Your Tech Story

Tech Story

Blind App

Blind App: An anonymous platform to complain about jobs

Leave a Comment / Story, Tech Story / By

Blind App is a professional network where verified employees can talk openly and anonymously regarding their work-life difficulties. Blind has over 7 million verified professionals.

Blind App
Image Source: nbcnews.com

About the company

Blind App offers a community and anonymous forum for verified professionals to talk about challenges in the workplace. On Blind, users are categorized by themes, companies, and their overall industry. The application claims to maintain user identities untraceable and confirms that the registered members work for the company via their work email.

The Blind App has made headlines several times, most notably when its anonymous polls make the candid thoughts of workers from various companies visible. Professionals also use the app for casual conversations regarding issues like salary. Its app listings on Google Play and the iOS App Store indicate that it has employees from more than 83,000 companies.

Blind is being used all around the world and is affecting companies’ decisions by providing executives with information on employees’ worries.

Through the app’s polls and discussions, employees from a range of organizations have shared their opinions on problems at work, including the app’s polls and discussions, employees from a range of organizations have shared their opinions on problems at work, including Uber’s claims of sexual harassment, Google memo, and the working conditions and issues at Amazon. Recently, Meta’s decision to potentially lay off 12,000 workers at Facebook was revealed by the employees through the Blind app.

History

Sunguk Moon, CEO, and co-founder of Blind revealed that after beginning his career in 2009 at the South Korean search company Naver, he had inspiration by the app. He saw there that employees engaged in open conversation among themselves in a private chat room on the company intranet.

A few years later, Naver closed the board because staff began discussing important and delicate subjects. Moon noted, “Several years later, Naver shut down the board because employees started talking about critical and sensitive issues,” Moon said. “I was really disappointed by that (decision) so I thought I should make an anonymous chat board for company workers as a third party.”

Since its launch in 2013, Blind has gained users from over3,000 companies. On Blind, there are around 40,000 Microsoft professionals, 20,000 Amazon professionals, and 10,000 Google professionals. Each company has a fairly high level of our penetration, and the majority of the company employees are regular users.

Blind declined to reveal the total number of users. However, one in five Uber employees uses the app. Additionally, one cannot just create a phony LinkedIn profile to use the app. A user’s company’s official email-id is linked to all sign-ups, and this email address is required for sign-up verification. However, due to the company’s patented technology, users remain anonymous to both the community and the app’s developers.

Founder & CEO: Sunguk Moon

Sunguk Moon is the Founder and CEO of Blind. Moon served as a founder or early-stage employee for three companies before Blind. One of them was Wingbus, a 2005-founded travel review, and booking website that Naver acquired in 2009. He studied UI/Graphics design as his major in college, however after three years, he mainly held positions in product management.

Naver was the first organization in Korea to utilize Blind. For the purpose of acquiring the initial seed users, Moon contacted some of his old Naver coworkers. Ticket Monster, a company Moon had previously worked for, was Blind’s second target.

Over the past two years, Blind has received several press mentions including in Forbes, Wall Street Journal, and TechCrunch. It has acted as a reliable source of information for thousands of employees.

Supam Maheshwari

The Success Story Of FirstCry Founder Supam Maheshwari

Leave a Comment / Story, Tech Story / By

Supam Maheshwari is the CEO and co-founder of FirstCry. FirstCry is a baby products company established in Pune, Maharashtra. Supam is a first-generation business owner with a keen business sense. His leadership abilities are highly acknowledged, and he is a terrific executor.

Supam Maheshwari
Image Source: sugermint.com

In the beginning, he founded Brainvisa Technologies alongside Amitava Saha as a partner. But once the company was sold, he started FirstCry through BrainBees. FirstCry receives the Most Popular Online Site honor at the 2013 Delhi Child Awards. Additionally, he is a co-founder of the logistics service provider Xpressbees.

