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When the Platform Becomes the Product
They had 9,000 products from other brands. Then they looked at Amazon's plans and realized they needed something no one else could sell.
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Fresh Intelligence at a Glance
Track the latest brand profiles, founder stories, market insights, and platform updates. See what's new across all content types in one place.
Founder
Sean & Jesmine Tan
Their daughter's first word was 'Apple.' Crumbs everywhere. Favorite meal was fish. They named their baby brand after all three.
Brand
Applecrumby
Nine years between funding rounds—surviving on margins while competitors burned cash. Now holds the world's first TCF diaper patent.
Insight
The Son Who Nearly Died Now Runs the Business
Marcus Teo's kidneys failed at two. His mother almost quit to save him. 34 years later, he runs the business—crisis forged both generations.
Insight
The China+1 Moment: Betting on Diversification Before the Crowd
When Dezan Shira expanded to India and Vietnam in 2008, skeptics called it crazy. A decade later, US-China tensions proved the bet prescient.
Insight
The 70% Revenue Engine Nobody Saw Coming
A Hong Kong chef bought a bottle as a tourist, then declared it 'the best in the world' on TV. That made sesame oil 70% of revenue.
Founder
Winnie Loo
Bullied out of salons in London and Singapore as 'Tiny Winnie,' she became the first Malaysian World Master of the Craft—after almost quitting when her toddler's kidney failed.
Founder
Dato Ch'ng Huck Theng
Built a media empire and won Asia Art Award. Then a seven-year family feud forced him into rescuing Malaysia's oldest confectionery—the business he was never supposed to inherit.
Brand
Ghee Hiang
168 years old, seven years in court. Four families at war nearly destroyed Malaysia's oldest confectionery. Sesame oil—not pastries—now generates 70% of revenue.
Brand
A Cut Above
A 428-square-foot salon became Malaysia's premier hairstyling academy after an 8-location express chain taught its founder when to cut losses.
Insight
The Shahbandar Solution: 84 Languages, One Port
Four harbormasters managed commerce in 84 languages at Malacca's peak. When monopolists captured the port, merchants relocated.
Insight
The Fox Who Founded an Empire
A rebel fugitive built institutions that outlasted three colonial governments. Legitimacy flows from solving problems, not official approval.
Update
Malaysia Brand Day 2026: Meeting the Founders Behind the Brands
Nearly 100 Malaysian brands gathered in Kuala Lumpur for the inaugural Malaysia Brand Day. Behind each booth, a founder story waiting to be told.
Brand
Unhasu
UN sanctions banned chemical imports. Unhasu pivoted to indigenous ingredients in weeks—6x production growth, 13x export surge by 2023.
Brand
Pomhyanggi
Five crises in 25 years: famine, demolition, sanctions, pandemic, flooding. Still won a WIPO Gold Medal and produces 12 million units annually.
Insight
The $187,000 Revolution
Banned from Hong Kong, expelled from Japan. Sun Yat-sen found refuge in Penang, where merchants who never saw China funded its liberation.
Founder
Chris Devonshire-Ellis
$500 to $50M across 40+ offices. Law school dropout stayed 25 years in China while competitors flew in—building trust credentials cannot buy.
Brand
Dezan Shira & Associates
A misspelled surname, $500, and Deng's Southern Tour. Thirty-two years later: 40+ offices, $50M revenue, six crises survived by staying put.
Founder
Georgie Yam
Celebrity hairdresser walked away from 20-year Singapore career at 43 to start in Shanghai. Built China's first service brand exported abroad.
Brand
Dragonfly Therapeutic Retreat
Launched during SARS into Shanghai's missing middle. Academy-trained consistency made quality exportable—China's first service brand abroad.
Update
Brand Locations Maps: From Office Hunt to Dream Feature
Searching for a serviced office for Olya led to discovering ADA's 7-location Penang fortress—and inspired a dream feature: interactive maps showing brand headquarters, facilities, and retail locations.
Brand
ADA Serviced Office
From 200 sq ft during the 2008 crash to 100,000 sq ft across 7 locations. ISO 9001 certified. VC-backed rivals folded; ADA survived both crises.
Update
Interactive Maps with Smart Clustering: Finding Brands in the Same Town
Click any cluster to zoom progressively to town level. When brands share the same location, they expand in a radial pattern with connecting lines—making it easy to explore multiple brands in one area.
Founder
Louis Soo
Launched during 2008 crisis from 200 sq ft. Chose ISO over lifestyle branding—built a 7-location fortress venture capital couldn't crack.
Update
Explore Brands by Map: Visual Discovery Now Live
Find brands by exploring the map—our new visual discovery feature makes it easy to see where exceptional Global South brands are located
Update
Brand Snapshot: Strategic Intelligence at a Glance
Introducing Brand Snapshot: scannable business context that complements our transformation stories with strategic metrics.
Insight
67 Days: A Founder's Final Succession
67-day knowledge transfer. 'Winery of the Year' 12 months later. How Samsonov defied the 60-70% failure rate of founder transitions.
Brand
Sela
Hebrew name. Israeli design. Chinese production. Russian stores. Boris Ostrobrod disguised "Russian" as "foreign" when domestic meant cheap.
Brand
ESSE
Igor Samsonov died at 46. Eleven months later, Forbes crowned ESSE Winery of the Year. His quality systems outlived him—Crimea's boldest bet.
Founder
Boris Mikhailovich Ostrobrod
From 4 containers to 600 stores. Boris Ostrobrod froze prices during the 1998 ruble crash—building loyalty competitors couldn't buy.