Starting up outside of any traditional tech hubs.
I was recently invited to talk about starting up in Hong Kong and what areas these startups could work on to increase their chances of success. I have always rooted for Hong Kong’s startup community but honestly we aren’t there yet as a whole at the time of writing. The good news is we are starting to hear about local success stories.
Here are the slides and I think the thought process applies to other regions as well.
TL;DR:
- Figure out distribution for your product.
- Utilize your region’s competitive advantages
- Test in your local region but have other large markets on the roadmap.
If you are starting up outside of the traditional startup hubs, the most important thing is to figure out distribution for your product. Distribution is crucial regardless but being in a less known startup cities amplifies the importance of finding an effective way to reach your target customers.
Hopefully there are some tangible advantages from your region. One example is the low cost or high concentration of particular talents. These areas below (in no particular order) could work potentially well and they all utilize Hong Kong’s advantages one way or another:
- Financial services. Hong Kong has been traditionally an APAC headquarter for international financial services. These companies imported top business and engineering talents from all over the world. Easy access to talents enables startups to excel in building their financial products. Don’t be surprised when you see the next fledging FinTech startup coming from Hong Kong.
8 Securities: Online trading platform
Anxbtc: Bitcoin exchange - Tourism. There is no question about Hong Kong being a popular city to visit in Asia. The geographic advantage also enables Hong Kong to be the hub for connecting flights. Tourists would usually actively search for travel services before or during their trips. They are also more willing to recommend your product in their home countries. Constant supply of tourists allows you to cheaply and quickly test travel related products. Their words of mouth would also help you expand internationally.
handy: City guide with unlimited voice and data
Spottly: Pinterest for travel and locations - Hardware/software integration. Shenzhen is right behind us (hour and half from city center) and proximity to China gives Hong Kong startups advantages for prototyping and manufacturing.
Snaptee: Design your own tee
Makibox: 3D printer starting US$200
Ambi: Personalized indoor comfort
Sky Drone: Enabling unlimited range for drones
Phonejoy: Joystick for your phone
RedBearLab: iBeacons and other BLE devices - Developer tools. Developers actively look for more efficient ways to optimize their work flow and are willing to try new tools. Github and HackerNews are well known and effective channels to market your developer products across the globe.
Onesky: Translation service for your sites and apps
Pay4bugs: Crowdsourced software testing
Retain: Behavior-driven emails and in-app messages
PollJoy: in-app polls for mobile and web - Content creation/consumption. Similar to FinTech, there are a good supply of creative minds in Hong Kong and Asia in general. Asian cultures have traditionally been attractive to international audience. The lower cost of production and the access to creative talents would give content startups in Hong Kong an edge.
9GAG: Best source for fun
LifeHack: Tips for life - Retail solutions. Hong Kong is a shoppers’ heaven. There is a wide range of international and local brands in every large-scale shopping malls. Combining with the international tourists, the density of shops makes Hong Kong an ideal test ground for retail solution products.
Loop Pulse: Behavioural analytics and contextual engagement for retails
By no means these are the only areas Hong Kong startups could work on. These are just some inspirations given Hong Kong’s unique advantages and you should work on what your passion leads you to. Here are more great articles on startup ideas from Y Combinator’s Paul Graham and Garry Tan.
Interested in working in a tech startup in Hong Kong? Many startups mentioned above are hiring, including mine. We at Loop Pulse are looking for talents in Node.js (Meteor), iOS and Android. Check out our job page for more details.
