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FireFlyz | 29
Hamele.co
Hamele.co, amarketing platform for advertisers andmarketing professionals, was started
by founders Ung Kok Hong and Karu Khoo. Khoo says they learnt so much that their
“brains were fried”. They got invaluable advice fromCEOs and Venture Capitalists. They
realised that the road for startups is long and winding but they are prepared to face the
challenge. They both agree that the Programme gave them a better understanding of
the marketing strategies applied by giant tech companies such as Linkedin and Uber.
GetDoc
GetDoc was founded by Jerry Hang and Chris Ching. This app is a
platform that connects patients to doctors by allowing them to search
for a doctor according to their location and to make an appointment
with just a few simple clicks. They both agree that there was a
wealth of information to be gathered from the Programme. Indeed,
the Programme helped them get a better understanding on funding,
product development and developing connections. They also expressed
their happiness in establishing a good relationshipwith other founders
in the batch.
Petsodia.com
Pat Chang is the founder and CEO of Petsodia.com, a crowdsourcing marketplace for
pet sitting/boarding in Malaysia. Chang says the time he spent at Silicon Valley was
an “awesome and invaluable experience”. He was very impressed with the range of
courses offered, covering culture, technical and investment, to name a few. One of the
most valuable courses was the Design Thinking course by IBM. He was able to see the
customer’s perspective of the product and to build a product that “he wants, not what
you want to build”.
QSmart
Developed by Alvin Chua and Advent Phang, QSmart is a Cloud-based
queuing solution that solves problems associated with physical queuing.
Chua and Phang feel they learnt a lot being exposed to culture, techniques
and the latest technology utilised for and by startups at the Silicon Valley.
The Technical, Market and Design segments of the Programme were of
great use to the duo, guiding them on utilising data, besides exploring
the best market fit for their product and and enhancing their design
methodology.
Repark
Repark is the brainchild of Mac Jake and Keith Yeoh. This app allows drivers to com-
municate with other drivers by using their licence plate numbers to connect with each
other without the need for phone numbers. They describe the startup culture at Silicon
Valley as “one of experimentation”. People were very helpful towards each other and
therewas a strong culture of “paying it forward”. Theywere also happy that MOL founder
Ganesh Kumar provided good feedback on their product. They agree that the Programme
helped open new networks with mentors, partners and new friends.
Jerry (left) and Chris
(Second from right)
with the MDeC team
Karu (R) Ung Kok Hong (L)
and Skout founders
Startup founders