Early Life

Supam Maheshwari immediately got on the bandwagon of business, in contrast to the majority of entrepreneurs who initially choose jobs. He started working on a business soon after earning his postgraduate degree from IIM and launched it in 2000. His first company was Brainvisa Technologies.

The company’s teaching methods and end-to-end learning solutions were its key competitive advantages. Brainvisa was an e-learning company that helped organizations all over the world boost the effectiveness of learning and training by creating specialized learning solutions that were centered on established and defined corporate objectives. In less than 8 years, Supam expanded Brainvisa to become one of the world’s largest e-learning solutions companies.

Even though the growth was astounding, in 2007 he made the decision to sell the company to a US-based organization called Indecomm Global Services.

Success Story

Supam Maheshwari had become a father during his time with Brainvisa, and his job forced him to travel frequently to the United States and Europe. Because he could trust the quality of merchandise accessible abroad and since many of them weren’t readily available locally, he used to bring a lot of items for his newborn daughter.

At that point, he saw there was a significant supply-demand disparity in the domestic economy for brands geared toward children, including several international brands. As he carried out more research, he estimated that the baby and children’s market in India generated approximately Rs. 50,000 Cr. in revenue, with 95% of the sales occurring offline.

He could now clearly see the idea. He intended to develop a platform that would give parents simple access to high-quality baby and children’s products. He sought to offer a wide choice of top-notch products. With his model, he hoped to close the gap for Indian parents. After everything was resolved, Supam founded BrainBees Solutions with his buddy Amitava Saha and a seed investment of Rs. 2.5 Cr. from friends and personal funds.

In 2010, they subsequently created Firstcry.com under the aegis of BrainBees. Today, Firstcry has grown to become Asia’s largest online marketplace of products for kids, expectant moms, newborns, and kids.

Business Strategy

By 2014, the company had signed up 600 domestic and foreign brands. It had also introduced its own private label, BabyHug (a clothing brand) and CuteWalk (a footwear brand), which contributed to around 20% of its sales. Even more striking was the fact that none of this was accomplished through any elaborate marketing or advertising plans.

Although the organization ran some TV and print advertisements in its early years, it stopped as it realized it was a high-risk and low-return strategy. And at this point, the majority of advertising was done online and by word-of-mouth. Other than that, Firstcry had created a fresh way of connecting prospective parents directly.

Firstcry used to conduct a special program through which they would communicate with over 70,000 different parents each month. Their plan was pretty straightforward; Firstcry had agreements with 6000 hospitals nationwide and used to send moms a “Firstcry Box” as a gesture of congratulations on the birth of their child when they left the hospital.

kevin plank

Journey of Kevin Plank from being Broke to Billionaire

Leave a Comment / Story, Tech Story / By

Kevin Plank is a millionaire businessman and philanthropist from the United States. He is the founder of Under Armour, a company that manufactures sportswear, accessories, and footwear. Plank also serves as the company’s executive chairman. In 2021, his net worth was projected to be US$1.8 billion.

kevin plank
Image Source: forbes.com

Early Life

Kevin Plank was born and brought up in Kensington, Maryland. His father was a real estate developer and his mother was the mayor. Plank developed an interest in sports at a very young age while playing football with the Maplewood Maple Leafs. He attended St. John’s College for his high school education before enrolling in the University of Maryland, where he studied business administration and graduated with a BA and an MA.

Kevin Plank was entrepreneurial by nature. Even before starting Under Armour, he started several businesses while still being a university student. He launched many small firms and later utilized the profits to finance his big sportswear endeavor. One of them, Cupid’s Valentine, brought in roughly $17,000 on Valentine’s Day.

Success Story

An unexpected desire of Plank led to the idea for Under Armour. Plank was the most sweaty player on the football field and was searching for an option that’d keep him dry and comfortable as he played—something his sweaty cotton shirts couldn’t. He, therefore, started looking for a suitable material that would allow sweat to escape the body and help the player feel faster and lighter. Plank noticed that compression shorts remained dry during practice.

