Startup Roast: Recent Episodes

Startup Roast

Grab a cup of coffee and tune in as we share a brew with the minds behind Hong Kong's hottest startups, meet with key ecosystem builders and explore just what it takes to get your business off the ground in Hong Kong and beyond.

Want to contribute to the conversation? Like, share and follow us or reach out at commons@thegaragesociety.com

Available on iTunes, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify and beyond

View Details

From a one-time fundraiser started by a high school student to a global student movement, 24 Hour Race is racing against time to raise awareness and donations in combating modern-day slavery. In this episode, we sat down with Daniel Hestevold, COO at 24 Hour Race, to talk about his charity and the causes they are running for and how students can become powerful drivers of social change in today's world. 

View Details

When you're on job-hunting, what do you look for? Salary? Company size? It's been said that millennials tend to look for companies with cultures that match their own personal values. If you're trying to hire young people, what would you do to capture their hearts & minds? This month we sat down with Oscar & Nikita from @Wantedly Hong Kong to talk about how hiring has evolved over time, and how is it different in Hong Kong from other Asian regions.

View Details

Welcome to 2020 - what's in store for us in the future? 🚀✨  

Early stage startups, space technology, and satellites - these are just a few projects that are included in @Fresco Capital's portfolio.  This month we sat down with Furuzonfar Zehni of Fresco Capital to talk about his takeaways from FinTech Week, techlash, how venture capitalists could help create positive social impacts and the future of work.

View Details

Autonomous car? Personal assistant?

AI has got all these grounds covered. Did you know that AI is also being implemented by doctors to streamline medical diagnoses and empower them to conduct better and quicker medical examinations?

In this episode, we’re brewing with Saurabh Jejurikar, Founder of EndoVision, a startup that is innovating medical technology by automating the endoscopic diagnosis of the digestive tract via AI-driven software.

View Details

On this week's episode we have special guest host (& Garage Intern!) Tanya Balwani sit down for a coffee with Programme Manager Hei-Yue Pang to discuss all things Garage Academy, Social Impact and Startup Ecosystem in Hong Kong

Episode Notes

  • What is Garage Society?
  • Why is Community & Programming important to co-working? What does a Programme Manager do?
  • Your journey to working in the startup ecosystem in Hong Kong.
  • Making the change from working with social impact.
  • Developing your tech, business and creative skills with Garage Academy in 2019.
  • How to curate events - and what’s coming up this month
  • How to pursue a career with Social impact in Hong Kong

View Details

After years in the corporate trenches Bryan Vaz branched out with his own business and a mission to transform how startups approach digital.

We sit with him to explore the challenges facing Hong Kong startups, how to approach digital marketing in the region and what the future holds for the startup ecosystem

Episode Notes

  1. Background and Journey to Asia - A Third Culture Kid from Canada to Hong Kong

  2. From Corporate to Startup - Why leave KPMG to launch your own business?

  3. An industry shifting to internal consultants

  4. Building the confidence to become independent

  5. Evolving Initial Business Ideas based on Market Needs

  6. HK Market - where are we on the innovation curve?

  7. Exploring Market Opportunities - Digital Transformation

  8. Building startups for HK in HK?

  9. Challenges of building a business in Hong Kong (9m30)

  10. Funding Challenges for Startups in HK

  11. How to Approach Sales - is traditional growth hacking a dead end in HK?

  12. Traditional Marketing Tactics in HK

  13. How effective is thinking outside of the box in Hong Kong? (13m40)

  14. Guerilla doesn’t really work

  15. Innovative Marketing in HK

  16. Building a broad experience and knowledge base (16m30)

  17. The Power of Humility

  18. Networking 101

  19. Approaches to education and youth employment (20m00)

  20. The differences between Hong Kong and Canada

  21. Student Work Experience & Startup Internships

  22. What is the future for digital (26m)

  23. Personal data - Consumer awareness and education

  24. How companies work with data - from HK to China and beyond

  25. The Future of Tech - what excites you? (31m)

  26. Opportunities in Content Marketing

  27. Fintech & Wealth Management Shortages

  28. New Payment Systems

View Details

Episode Notes

  1. How you got your start in Marketing (1:00)
    1. From Google Ads Solutions to Facebook Ad Solutions
    2. Journey to Hong Kong from Holland
  2. Experiences with working at Google & Facebook (3.00)
    1. Making it through the hiring process - doers over thinkers
    2. The power of passion projects - student extra curricular activities
    3. The differences of working at Facebook over Google
  3. Launching your own business (9.00)
    1. The Investment Visa
    2. Invoicing & Accounting
  4. Why work with small business for marketing training (11:00)
  5. Best practises for marketing updates (13:30)
    1. Subscribed direct to key industry newsletters
    2. Workshops and events
  6. Foundational Marketing Practises (15:30)
    1. Begin with your website
    2. Google My Business
    3. Clear Online Marketing Objectives
    4. Using Retargeting Ads
    5. Exploring best practises within the vertical
  7. The expertise of agencies (24:00)

View Details

Looking to level up your Linkedin game? On this weeks episode of Startup Roast we sit with Steve Bruce, one of the top Linkedin coaches in Hong Kong to talk all things networking.

So….what do you love most about Linkedin? Examples of the power of Linkedin marketing - building business, building your profile, becoming a power user etc. Biggest Linkedin questions you get asked at workshops. How did you get into training around Linkedin? Trends on Linkedin - double spaced posting, influencer marketing. Changing algorithms - how they affect the business of training. Stories of successful Linkedin Marketing - what can you do with it. Top tips on using the platform. The future of business networking - where do you see it going The future of training - livestreams, video training etc - how to use this to improve your service if you run workshops or training.

