58 min
Raising money from Apple Executives and Stephen Fry with Allen Liao | #21 The MVP Show
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- Entrepreneurship
For Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Youtube links go to: https://linktr.ee/MinimumViablePod. Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE!
Dropping out of uni to launch a start-up in his parent’s garage seemed crazy until some former Apple execs came knocking on this Aussie guy’s door.
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About Allen Liao
After studying Electrical Engineering and Economics at the University of Sydney for two years, the 23-year-old dropped out and went to work in the basement of his familly home— building the world’s first unloseable sunglasses.
After going viral on Time and WSJ, Allen and his team secured $60,000 worth of pre-orders in just 3 days. From there, he attracted some of the best investors in the world — Ron Johnson who built Apple retail from the ground up, Wordpress Founder Matt Mullenweg and even comedian Stephen Fry.
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Show Notes
0:00 Introduction
2:29 Genesis Story of Tzukuri
8:34 First Business, Prank Bills and NZ Federal Police
15:56 Kickstarting Tzukuri, $60k Pre-Orders in 3 days
20:18 Protyping Tzukuri v1 and Raising Capital From Apple Executives
28:48 Flying to Silicon Valley and Broken Prototypes
32:44 Constructing a Good Investor Story and Meeting with a16z
41:10 Manufacturing Complexity of Bluetooth in Sunglasses
45:32 Reflection, What Could Have Been Done Better?
50:57 Mental Health
For Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Youtube links go to: https://linktr.ee/MinimumViablePod. Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE!
Dropping out of uni to launch a start-up in his parent’s garage seemed crazy until some former Apple execs came knocking on this Aussie guy’s door.
--
About Allen Liao
After studying Electrical Engineering and Economics at the University of Sydney for two years, the 23-year-old dropped out and went to work in the basement of his familly home— building the world’s first unloseable sunglasses.
After going viral on Time and WSJ, Allen and his team secured $60,000 worth of pre-orders in just 3 days. From there, he attracted some of the best investors in the world — Ron Johnson who built Apple retail from the ground up, Wordpress Founder Matt Mullenweg and even comedian Stephen Fry.
--
Show Notes
0:00 Introduction
2:29 Genesis Story of Tzukuri
8:34 First Business, Prank Bills and NZ Federal Police
15:56 Kickstarting Tzukuri, $60k Pre-Orders in 3 days
20:18 Protyping Tzukuri v1 and Raising Capital From Apple Executives
28:48 Flying to Silicon Valley and Broken Prototypes
32:44 Constructing a Good Investor Story and Meeting with a16z
41:10 Manufacturing Complexity of Bluetooth in Sunglasses
45:32 Reflection, What Could Have Been Done Better?
50:57 Mental Health
58 min