Hence, he decided to make clothes that vent away moisture using the same material. Before he discovered the ideal match, he evaluated at least seven prototypes. He invited his old teammates to test his method after explaining to them the way his T-shirt would substantially aid and boost their performance on the soccer field.

Additionally, Kevin Plank sent the T-shirts by mail to his pals, asking them to distribute them to the other teammates in the dressing room. As a result, Plank’s T-shirts began to gain popularity. He founded Under Armour in the basement of his grandmother’s home. For about $17,000, he made his first sale to Georgia Tech of his product. Soon thereafter, 20 NFL teams made purchases from him as well.

After his second year, he made sales of $100,000. The product eventually became more well-known, and renowned teams and stores began selling them. Under Armour’s first funding came from Planks’ own savings and debt. While still in college, Plank had earned about $20,000 from selling t-shirts at concerts.

Late in 1999, Plank spent almost all of Under Armour’s funds so that the business could purchase a $25,000 ad in ESPN The Magazine. The company’s staff also agreed to forgo their salary for a few weeks for this purpose.  This proved to be a turning point for the business.

Athletes and teams started buying the product as a result of this advertisement, which generated over $1 million in direct purchases for the subsequent year. In 2010, Plank’s business achieved $1 billion in yearly revenue for the very first time. He attained billionaire status in 2011 when his estimated net worth hit $1.05 billion.

Other Ventures

In 2015, Urban Armour paid over $475 million to acquire two important fitness programs, Endomondo and MyFitnessPall. This was to build a global digital healthcare system to compete with Apple, Fitbit, and Google. In 2014, Plank also donated $25 million to the University of Maryland to promote sports and academics.

Despite the initial setback, Plank managed to build a billion-dollar business. He credits his network of family, friends, and coworkers for this. Plank’s success story gives confidence to business owners who feel trapped after experiencing initial setbacks in their companies.

John Paul DeJoria

John Paul DeJoria Success Story: From Homeless to Millionaire

Leave a Comment / Story, Tech Story / By

John Paul DeJoria, is an American businessman, self-made billionaire, and philanthropist. He is best known for co-founding The Patrón Spirits Company and the Paul Mitchell hair care line. DeJoria is often referred to as a living embodiment of the American Dream. This is because of his achievements in his career and business.

John Paul DeJoria
Image Source: forbes.com

His success has moved him from homelessness to a self-made billionaire and prosperous entrepreneur. He has also been highlighted in numerous publications and documentaries.

Early Life

John Paul Jones DeJoria was born in Los Angeles, California. His father was an Italian immigrant and his mother was a Greek immigrant. He also has an elder brother. Before he turned two, his parents got divorced. When his single mother could not care for both of them, they were placed in a foster home in East Los Angeles.

They remained there remained for a week until John turned nine and reunited with his mother. At the age of nine, John started working alongside his elder brother to sell newspapers and Christmas cards to help support their family. John spent two years in the US Army, but when he got out he couldn’t afford an education. For the next few years, he worked as a caretaker, shampoo salesperson, and insurance salesman among other things.

He learned about hair-care products through his employment in 1971 at Redken Laboratories. He was terminated in 1975 owing to a difference of opinion over business tactics. He trained the management and sales personnel at Fermodyl Hair Care after this, but despite increasing sales, he was once more let go from his position. His subsequent position was with the Institute of Trichology, from where he was laid off because they were unable to pay his wage.

Success Story

Despite everything, John maintained his optimism and drive for success. He decided to launch a company in 1980 with his hairstylist buddy Paul Mitchell. Together they established John Paul Mitchell Systems with a $700 loan. They decided to create products for trained stylists which would help in reducing the amount of time needed to style a client’s hair.

A single-application shampoo and a leave-in conditioner were the company’s initial products. The company achieved over $1 million in gross revenue after two years of struggle, which signaled the start of something spectacular. John Paul Mitchell Systems(JPMS) currently sells more than 100 items in salons in about 87 different countries. JPMS was one of the first businesses to oppose animal cruelty testing.