View Details

  1. Intro
  2. Getting involved in the ecosystem(1m00)
  3. Connect, Inform and Educate yourself before a move Into the startup ecosystem
  4. Building a team and achieving across the weekend.
  5. Teamwork & Transferable Skills
  6. Changes in the HK ecosystem over the last 6 years (7m00)
  7. Building your own Meetup (8m30)
  8. Starting small and building engagement
  9. Finding your community
  10. Building confidence & network with corporate support
  11. Tech Talent in HK & Developer Fatigue(12m30)
  12. Keeping ahead of the curve
  13. Not getting overwhelmed with the pace of change
  14. Flowing with the cycles of change
  15. Mentoring Tech Talent - how to provide value (18m30)
  16. Providing experience and guidance is key
  17. Changing approaches to web development (19m30)
  18. The rise of the template vs building an internet product
  19. What are you achieving with your product.
  20. The reward of building your OWN product (22m30)
  21. The potential of current tech
  22. Bootstrapping your own ideas vs building things out as a side project
  23. Productivity when bootstrapping - morning focus
  24. International Focus with HK base
  25. Approaching Digital Transformation in HK and beyond (31m30)
  26. The value of experimenting with new experiences
  27. The next shift in how we approach tech - IOT the next step
  28. How tech is changing our behaviours (32m30)
  29. Smartphone Zombies
  30. What to do with the data we are producing
  31. The future of tech in the HK ecosystem (39m)
  32. Tech is getting a better name in HK
  33. MS Dev Meetups

View Details

On this week's episode we sit down with Casey Lau, co-host of RISE Conference, founder at StartupsHK and super connector to the startup ecosystem in HK and beyond.

Episode Notes

  1. Intro - HK as a base for ecosystem exploring (40s)
  2. Conferences, Coworking and Ecosystem Building (1m30)
  3. Ambassador of RISE as co-host
  4. Road to Rise Co-Host - Dot com to Budding Startup Ecosystem Influencer
  5. Early days of building an ecosystem - coworking - Boot HK - StartupsHK
  6. Producing a conference on the scale of RISE (5m40)
  7. People first conferencing
  8. Web Summit vs RISE
  9. The energy of HK powering RISE
  10. Exploring problems/opportunities in ecosystems (9m30)
  11. Looking into different market opportunities
  12. Connecting with an international community
  13. Insight into overseas ecosystems - Tel Aviv, New York, Toronto (12m)
  14. Exploring PropTech in HK (14m30)
  15. Tech in Workspaces
  16. Flexible & Remote Working
  17. Office Space in HK - from Central to Kwun Tong
  18. Future Proofing the Workspace
  19. Raise Money in HK - build a business in Fintech, Logistics, Property
  20. China & Hong Kong - the evolution of the ecosystem (25m)
  21. Hong Kong - the gateway to China
  22. The power of Product vs Brand
  23. Channeling your passion into work (30m)
  24. New media - Youtube, Streaming, Audience & Influencers
  25. The power of consistency in a crowded world
  26. Startup Lifestyle - becoming a minimalist (35m30)
  27. Finding what your core needs are
  28. Do our possessions define us?
  29. Changing habits - experiences vs ownership
  30. Health, organic and adapting to changes habits
  31. The future of the HK Startup Ecosystem (42m)

View Details

We talk tech startups in India, explore how digital transformation is changing the way we work and look at the rise of co-working with Garage India's Programming Executive Mohit Tirath.

Episode Notes

  1. Journey Into The Startup Ecosystem of India (30s)
  2. From Hospitality to Startups
  3. Working at Scale and Managing High Growth (4m30)
  4. Using Tech to Scale 100% in a Year
  5. Threat of Failure
  6. Challenges of Working in a Startup (7m00)
  7. Figuring Everything Out
  8. Learning New Skills Regularly
  9. The Digital Transformation of India (9m20)
  10. Zomato, Oyo, PayTM, Flipkart - leading the way
  11. Digital Marketing Explosion
  12. Coworking in India (12m30)
  13. Sharing Economy Awareness
  14. Community & Coworking
  15. Views on Gurgaon & Hong Kong (14m30)
  16. New City Growth
  17. Diversity
  18. Future Scope to Grow
  19. Developing Cities Privately
  20. Education Support for a Tech Future (19m20)
  21. The Future of the Startup Ecosystem in India (21m)

Find out more about our first location in India - Garage Gurgaon below! https://www.thegaragesociety.com/gurgaon

View Details

We sit with Tracy and Danny, co-founders of popular Sai Kung craft beverage store The Bottle Shop HK to talk craft retail in HK, exploring eCommerce and building a community around your business.

Episode Notes 1. With backgrounds in Architecture and Jewellry Design what was the spark that led to building a passion into a business? (20 sec) - Returning to Hong Kong and Starting a Business - Connecting to End Consumers - Telling A Story 2. How did the initial idea for The Bottle Shop come about? (2m30s) 3. The Growth of The Craft Industry in Hong Kong (4m) 4. Getting started in Hong Kong - opportunities abound (4m30) - Establishing Communities - A Double Edged Sword - changing the status quo - Building Networks & Changing Behaviours (8m15) 5. What were some of the challenges in setting up a retail shop in Hong Kong (10m) - Building out a retail experience with a difference - Offering a space to slow down (12m45) 6. Offering eCommerce in Hong Kong - challenges and opportunities (15m) - Reaching out to wider audiences - Communicating your brand via digital platforms - Partnerships and Marketing Alignment - The evolution of customer focused online shopping 7. Offering experiences alongside your products (26m30) - Growing Tastings, Events and more organically - Telling the Stories behind the Drinks - The evolution of Craft Beverages 8. The future of the craft beverages industry in Hong Kong (29m15) - Growing the industry, from expats to locals - Collaboration and digital transformation