Fireside Wednesday:
Episode 7 – Idea to Impact
第七集 – 意念變新 Teams
第七集 – 意念變新 Teams
May 6 (Wednesday)
English Synopsis
Is now a good time to launch your startup? How do students and young alums start their entrepreneurial journey, from idea to impact? What kind of help and resources can HKU offer?
The Fireside Chat started with a virtual tour of HKU iDendron: an innovation and entrepreneurship hub, located on 1/F Knowles Building. Opened in October 2017, iDendron has nurtured 60 startup teams and 20 high-potential HKU early stage startup incubatees, and organised over 250 events, pitching sessions and workshops, including the first MedTech Hackathon in Hong Kong.
Harris Cheng, co-founder of Freehunter, met his startup partner Jerome at the HKU DreamCatchers seed fund event upon his graduation in 2017. Freehunter is a business media platform with 200,000 freelancers from various industries and regions. The startup brings changes to freelance industries by providing a space for freelancers to collaborate, build connections and explore career opportunities. “I was a freelance photographer when I was a university student and that inspired my startup idea. University students may not possess the top technologies, but they have their own experiences that can inspire them to discover problems and the needs of society. These can contribute to coming up with business ideas. Running a startup is like being a fireman, firefighting the unexpected on a daily basis, including the users’ responses, technical problems and financial issues…”
Kyle Leung, Gööp co-founder, had worked in many different fields, including private banking, human resources, digital media and public relations, before he began his entrepreneurial journey. Gööp is a social media for university students, aiming to help everyone find their networks and circles. Launched two years ago, it now has 700,000 university student users. The business is trying to open up the market to secondary school students in Hong Kong and also university students in Indonesia. Kyle gave tips to current students and new graduates: “Try out different things and you will find the path you want. Like a big T, one must have a broad range of knowledge and skills as well as a unique in-depth expertise… this will be your edge to advance your career.”
Jasmine Poon, a final year BA student, agreed with Kyle that it is good to try out different things. Jasmine worked as a business journalist and reporter for her internships. In the past year, Jasmine’s startup team has been the champion of three hackathons, and she currently leads the business strategy of two startups: UVify MedTech and LiteX LegalTech. She said, “If you can’t find people with same passion as yours, just start doing what interests you and create an environment that nurtures your passion… Like-minded companions will naturally be attracted to join you.”
Laurence Tang, Senior Manager of iDendron, who has witnessed many startup teams as they go from having initial idea to making an impact, said, “Don’t create a solution for a problem that doesn’t exist. Start with the pain points and problems around you. COVID-19 is more than a pandemic, it brings about many social problems such as fake news, unemployment and domestic violence…it is well worth our effort to tackle these issues.”
足本重溫 Video Link :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svvpXnZhz9o
- Laurence Tang 鄧日朗 (BSocSc 2014; MPH 2019)
Senior Manager of HKU iDendron
Guests:
- Kyle Leung 梁東瑜 (BBA 2019)
Gööp Co-founder社交手機應用 Gööp 聯合創辦人，主要負責產品設計及產品營銷。Kyle 曾涉獵多個行業，包括私人銀行分析、人力咨詢及數碼媒體和公關，機緣巧合下開始其創業之旅。Gööp 是一個為社群而生的社交媒體，致力連結「半熟人」及為每個人找到其圈子，推出兩年多獲取7萬大學生用戶。現時，Gööp 正拓闊用戶群至中學生及開拓印尼大學市場。
- Harris Cheng 鄭康桁 (BEcon&Fin 2017)
Co-founder and CEO of FreehunterHarris是初創企業 Freehunter 的創辦人，並為 Hong Kong 30 Under 30 2019 得獎者之一。Freehunter 是個現有 2 萬位 Freelancers 的工作社交平台，現於香港、台灣及新加坡 3 個市場發展業務。Freehunter 同時為港大 iDendron Incubation Programme、亞洲初創加速器 Appworks 及數碼港之培育公司。Harris 是港大 2017 年的畢業生，畢業後與同為港大的 Jerome 一起創立 Freehunter。他們希望幫助市場上有才能而未被發掘的人才，並為他們帶來一個更方便、更有效發展事業的門路。
- Jasmine Poon 潘姿文 (BA Final Year Student)
Co-founder of LiteX LegalTech and UVify MedTechGrowing up in Hong Kong, Jasmine went to Singapore International School and American International School before studying at HKU. In 2018, she learned Design Thinking during her exchange study at Stanford University. Her write-up on the topic was published in two New York Times writing competitions on AI and digital disruption. Jasmine worked as a business journalist and reporter for her internships. In the past year, Jasmine’s startup team has been the champion of three hackathons, and she currently leads the business strategy of two startups: UVify MedTech and LiteX LegalTech.
Fireside Wednesday 星期三開爐 new online series for the HKU Family – alumni, students, staff and friends – for partnership, passion and paths. The 10 episodes will cover tourism, retail, culture, social, NGOs, freelancing (slash), education, technology… Resources and support available to students and fresh graduates at HKU iDendron. Tell us if you want to suggest themes and speakers for future episodes. Share and stay tuned!
Revisit –
Episode Six: A Brand New Me
第六集 – 無限變身
[ 麥嘉緯 • Emi Wong • 易宇航 • Husnain ]
Episode Five: Art & Innovation
第五集 – 色空變焦
[ 蘇敬恆 • 鄭振揚 • 方圓明 • Stephanie Ho ]
Episode Four: Sports & Innovation
第四集 – 運動急變速
[ 譚志源 • 方力申 • 江嘉惠 • 楊文蔚 ]
Episode Three: COVID Cadenza
[ Prof Daniel Chua • Cy Leo • Serrini • Daniel Lei ]
Episode Two: Retail – Partners & Opportunities
第二集 – Shopping 變陣
[ 羅永聰 • 陳子堅 • Terence Hon ]
Episode One: Culture, Tourism & Innovation
第一集 – 旅遊變法
[ 陳志雲 • 陳智遠 • Rubio Chan • Jamie Cheung • Gurpreet Singh ]