John Paul DeJoria consistently backed environmental causes and provided funding to Gustin Energy Cos., which would conduct sophisticated oil and gas exploration while keeping the environment in mind. He founded Patreon Spirits Co. with his buddy Martin Cowley after the passing of Paul Mitchell in an attempt to produce smooth tequila. Additionally, his tequila business sells over 2 million cases of tequila annually.

Other Ventures

The Paul Mitchell Schools, which have over 100 locations in the USA, were also founded by John Paul. DeJoria works in both the film and business sectors of the economy. John appeared in several movies, including You Don’t Mess with the Zohan and The Big Tease. He has also appeared as an investor on the reality Television program Shark Tank. In 2021, John DeJoria and Leif Rogers declared their partnership.

Leif Rogers is a prominent plastic surgeon in California. He specializes in facial rejuvenation and microsurgical body restoration. According to John and Leif, they intend to use technology and innovation to improve the world through their business cooperation. They seek to provide answers to the enormous and expanding requirements of the rapidly changing globe.

John Paul DeJoria’s life story gives everyone the belief that everything is possible. His difficulties throughout life and his attitude of never giving up tell us that one shouldn’t quit working or waste valuable time sulking around; the only path forward is to continue ahead and give everything you’ve got.

Chengpeng Zhao

Success Story of Changpeng Zhao: From Zero to Billionaire

Leave a Comment / Story, Tech Story / By

Chengpeng Zhao is a Chinese-Canadian business executive who is the chief executive officer and founder of Binance. Binance is the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume as of July 2022. Chengpeng Zhao was born in Jiangsu, China and migrated to Canada at a young age with his family. Currently, he is established in Singapore.

Chengpeng Zhao
Image Source: business-standard.com

formerly, he was a member of the team that developed Blockchain.info and also worked as Chief Technology Officer at OKCoin. He is ranked 113th richest in the world, having a net worth of approximately 14.9 billion USD as of May 2022, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Early Life and Education

Chengpeng Zhao was born in Jiangsu province in China. He moves to Canada with his family in the late 1980s settling in Vancouver, British Columbia. His parents both opted for teaching as their profession in China. His childhood had been a difficult one, his family condition was not great so he supported his family by working several service jobs. He attended McGill University in Montreal, Quebec where is majored in computer science.

Chengpeng Zhao is currently the most recognizable face in crypto. Many people are getting millions, and also some people are losing millions via cryptocurrency trading since there is not any shortage of cash to make in the 1 trillion USD cryptocurrency sector. The no of billionaires who have acquired a fortune in crypto has increased to 19 in 2022.

Chengpeng Zhao: From China to Canada to Dubai

Chengpeng Zhao chose Dubai as his new home because he believed that the cryptocurrency space is highly international and diversified and that Dubai is a true innovation hub that houses a highly innovative and diverse group.

Chengpeng Zhao got into developing market-focused trading software, having majored in computer science including an internship he did at the Tokyo Stock Exchange and a full-time job at Bloomberg, a global financial data giant, for four years.

During his time at Bloomberg, he developed trading software for Wall Street, which was designed to help investors trade contracts, used to trade an asset at a predetermined cost.

Then, he founded his own company known as Fusion Systems. Fusion Systems was founded to develop trading systems for brokers.

Before launching Binance, he was involved in different crypto companies. It includes his work as a head of technology at Blockchain.com where he became interested in Bitcoin, the world’s greatest digital currency.

Despite the fact that Chengpeng Zhao was from the traditional financial space, he was greatly influenced by Bitcoin, being borderless and unrestrained from any intermediaries. He liked the fact that Bitcoin tackled many money-related issues which includes freedom to trade, supply and low fees.

