Aug 2024 KUL Meetup: Meet Iqbal Abdullah

Slides for the meetup with Iqbal Abdullah, a Malaysian entrepreneur who has built "bootstrapped" tech businesses in Japan for nearly 20 years. Iqbal’s expertise in AI, SaaS, SEO, and remote teams offers valuable insights for anyone interested in the tech industry and learning from the experience of a global entrepreneur.

Slides also contain hand picked answer and questions sent in by participants.

1. My Journey: Business, SaaS And Python Experiences from Japan To The World Iqbal Abdullah 10th August 2024

2. お前、誰よ - Kau Siapa? - Who Are You? Iqbal Abdullah, orang Kolumpo Resident of Japan since 1997 An Estonian e-resident Runs LaLoka Labs LLC in Japan, LaLoka Labs OU in Estonia and a small company in Malaysia. Previously ran a company called Xoxzo Currently working on Kafkai, an AI based marketing tool SaaS and GetOTP, an OTP API SaaS for developers Active in the worldwide Python community Travels a lot, sometimes up to 3 months in a year Brief Introduction

3. Business experiences in Japan Notable successes Notable failures (?) Remote working Python and the Python community PyCon MY About Kafkai FAQs Overview Of Tonight’s Topics

4. Before We Begin

5. Your Value Is As Much As The Value You Give 運と縁と勘で生きています

6. Business In Japan

7. Starting a business with JPY200,000 capital Started in 2007 Started by taking projects from bigger companies Found a SaaS niche that No one wants to solve or knows how to solve 99% customers are Japanese companies A member of the Tokyo Chamber Of Commerce (東京商工会議所) A member of MAJECA-JAMECA The Japanese do business differently Business Experiences In Japan

8. Ask me questions about business practices in Japan

9. Lasted more than 15 years and counting 6.3% chance to survive 10 years 0.3% chance to survive 20 years Did not raise money through VC Built the company to a ARR of JPY180M Awarded 6 patents by the Patent Office Exit in 2021 Valuation of around JPY 200MM Notable Success

10. Too focused on doing everything alone Did not find ways to ask for help or work together Did not delegate well To focused on building the product Should have invested more time in talking to people Did not raise money through VC Exit in 2021 Starting back from (nearly) zero Notable Failures (?)

11. Ask me questions about exits, bootstrapping and innovation through patents

12. Remote Work

13. Started 100% remote work in 2007 E stonian e-Resident since Feb 2018 GetOTP is a product of my Estonian company We practiced ROWE Small team, but hired from various countries like Namibia, Russia, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, Philippines, Japan Once or twice a year we’ll spend a week together Penang, Jakarta, Okinawa, Johor Bahru , Langkawi, Jeju, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo Remote Work Pioneer

14. Team Camps

15. Ask me questions about effective remote working practices

16. The Python Community

17. Founded PyCons PyCon JP in 2010 and PyCon MY 2014 Organized and chaired PyCon APAC in KUL 2017 Speaking At International Events Keynote speaker for PyCon APAC 2022 in TW Keynote speaker for Python Pizza Hamburg Speaker for PyCon MEA 2023 Panelists for PyCon PH, PyCon US, EuroPython in D&I Active involvement in the community Currently the only Malaysian serving in a Working Group of the Python Software Foundation (PSF) The Python Community

18. PyCon

19. Ask me questions about speaking at technical conferences and promoting diversity in tech

20. And One Other Thing

21. PyCon MY 2024 24-25 Aug SUNWAY UNIVERSITY https://www.pycon.my/

22. One REALLY Last Thing

23. Kafkai

24. MEETUPAUG24 60% OFF Discount Code For 1st Month Limited Amount Of Coupons Valid for “Starter” and “Growth” Plans Offer Expires Aug 17

25. 5 Questions

26. Q1: What Technology To Invest In?

27. Technology that you understand and like But you’re asking the wrong question You should be asking “What PROBLEMS Are You Interested In Solving” Nearly all the time the it is not about technology

28. Q2: How To Setup A Team With No Budget

29. You Can’t

30. Q3: How To Get That Budget

31. Your Own Money Someone’s else money Family’s money Friend’s money Bank’s money Venture Capitalist’s (VC) money Everyone’s money

32. Q4: How To Justify An Idea Will Work?

33. This is what you call validation LISTEN to people, don’t rely just on the internet, don’t ask Mom Questions (i.e. The Mom Test) Focus on what people do, not what they say Do they recommend Do they sign up Do they pay

34. Q5: How Does A Startup Work

35. Definition of a “startup”: Designed to grow fast and grow rapidly Because of that, they need to scale and be in industries that allows that (i.e software based) Designed to burn money until you achieve unimaginable success (all-or-nothing) through an IPO or a share sale But remember: Startups are still businesses, and the main aim of a business is to be profitable: Your revenue is larger than your expenses.