Open For Business
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Open For Business
The flagship entrepreneurship show on BFM, featuring personal business stories from early stage start-ups, all the way to billionaire octogenarians in Malaysia and abroad. Notable guests include Martin Cooper (father of the mobile phone), Julian Assange (founder of WikiLeaks), Ralph Henry Baer (fath...
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From Cargo Drones To Passenger In The Sky
In this episode of Open For Business, we sit down with Dr Shian Lee, the aerospace engineer behind Alphaswift Industries.
This is not a shiny dr...
$176M: How an “Accidental Founder” Built Doctor Anywhere
Founded in 2017 as a simple telemedicine app, Doctor Anywhere (DA) became a pandemic darling, raising nearly $176 million from heavyweights like IHH H...
Old Recipes, New Ambitions: How Hock Kee Kopitiam Is Expanding
How do you turn nostalgia into a scalable business in one of Malaysia’s most crowded food and beverage markets?
On this episode of Open F...
Anti-Coworking, by Design
In this episode of Open For Business, we look at why coworking seems to have lost its way and whether a quieter, more stripped-back model is the answe...
Suing Trump’s White House: Has Costco Cracked the Code?
In late November, Costco filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over the “Liberation Day tariffs", and the White House remained surprisingly...
FeedMe: The Operating System For Better Dining
Restaurants are under pressure like never before like rising costs, staff shortages, shrinking margins, and systems that were never designed for today...
10 Years of APOM: From Selling Tees to “Rebranding Malaysia”
In 2015, advertising veterans Chantelle Teoh and Kelvin Long grew tired of the generic, "embarrassing" souvenirs found at Central Market. They wanted...
Sagtec: From POS Systems to NASDAQ & A 50% Stock Drop
Founded in 2018, Sagtec Global Limited was a three-person operation in Kuala Lumpur, aiming to digitise Malaysia's F&B sector. Fast forward to March 2...
Greening The Grey — A Farm In The City
On this episode of Open For Business, we speak with Paul Dass, Managing Director of Green Street Farms, about what it means to grow food with care in...
No Equity, No Fee Accelerator? AppWorks’ Deal Flow Engine
Startup accelerators are everywhere, but few operate like AppWorks. Based in Taiwan with a sizable footprint in Southeast Asia, the firm runs an accel...
Morgan Stanley to Fintech: Helicap’s Private Credit Play
Private credit has exploded over the last decade. But is it a necessary structural shift or a "shadow banking" bubble waiting to pop?
Dav...
Can Ted Optimus Fix Retail Investing?
Malaysians are investing more than ever, but many are doing so in a market flooded with hype, social media tips, and unverified “gurus.” The result? E...
AI Startups: Why Distribution is the Only Moat Left
While skeptics dismiss the current wave of startups as mere AI 'wrappers,' a grassroots movement in Kuala Lumpur is ignoring the noise and building an...
Nomad Capitalist: Building a Life Where You’re Treated Best
For many entrepreneurs, the idea of living and working anywhere in the world is the ultimate goal. But for Andrew Henderson, it’s more than a dream—it...
Replacing Microsoft Office with Memes? Inside Agnes AI
The AI sector is frothy, filled with "wrappers" disguised as deep tech and companies blurring the line between innovation and snake oil. Yet, Agnes AI...
Being SME-First: How HitPay Scaled to $1B Volumes
The Southeast Asian payments landscape is a fierce battleground, crowded with global giants like Stripe and Adyen, regional heavyweights, and local ga...
Turning Buffet Waste Into A Business
When most people think of buffets, they think of indulgence, not innovation. But for treatsure Co-Founder and CEO Preston Wong, surplus food became a...
From Paper to AI: Why Arkmind is Digitising Money Lenders
The non-bank lending industry, comprising licensed money lenders, pawnshops, and used car dealers, often operates on paper ledgers and Excel sheets. J...
The HOPE Box That Started a Movement
Prof. Dr. Billy Tang’s journey from paraplegic farmer to global changemaker is at the heart of PWD Smart FarmAbility, a disability-led social enterpri...