The largest cryptocurrency platform in the world

Chengpeng Zhao founded Binance in less than eight months by being inspired by the principles of Bitcoin. Binance Coin was launched the same year after Binance’s launch in July 2017. Binance Coin is a utility token that provides its owners with several benefits, like discounts on trading fees. Also, in 2019, Binance launched Smart Chain which is an Ethereum competitor.

Binance’s worth rose in April 2019 to 4.5 billion USD, and the growth has not stopped there. It has taken its first step towards its expansion in Abu Dhabi after getting the permission to start the operations. Binance has approximately 120 million users currently, and about 50 billion USD is traded daily on this platform.

Chengpeng Zhao is currently ranked 35th on the list of the world’s richest people having an estimated net worth of 34.5 billion USD as of August 2022. About all of his worth is in cryptocurrency.

Amr Awadallah

How a “geek from Egypt” built a billion-dollar data company Cloudera

Leave a Comment / Story, Tech Story / By

Amr Awadallah, an American computer scientist of Egyptian descent is a pioneer in the usage of Apache Hadoop for the analysis of data. He co-founded the company Cloudera. Today, Clouder has a valuation of over US$4.1 billion.  The company provides cutting-edge data management and advanced analytics using Apache Hadoop and the most current recent open-source technology. 

Amr Awadallah
Image Source: bizjournals.com

Early Life

Amr Awadallah worked as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Accel Partners before joining Cloudera. Prior to that, he was VP of Engineering at Yahoo!, where he oversaw a team that employed Apache Hadoop for business intelligence and data analysis across all of Yahoo’s web businesses. Amr Awadallah has a Doctorate in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University as well as a Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctorate in Electrical Engineering from Cairo University in Egypt.

Success Story

Amr’s journey is in many ways the essence of Silicon Valley. The story of a determined immigrant, a fateful turn, and the significance of being able to innovate while addressing a genuine customer problem.

Amr didn’t consider starting his own business when he was younger. Large incumbents controlled Egypt’s economy, making it difficult for newcomers to flourish. Amr moved abroad to pursue his doctorate studies because, like his father, he hoped to become a university professor. But when Amr moved to Palo Alto to obtain his Ph.D. at Stanford University, he was surprised by how close the big technology firms he had grown up hearing about were to him.

The “pivot” or change in the situation occurred at Stanford. He discovered that starting a business was feasible and that his experience as an immigrant had benefited him as an entrepreneur. Being an immigrant, he felt at ease with taking chances. He was prepared to leave his native country and everyone he knew, just like other immigrants, in order to embark on a new journey.

Amr thinks that a large number of technology companies are founded by immigrants in part because of this. At Yahoo, Amr held the position of VP of Product Intelligence Engineering. Amr was charged with creating an intelligent search feature for Yahoo, probably in an effort to take on Google.

Amr encountered numerous issues with performance, pricing, size, and flexibility when working on sizable BI and analysis at Yahoo that were caused by platforms like IBM, Oracle, and, Microstrategy. He was asked to explore Hadoop by Doug Cutting, a Yahoo coworker and former chairman of the Apache Software Foundation.

Doug built the original Hadoop software in 2004. Amr started using Hadoop at work, and over the course of the following two years, he was able to reduce the information processing pipeline and complete tasks 10 times more affordably than previously. Amr was persuaded about the effectiveness and affordability of Hadoop.

The same issues Amr had with BI and analytics were being experienced by many other businesses. The remedy turned out to be Hadoop. Soon a brand-new tech business was ready to launch; the founders presented the initial idea to Accel Partners and received the initial funding. In 2008, Amr Awadallah, Christophe Bisciglia, Jeff Hammerbacher, and Mike Olson together established Cloudera, Inc.

About the Company

American software provider Cloudera, Inc. offers enterprise data management tools that heavily rely on Apache Hadoop. Cloudera offers the Cloudera Data Platform which is a set of cloud computing and data processing-related technologies. Several of these solutions are delivered through publicly accessible cloud servers like Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure, whereas others are subscriber-only private cloud services. These products are marketed by Cloudera for use in data analysis and machine learning.