Learn from real ventures.
Explore how entrepreneurs recognised problems, created value, tested ideas, built business models and grew ventures.
Grab
Malaysia
Lesson: Winning one narrow, painful problem builds the trust and user base needed to expand into an ecosystem.
Carsome
Malaysia
Lesson: Marketplaces succeed by removing the information gap that makes buyers and sellers distrust each other.
AirAsia
Malaysia
Lesson: Business-model innovation, not just a cheaper price, is what makes a low-cost model sustainable.
Shopee
Singapore
Lesson: Understanding how a specific region actually shops matters more than copying a global e-commerce template.
Shopify
Canada
Lesson: A tool built to solve your own problem can become a much bigger business once you notice others share it.
Airbnb
United States
Lesson: A tiny, unscalable pilot can prove demand before you build any technology.
Canva
Australia
Lesson: Removing complexity for non-experts can open a market that professional tools ignore.
Netflix
United States
Lesson: A business must be willing to replace its own working model before a competitor or new technology forces it to.
Duolingo
United States
Lesson: A free, playful product can build a huge audience, but a business still needs a small share of paying users to fund it.
foodpanda
Germany
Lesson: Multi-sided platforms with real-world operations must manage supply, demand and logistics all at once.
Spotify
Sweden
Lesson: A freemium product succeeds only if the free tier is good enough to build habit but the paid tier is clearly worth upgrading to.
Uber
United States
Lesson: A two-sided platform must grow both supply and demand together, or one side will always be dissatisfied.
Carousell
Singapore
Lesson: Reducing the friction and fear of buying and selling directly between strangers can unlock huge unused value.
Notion
United States
Lesson: Letting an engaged community shape and share how a flexible product is used can drive growth more effectively than a large marketing budget.
Zoom
United States
Lesson: Solving a familiar problem with noticeably better reliability and ease of use can beat competitors who offer more features.
Tesla
United States
Lesson: Some technology ventures must also build the surrounding infrastructure their product depends on, which demands far more capital and patience than a typical startup.
Patagonia
United States
Lesson: A business can build a loyal customer base and a durable brand by placing environmental and social purpose at the centre of its strategy, not just its marketing.
TikTok
China
Lesson: A recommendation system that learns individual preferences can create a more engaging platform than one built around following friends or accounts.