nurturing & guarding the fire within | patisserie luce, bespoke cakes | founder, giana wong

Pointz: Making Biking Safer | Maggie Bachenberg, Co-Founder

Maggie Bachenberg is the Co-Founder of Pointz, a bike safety app that offers safe navigation, route customization and 24/7 emergency roadside assistance to make people feel safer on their bikes. Maggie has been grinding away at Pointz for 4 years and was part of Techstars in 2022. Maggie shares how having shared values makes her relationship with her co-founder more resilient, how former founders tend to give the best advice, and how she's learned to set boundaries after experiencing burnout. I admire her focus and love for making her customers happy and incorporating customer feedback throughout her product development process. Speaking with Maggie has encouraged me to have more confidence and conviction in my ideas and business decisions. 00:00 The Founding of Points: A Bike Safety App 02:54 Introducing Points Plus: The Premium Subscription 06:23 User Engagement and Revenue Traction 14:00 The Co-Founder Partnership: Complementary Strengths and Shared Values 23:34 Navigating the Fundraising Environment 25:31 The Power of Techstars and Networking 27:30 Personal Growth and Lessons Learned 30:09 Seeking Advice from Former Founders 38:53 Balancing Work and Self-Care 43:44 Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Backstage with Jenn: Shooting for Prada, Moncler, Adidas, Jil Sander, Loewe

Jennifer Tang, a fashion and portrait photographer, shares her journey from shooting random photos with friends to becoming a professional photographer. She discusses her experimentation and creative process, drawing inspiration from her rebellious nature and finding beauty in the overlooked and off-putting. Jennifer also talks about her debut exhibition, Feed Me, which explores messy and intimate moments of people eating. She shares her experience balancing client work with her personal aesthetic and the challenges of imposter syndrome. Jennifer emphasizes the importance of a supportive community and offers advice to aspiring photographers. Chapters (00:00) Introduction and Background (03:03) Starting the Feed Me Exhibition (08:54) Balancing Client Work and Personal Aesthetic (14:48) Transitioning from Hobby to Income (23:25) Style and Aesthetic (29:00) Discovering Yourself as an Artist (36:43) Dealing with Imposter Syndrome (43:06) Building a Supportive Community (48:25) Advice to Past Self (50:22) Where to Find Jennifer Tang

nurturing & guarding the fire within | patisserie luce, bespoke cakes | founder, giana wong

After praying for a long time to become a mother, Giana was staggered when she realized she was unfulfilled. Giana looked into herself and asked, “The day I die, what would I want to see as I go through my life’s memories?” Her answer and creation is Patisserie Luce, a boutique cakery that specializes in making cakes and desserts that are refined, timeless and enchanting. Chapters (00:00:00) Baking, Infertility & Life Purpose (00:06:46) Nurturing the Fire and Passion Within (00:13:21) Balancing Your Own Art with Client Requests (00:16:37) Receiving and Rejecting Client Feedback (00:21:27) Balancing Perfectionism (00:22:54) Joy in Experimentation (00:24:45) Facing and Overcoming Fears (00:29:33) Turning Obsession into a Virtue (00:39:38) Taking Care of Yourself to Nurture Your Passions

Liquid Management Solutions for Coca Cola, Unilever | Forbes 30 Under 30 | H2Ok Innovations Co-Founder & CTO David Lu

David Lu is the Co-Founder and CTO of H2Ok Innovations, which provides efficient liquid management solutions for manufacturing clients, such as Fortune 500 companies including Unilever and Coca Cola. David has been recognized as a Forbes 30 under 30 leader as an entrepreneur in cleantech, tackling the application of digital technologies in fundamental but often more outdated, slow to change manufacturing, infrastructure, and supply chain spaces for more sustainable operations. David shares his pearls of wisdom, from his first-principles approach to problem-solving and product development, to how he keeps himself sane and grounded despite getting “100% obsessed” and giving it his all. Chapters (00:00:00) H2Ok Innovations' Liquid Management Solutions for Manufacturing (00:03:18) Getting 100% Obsessed with Problem Solving (00:08:58) Trust & Transparency in People Operations, Hiring & Problem Solving (00:16:03) Problem Discovery during Sales Calls (00:19:41) Getting the First Big Customer: Large Ag Organization (00:25:30) Importance of Time Off & Sleep for Decision Making (00:31:13) Delegating Even as a Natural Execution-Focused Person (00:36:46) Co-Founding & Working With My Sister (00:44:55) Best Way to Learn is Lots of Experimentation

Trendy Tailors to Terrazzo Keyboards: Serial Entrepreneur Ian Fong | Brazen Studio Founder | On Solving for Your Own Problems

After graduating from Cambridge with an engineering degree, Ian Fong went to work for two different entrepreneurs to open more than 10 cafes (and to close down several, too). After cutting his teeth learning from the bosses, Ian set out to do yet again something atypical; Ian decided to go knocking on old tailors' doors in a run-down building reminiscent of Cyberpunk to start a trendy, custom tailor, and for over 8 years, Ian turned the head on the sleepy, un-user-friendly tailor experience. Ian now builds beautiful custom keyboards and coffee gear through his brand, Brazen Studio. Ian shows us the power of solving for your own problems through your business, no-to-low-cost market validation testing, and tackling niches that require little marketing budget. Get a 10% discount (valid until Nov 30) with code EPW10 on https://www.brazenstudio.co/ Chapters (00:00:00) Intro (00:01:55) What I Learned Working for Entrepreneurs At First (00:02:39) Solving My Own Problem of Shirts Never Fitting (00:06:22) Simplifying Tailoring to Make It More Approachable (00:07:56) Finding & Retaining Talent as the Biggest Problem (00:10:13) Hustling Door-to-Door to Find OG "Old Guy," The First Tailor (00:13:20) The Infectiousness of Passion & How It Brings a Team Together (00:14:52) Facing Doubts & Hearing Doubts From Other People (00:18:34) Being Well-Rounded: Creative Eye x Technical Skills (00:20:37) Closing Down CUFFS After 8 Years (00:23:07) I Almost Opened a Pizza Shop (00:24:03) Posting Terrazzo Keyboard Design on Reddit & Going Viral (00:28:00) Learning from Zappos' Tony Hsieh: Would you be doing it in 10 years if you didn't make any Money from it? (00:31:12) My Successful Traits: Being a Jack of All Trades & Being Scrappy. Areas of Improvement: Scaling a Business (00:32:37) Keyboard & Coffee Niches Mean Fewer Marketing Dollars (00:36:03) Influencers Help Us Target the Niche with Fewer Marketing Dollars (00:38:01) brazenstudio.co, IG: @brazenstudio, @brazenworkshophk