A hardware-as-a-service startup is a startup that blends the smart use of hardware through a SaaS backend.
The technique creates hybrid venture models that enable traditional business models to utilise connected technology in new ways.
Taiwan has seen a few of these types of initiatives, due to its excellent reputation as a contributor to the global hardware ecosystem and its reputation as a producer of talented engineers.
In general, over the past few years, early stage founders from around an economic region we refer to as Greater Southeast Asia (ASEAN + Taiwan) have found their way to Taiwan to take advantage of the country’s unique ecosystem set up and create engineering operations, research and development centers, or business development offices.
In a new podcast, Startup Island, we will feature these and other entrepreneurs who have taken part in the semi-annual AppWorks Accelerator, a twice-yearly free accelerator in Taiwan that assists the growth of GSEA startups in Blockchain and AI.
Also Read: The SaaS pricing model is broken, let’s fix it
In the first episode of Startup Island, we talk to founder Andrew Jiang, co-founder at Soda Labs, a Hardware-as-a-Service venture builder.
He has spent a significant amount of time in Taiwan and he has evaluated the qualities of the country that have made it a good choice for building a startup there.
Jiang’s startup builds new companies from the ground-up using a mix of internally-driven team ideas and partnerships with ventures that combine hardware and a SaaS model.
In this podcast, he goes into some specifics of what this means, and how it focuses his outlook in marketing the company and generating new partnerships.
In the bigger picture, there are three reasons why Soda Labs and other startups are driven to explore Taiwan, especially those founders that are interested in ideas that utilise supply chain or hardware.
Jiang talks about these in this nearly 15 minute-long interview.
Talent Pool: Founders can work face-to-face with innovative engineers and the leading OEMs that have made the island nation famous for providing the supply chain in software and hardware for robust global tech companies like Foxconn, Apple, and Samsung, among others.
Digital First: This country of 23 million people has perhaps the most robust e-economy in SEA, at US$ 42.2 billion a year, a figure that has attracted software and web companies like Facebook and Google to set up R&D offices here.
Peers and Mentors: Fast-growing unicorns and other startups that started in places like Singapore have quickly set up operations in Taiwan to take advantage of its access to Greater Southeast Asia. The includes companies like Shopback and Carousell.
AppWorks analyst Jun Wakabayashi spoke to Andrew about how he managed his learning curve in figuring this out after first starting in Silicon Valley.
Also Read: Podcast: A conversation with Sebastian Starzynski, CEO Of TakeTask
This is a good conversation for founders because it shows the thought process a founder has to go through to take two very different cultures and ecosystem experiences and integrate them into a business model.
The results have proven promising for Jiang. He has a continued partnership with Foxconn and his team is delivering new products, even during the COVID19 pandemic.
Times are very challenging for founders right now. It makes sense to seek out a community that can provide answers and firsthand experiences in this environment.
Keep an eye out on the AppWorks Accelerator for more.
–
Register for our next webinar: Mindful meditation for working professionals
Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. Become a thought leader in the community and share your opinions or ideas and earn a byline by submitting a post.
Join our e27 Telegram group, or like the e27 Facebook page.
Image credit: Christian Wiediger on Unsplash
The post Startup Island podcast: How to build a hybrid hardware-as-a-service startup in Taiwan appeared first on e27.