Show Notes
The commercial space industry is moving away from exclusive government monopolies to an era where securing a rideshare slot on a commercial rocket is now accessible to private citizens. Ken Chan is proving exactly how accessible this new frontier is by building KENSAT, a 2U CubeSat, entirely from his home. Outfitted with an NVIDIA Jetson running a compressed language model for in-orbit computing, the satellite will soon launch on a SpaceX rideshare, marking the first time a Malaysian private individual has put a satellite into orbit. While launch costs have significantly decreased, Ken quickly discovered that internal satellite components remain heavily priced for institutional buyers and suffer from months-long lead times. With zero prior hardware experience, he designed his own power and radio boards to bypass these bottlenecks. After successfully passing the rigorous vibration testing required for launch, these homemade components became the foundation of Swordholder Technologies, a solo venture built to disrupt the inaccessible satellite parts market. Ken joins us to discuss the realities of building and launching a satellite on a bootstrapped budget. We explore his pivot from co-founding a massive crypto derivatives exchange to starting a zero-revenue aerospace hardware business, and unpack the real economics of commercial space rideshares, the process of qualifying homemade hardware for orbit, and how Swordholder Technologies plans to bring affordable infrastructure to the booming space economy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
More from Open For Business
In 2015, a professional wedding planner preparing for her own marriage hit a brick wall. Despite her industry connections, she collided with the premium bridal market’s quietest rule: top-tier designers cut their gowns for one body type. If a bride falls outside those rigid proportions, the luxury tier shuts its doors. Rejecting the standard industry compromise of cheap lookalikes, East Chin flew to Barcelona. There, she discovered independent European ateliers crafting extraordinary, inclusive garments without the famous-name markups, and she returned home to build The Gown Atelier around them - Four hundred gowns spread across a lot of different labels, so that the bride nobody else could dress would walk down the aisle in something she loved. East joins us to strip away the romance of the wedding industry and expose the arithmetic of renting dresses. We break down the reality of competitor price wars, and discuss exactly why a premium gown that once paid for itself in two rentals now demands five. We also explore the logistical machine behind Malaysia Bridal Fashion Week, and the expensive lesson East learned when she realised her own personal taste did not match the market she served. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jaedals was created to kill the historical compromise between comfortable “trekky sandals” and style. But the brand's true differentiator lies in its unconventional production engine. Rather than relying wholly on traditional factory assembly lines, the company employs underserved women across Singapore who sew and embellish the sandals directly from their own living rooms. After spending nearly two decades building global campaigns for advertising agencies like Ogilvy and TBWA, founder Maggie Dumra launched the brand last year and immediately weaponised her corporate experience to scale the business. Today, Jaedals operates a flagship store in Orchard Road's Mandarin Gallery and secures premium shelf space at Club 21 and KrisShop. By deliberately reinvesting every dollar back into product and team development, the bootstrapped company tripled its revenue over eighteen months without taking a single cent of institutional equity. Now, the brand is pushing into its first international market: Malaysia. Maggie joins us to unpack the precise unit economics of a Jaedal sandal and the real financial trade-offs of her decentralised production model. We explore why the company actively chooses to delay profitability, and whether a brand deeply tied to one city's culture can successfully capture the Malaysian market. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Batik Boutique is accelerating its retail expansion with the launch of its 1,500-square-foot flagship outlet at Merdeka 118, alongside achieving B Corp recertification with a 92-point score. The social enterprise saw a 75% year-to-date growth in its B2B segment and a 20% rise in B2C retail, further boosted by a viral moment when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim wore their joint-designed shirt at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. Amy Blair, Founder and CEO of Batik Boutique, joins Open for Business to unpack how the brand capitalised on its Formula 1 collaboration with the Bahrain International Circuit. She discusses managing artisanal supply chains alongside retail expansion, utilising AI for operational efficiency and B2B design, and balancing corporate gifting with long-term brand equity. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
For more information on BFM's SME event, click the link here. Gyms in Malaysia aren’t known for big profits, and there’s no shortage of them. So why would seven friends who train together open another one? COR3 in Kota Damansara is a “box,” the term functional fitness folks use for their gyms. It’s a semi-outdoor space packed with barbells and weights. Six months after opening, it already has more than 150 members. Joanne Lim and Eddie Yap, two of the seven co-founders, join us to talk about why they started COR3 and how the business works. We discuss: Seven founders, no single boss: How a group of friends from very different careers makes decisions together, and how they funded the gym.
For more information on BFM's SME event, click the link here. Virgin Honey makes ready-to-use Acacia honey spoons, with an aim to offer a cleaner and more convenient way to enjoy honey without the mess of a traditional jar. Founded by Veenondhra Subramaniam, the Malaysian FMCG start-up is building a business around a familiar product in a different format. We discuss who buys single-serve honey, how Virgin Honey is building its market, and what it takes to turn a simple product into a scalable food business. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.