Series A, B, Then Exit? Why SEA Has a $400M Exit Ceiling
While the rest of Southeast Asia was chasing the "super app" dream and burning cash on subsidies, Qualgro took a different path. For the last decade,...
From KL to Texas: Superdough’s Global Expansion Story
With a 50/50 revenue split between local and international markets, Superdough has quietly grown into an 8-figure entertainment powerhouse. Already op...
Branding Places, Not Just Projects: Inside IMAJEN’s Strategy
Malaysia’s property market is crowded, competitive, and increasingly shaped by branding that goes far beyond logos and brochures. In this episode, we...
Symbiotica: Turning RM10K into a RM125M Global Export Biz
Founded in 2001 with just RM10,000 in savings and RM110,000 borrowed from friends and family, Symbiotica Specialty Ingredients has grown into a major...
Building Game-Makers, Not Just Graduates
Malaysia’s gaming industry has crossed the billion-dollar mark, but a critical talent shortage threatens its momentum — from programmers and tools eng...
From Family Legacy to Industry Leader: The Fire Fighter Story
When Michelle Hah stepped into her family’s fire safety business, it was already a trusted name built on decades of service. But she saw the potential...
WORQ’s New Strategy: The 'Country Club' Office
18 months ago, co-working operator WORQ planned to raise RM40 million to fuel its expansion. But halfway through the process, they stepped back from t...
From Weddings to Corporate: Evenesis’ Pivot to Survive
What started in 2010 as a simple wedding RSVP tool has evolved into a complete event technology platform. After a crucial pivot away from the consumer...
Can ECCO’s Cow-to-Shoe Model Survive the “Promo Pandemic”?
In a crowded footwear market, how does a 62-year-old Danish brand stay relevant? For ECCO, it starts with a unique "cow-to-shoe" philosophy, owning th...
Should AI Watch Your Parents?
Caring for ageing parents is becoming one of Asia’s fastest-growing emotional and practical challenges. Yet much of that burden remains invisible.
OMS Energy: From MBO to NASDAQ & A 40% Stock Drop
In June 2023, How Meng Hock led a management buyout (MBO) of OMS Energy from Sumitomo Corporation to prevent the company from liquidation. Less than t...
Lit Books: "Always 2 Months Away From Shuttering"
It started as a one-year experiment to cure a career frustration. Eight years later, Lit Books has become a favourite among many readers, particularly...
This Furniture Brand’s Plan to Grow 50X in 5 Years
Ladore Signature wants to ride "Rent-to-Own" (RTO) furniture all the way to an ACE Market listing. But with current revenues around RM500k, is their t...
How This AI Whiteboard is Changing How Teams Think
Andrey Leskov, the Co-Founder of illumi, an AI-native whiteboard, aims to help teams turn scattered AI chats into visual workflows that build context,...
Vanilla Crepe: From Side Project to RM10M+ Biz
What started in 2014 as a lifestyle investment to feed his wife's love for cakes has grown into 43 outlets, with more en route. Vanilla Crepe has expa...
Aonic: From DJI Distributor to Made in Malaysia Drones
Malaysian drone company Aonic, with top-line revenue near RM300 million, is executing a major strategic push: its own “Made In Malaysia” proprietary h...
Medalized: From Big Plastic Trophies to Bespoke Awards
What does it mean to modernise upon family legacy in a traditional space? For Emily Chin and Medalized, it meant moving from "big plastic trophies" to...
Mixing Innovation and Growth: How Thermomix is Cooking Up a Smarter Future in Malaysia
Today, we’re looking at a brand that has quietly transformed kitchens across the world. Thermomix, the smart kitchen appliance by Vorwerk, has sold ov...
Satu Creative: From Creative Agency to Empowering Entrepreneurs
Satu Creative operates as a 7-figure social enterprise, but you won't find them on an official accreditation list. After evolving from a creative agen...
Can A Petting Zoo Change How We Feel?
Can animals help humans heal? Rajagopal Yagambram, Founder of Planet Zoo Malaysia, believes they can. After nearly two decades in agrotourism, he’s bu...
How This Tech Startup Is Powering Climate Resilience
Punita Nook Naidu, Co-Founder of H2O DataTech, shares how the Malaysian climate-tech company is turning complex climate and water data into actionable...