two Sri Lankans are building a robotic cloud in Switzerland and Japan
9. Despite dropping out of college, this inventor was recognized as one of the world’s brilliant minds
10. Want to be a co-founder at a Rocket Internet startup? Here’s one way
11. This rockstar banker from Japan built a startup that fuses media and fintech
12. This man quit an impressive 20-year investment banking career for startups
13. Southeast Asia: why the real money is in logistics, not ecommerce
14. From zero to 3 billion monthly pageviews: Dailyhunt’s rise to become India’s top news app
15. These 3 guys quit Google, but their new startup shows they still love Android
16. For China’s low-wage workers, this startup provides loans for iPhones
17. Hyperlocal, hyperfast: this startup is helping Alibaba in the on-demand economy
18. Ex-Groupon execs want you to outsource tasks to new concierge service
19. Meet the robotics scientist who’s trying something very different for his first crowdfunded gadget
20. Meet the man who turned his life-altering accident into a fun game
21. An ex-banker is banking on you really, really, really wanting that free wifi
22. The moment when he accidentally reinvented the personal cloud
23. Why this wandering LinkedIn went from hiring to training to hackathons
24. Eco-friendly and Obama-approved: a boutique store turned into China’s hippest new online marketplace
25. 113 rejections, sexism, armed extortionists. That wasn’t all she braved as an entrepreneur
26. This guy almost kickstarted the first internet wave in Indonesia, but a riot got in the way
27. She left Lehman and Lazada to build Southeast Asia’s next big ecommerce portal for women
28. Two brothers are paving the way for Cambodia’s 3D printing revolution
29. This guy’s story of failing in Indonesia is refreshingly honest. Now he’s getting up and trying again
30. Khailee Ng built and exited two startups at breakneck speed. Here’s how
